If you have your new log house plans in your hand and you are ready to take on a massive project of building your own home, are you going to be thinking about freezing pipes next winter or leaves clogging your drain pipes; probably not?If you are building in a new neighborhood, the trees won't be big enough to drop leaves that high for another couple years at best.
However, freezing pipes and other maintenance issues can be avoided with a little forethought in your building process.
Even preparing the drains may be easier prior to being installed than having to climb on ladders and such to get to them later.
By putting a mess over them while they are on the ground before installation may save hours and injury later.
For the pipes and other areas of possible maintenance issues, start right from the beginning of the project to prepare for the issues.
By wrapping the pipes as you install them, it is so much easier than to wait until they are pinned against the wall or stuck in a closet, making it nearly impossible to get to later.
You should consider anything outside or in the garage.
This goes for hot weather and cold weather.
The heat of Phoenix will bake the air conditioning pipes and make them less efficient.
The cold weather areas goes without saying that wrapping the pipes may prevent freezing and other problems in the winters.
Even if it doesn't call for it on your small cottage house plans a little planning ahead can save you time and money in the long run.
Some other ideas to save time is to take photos of the plumbing before the dry wall goes up.
Then if there is a problem later you can refer to the photo to know exactly where the pipe is and not have to tear out the entire wall to find it.
Marking the valves around the house is easier when everything is new.
Keep in mind the upkeep needed for the siding you put on your house.
Wood versus aluminum and real wood versus engineered wood.
There are positives and negatives to all of them but you get to decide which ones mean the most to you.
Some things are obvious when you have your set of luxury house plans in hand.
More than likely if you are in Phoenix, you are going to use tiles roofing because nearly everybody does.
Is it the best?It doesn't matter because if everyone in your new neighborhood is using it you may have to anyway.
If you are planning on putting in outdoor tile or wood on your patio or deck be sure to treat it well with a water sealant.
The better it is treated the longer it will last and the better it will look.
You will have to retreat it every so often but to start out right is important.
It is also easier to treat prior to bringing in your grill, table and chairs.