Ask Slashdot: Ideas For a Geek Remodel? 372
An anonymous reader writes "What would you do to 'go geek' if you had a major remodel on your hands? My wife and I are re-modeling my in-law's 3000 sq foot single-level house, and we're both very wired, tech-savvy individuals. We will both have offices, as well as TVs in the bedroom and dining room. My question to the community is: What would you do if you had 10-20,000 to spend for this kind of remodel project? What kind of hardware/firmware would you install? I'd love to have a digital 'command center' to run an LCD wall-calendar for the family, and be able to play my PS3 from anywhere in the house (ie, if everyone wants to watch Netflix while I'm in the middle of some Borderlands). What else have geeks done/planned to do? This is a test run for a much, much nicer house down the road, so don't be overly afraid of cost concerns for really great ideas. We will be taking most of the house down to studs, so don't factor demolition into costs. For culinary-minded geeks, I'd love any ideas you have to surprise my wife with cool kitchen gadgets or designs."
Unrealistic budget (Score:5, Insightful)
As a general contractor, assuming you are doing things(paint, flooring, maybe light fixtures and blinds) to the entire 3000 sq ft, your budget that remains purely for tech is going to be approximately zero. Its doubtful that budget would even allow for much of a kitchen/bath update depending on what part of the country you are in.
Re:Ethernet! (Score:5, Insightful)
Lots and lots of Ethernet ports. Wireless is insufficient for the True Geek.
Well, it's not a bad idea. The wiring can be done in a way that you can thread other things when ethernet is no longer fast enough.
...
Though, if you're going to do that - why not send all the cords to a central part in the house, and install a command centre there? You can use it to re-direct connections, spy on internet usage, selectively disable (or re-route) certain wires
How about a novel idea... (Score:4, Insightful)
And let your in-laws decide what they want..
More to the point, anything too advanced you install, you will have to support...
Re:This is the in-law's house right? (Score:5, Insightful)
Remember Rule 1 in remodels:
A poorly planned remodel costs three times as much as originally budgeted.
A well planned remodel only costs twice as much.
Re:How about a novel idea... (Score:5, Insightful)
Am I the only one scratching my head on this? Are they doing this for his in-laws? Why would they both have offices at her parents house? Is it their house now? Why call it her parents? Did they not pay for it?
Put a digital clock in each room, call it a day, and invest the money in a high yield bond, until you can afford your own home.
Comms and power (Score:4, Insightful)
An adequate supply of CAT5 (or CAT6, really, it's getting cheap enough) and mains sockets in every room.
I'd also look at ecological heat and power measures - wind and solar power, solid-fuel stove and a ground-source heat pump.
TV in the dining room? (Score:5, Insightful)
It's a matter of personal taste, of course, but I'd keep the TV out of the dining room and spend the money on something else. You need a place to get away from information overload.
We've declared our dining room to be a screen-free zone-- no TV's, laptops, iPads, smartphones, whatever. It's the one room in the house where we sit, eat, and converse as a family.
I find the half hour or so when people aren't checking Facebook, tweeting, playing minecraft, checking their calendar, etc to be pretty refreshing. It's amazing what you can find out when you ask a kid how their day was.
Re:Unrealistic budget (Score:5, Insightful)
Kitchen advice. (Score:5, Insightful)
Layout and work flow are key to a great kitchen. Fridges that have cat5 and lcd screens are essentially toys. Spend your money on quality cookware and utensils that are commercial grade. ...not a cheap toaster oven.
Think about little things like;
how do I cool stuff down efficiently,
what is the best convection equipment that I can afford.
Where do I rinse vegetables?
Is there filtered water and how well can I clean oversized pots. A pot sink is a better alternative to a double shallow!
Get a small commercial salamander oven that can top brown
Don't spend your money on toys!
Above all set it up so that more than one person can work in the kitchen at a time without having to worry too much about stabbing each other! Your wife will love you for that much more that all the geek toys you can stuff into a kitchen now a days.
Sure put a sit down bar away from the prep area where you can have a laptop or whatever and put sound in the kitchen but by and large all this is secondary to a well thought out design and quality equipment!
I am a cook and know what really matters in food preparation.
Re:Kitchen (Score:5, Insightful)
Also a proper venting range hood. It's amazing how few houses have this simple thing anymore.
Outlets! (Score:4, Insightful)
Power outlets every 3 feet.
Network outlets every wall.
Cable and phone in every room.
10 years from now they'll call you and say "Remember when I said I didn't think I needed a power outlet in the closet? Oh man thanks for insisting!"
Conduit, everywhere. (Score:5, Insightful)
I'd put some big conduit and wiring ducts across the house, with drops in every room. This way you can pull whatever cables, fiber, etc. you need.
Why are you remodeling someone elses house?
Re:Ethernet! (Score:5, Insightful)
Or alternatively you could have all the tubes, valves and wiring neatly side by side running in plain sight at the ceiling, color-coded, and labelled , just like a sub-marine. Then have a "command centre" with the whole system, flowrates, temperature's, power-usage per socket a and other measurements at your finger-tips.
http://image.yaymicro.com/rz_1210x1210/0/499/inside-a-submarine-4993d2.jpg
Or maybe not if you go for cosy
Re:good luck (Score:4, Insightful)
Me too... Most culinary minded geeks I know are decidely *not* fans of unique gadgets/designs. They're creatures of pattern and habit when it comes to hardware.
The culinary geek world is unlike the rest of the geek world - we don't generally seek the latest and creations because the foundations of the world's cuisines are generally old, tried, and true. Gadgets and new shinies mark the dilettante and the fashion victim, not the culinary geek.
Re:System under glass (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Kitchen advice. (Score:5, Insightful)
Another thing:
12. Take photos of all the walls right before the drywall goes up. This is your x-ray vision in case you need to pound nails (or snake lines, or whatever) later on.