Three Car Garage and other things

[Grainraiser]

Making them a few feet deeper is a great thing also. When my neighbor had his house built he owned a Ford 250 extended cab truck. For whatever reason he never measured the truck and it would not fit into his garage. He then traded it for a Ford 150 extended cab and it wouldn't fit either. Again he never measured the new truck before buying. I owned a standard size Chevy pickup and I only had about 6 inches to spare when it went into the garage. Never again will I get a standard size garage. The little extra it cost to do it now is worth every penny.

[drjones96]

Originally Posted by GHJohn

Have a few questions regarding some of the pointers most of the experienced homeowners on here have made

1. Three Car Garages - why?

2. Media Rooms - I've heard a lot of people claim that they are a big plus to have in a home. Why? A game room/entertainment room i can understand but why have an extra room to create a theater at home? Please understand I'm just trying to understand the logic behind this and not really putting down anyone else's preference.

Talking about homes that are priced between 350K and 400K

Also, what opinions do you have of Avery Edwards Custom Homes? My wife and I looked at one last weekend at La Cima in Prosper and were rather impressed by what they had to offer. Would like to know if anyone has had any good or bad experiences with this builder.

Why three car garage? Because you drive one, your wife drives one, and then you need a slot to put all your crap. (Bikes, Lawnmower, tools, or maybe even a boat or something fun) It's a big plus IMO...especially if one of the slots wraps around one side of the house so you could have space for a workbench or something....someplace where you can do manly things like guzzle beer while you beat on something with a hammer.

Why a media room? My wife works out of our home so a closed off area where she can have all the office equipment would be nice. And it would be nice if that was separate from another room that would be just for congragating and watching TV.

[momof2dfw]

Yes, some of this is the reason why such rooms exist nowadays. The "home" has come to be viewed as a "family entertainment venue" which is fine and great. I LOVE to entertain and have people over. Love having my big open kitchen w/ plenty of space for everyone (one reason I don't like some of the newer built homes that are less than 3500 sq ft is the small dinky kitchen). As we all know when ever you have people over they all tend to congegrate in the kitchen.

Another thing to look at for the media room is having it located convienent to the kitchen. Mine is located in the back of the house over the garage. The back stairs go up from the kitchen and the first room you come to that way is the media room. LOVE IT THAT WAY! Makes it easy for entertaining to carry food/drinks up/down. We do have a countertop up there w/ upper & lower cabinets along w/ a mini fridge which is again GREAT for entertaining. I even used it as my "wine fridge" till I bought one for the kitchen. For Super Bowl parties or sports watching the media room is really a great asset. We don't use it near as often as we should but it is there and we have used it for great family and friend times. That I would not trade for anything. LOVE my friends and family .

Originally Posted by loves2read

this is why houses started out having "media" rooms

the avg lot is shrinking--that means smaller downstairs sq ft/room numbers--there are few one-story homes that are 3000 sq ft+
especially with a 3 car garage as mandatory in most price points above 350K
Our last house we built it had 2800 sq ft, one story, 4 bed/3bath, study AND a 3-car garage. That house LIVED BIG! It was a GREAT floorplan.

but the price of land is higher and construction costs as well
so the price per sq ft has gone up--whether it is in CA or FL or TX--the price of new construction is higher

a 350K house with 3500 sq ft is cheaper per sq ft than a 2700 sq ft house==
but a house can only have so many bedrooms -- in fact family numbers are probably shrinking vs growing...
True. Price per sq foot for a smaller home will be higher than homes in the same community that are larger. As long as they both have the same amenities/upgrades in most cases.

so the media room came into existance--they put it upstairs because that is the only place where the extra sq ft can go-there is just no room downstairs for it...and with a big screen you need to have a big room--but I think legally/technically it can't double as a bedroom if 1) it has no window for fire/emergency egress and 2) it has no useable closet--and some builders don't put windows in them to avoid glare since even with curtains you can have glare around the edges...and bulding a closet costs money--4 walls is less expensive to build...
Many media rooms do have a closet in order to store the electronic equipment. Ours has shelves in it. It is true though that city requirements are strict on these things. If the room has a closet it can be deemed a "bedroom" therefore requiring it have a window. Our window has the Hunter Dougles honeycomb blackout shade along w/ side panels of custom drapes w/ lining. NO LIGHT comes thru at all. It is DARK in there w/ the dark red walls even though the carpet is almost "white".

FYI: Make sure to get EXTRA VENTS installed in the media room. That equipment gets HOT in there FAST and if you have a lot of people over........ STUFFY and WARM! Ceiling fans don't always work in media rooms as if you use a progector they will be in the way. Also the roof slopes in most of them on the sides making it hard for some to use a ceiling fan.
wasted space --- yes for most people as far as how often it is used probably--but it is a way to justify having more space and helping to lower the house per sq ft cost...

same with the way kitchens are now in the middle of most homes--they have been squeezed into long galley styles in many, many house plans because of the more narrow, smaller lots in cities that builders have to build on...
YUCK!!! I like my bright OPEN kitchen w/ the BIG windows and LOTS of light. I'm not found of the "square" kitchens located in the middle of some floorplans. Seems one builder did this to save room and they all followed suit.

[angram73]

I think we have gotten lazy as a society and it is better for us if we can go to the a movie in our own house than going out to the theater. I wish we would of built our house with one.
Everyone has to have a place to store all of our junk. Especially since we do not have basement or walk in attics in Texas.