Oklahoma Is The Place To Be…
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Calling All Gnomies — give me your brains! Or at least your thoughts.
It’s been forever and a day since my last post. It’s not for lack of ideas and topics (if anything, I’ve got too many of them) — it’s just a lack of time, but that will change soon (I hope). I am closing down the Chicago offices of the company I’ve been working for the last 3.5 yrs, which is not an easy task. For the past several weeks, I’ve been the sole person working in the downtown office that once was our US headquarters with 60+ people. The company is still thriving, but has consolidated all business functions to a new headquarters in Atlanta. Once I close down the office, I’ll be working from home the rest of the year, then I’ll be released by the company.
But on to the fun stuff. In a post last July, I mentioned the possibility of moving away from my beloved home town of Chicago to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Well, my wife and I are one huge step closer to that becoming a reality. We just spent four days in “T-Town,” as the locals call it, on a Real Estate Safari. Naturally, we did a ton of research online. Can you imagine what house hunting would be like without the Web?
I even went so far as to do a mash-up in Google Maps that combined the physical location of the listing with thumbnail photos and links to full photo galleries and virtual home tours. The realtor we are working with out there joked that we didn’t need him (but we did — and he turned out to be a great guy).
We traipsed through more homes than I can to recall. And took photos and notes… and more notes… and more photos. As we pulled up to one home in a nice new development, a fellow strolled over (did I tell you home friendly everybody is out there — and not in the creepy way) and introduced himself as a home builder. He suggested we walk through the home he was in the process of building across the street after we walked through the one we came to see.
After strolling through a drop-dead gorgeous home that we determined was “too much” home, we went over to the construction site. Greg greeted us and, with great pride, showed us the custom home he was building. The walls were all up, but it was still a ways from being completed — I’d say it was about 50-60% complete. Monica and I looked at each other — and we both knew it, this was the place. Mind you, this home was already sold. In fact, Greg told us this was the third home he’d built for the same customer… and that doesn’t include the custom office he built for this customer’s business. But Greg had some other lots in the same subdivision, so it would be no sweat to build a home for us. He also had a completed home a few streets away that we walked through. It was too expensive for us, not to mention too large, but it gave us some major ideas and design elements we intend to borrow from.
So where do you Gnomies come in? Well — since we are going forward with a custom home (something I could NEVER afford in Chicago), I want to pick your brains on how to outfit the home from a technology standpoint. For example, should I go with Cat 5e cabling, or Cat 6? Should I put a sub-panel upstairs, where my office/multimedia room will be located? Should I put wiring and junction boxes in place in the ceiling in that room so I could install an LCD Projector in the future? Naturally, I do not have unlimited funds, so I can’t go completely hog wild with things. What I want to do is ensure, as much as possible, that I have a robust electrical and data infrastructure built into the home during construction (the ideal time to do it).
Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I will put Google to work. We have a custom Google Map that contains links to photo galleries on Picasa. One of those galleries contains photos of the empty lot where our home will be built, floor plans drawn up by our builder, other galleries contain pictures of a home under construction which ours will closely resemble and a completed home by the same builder.
So, without further ado, here is the link.
Post your suggestions and ideas in the comments section. And thanks in advance. I know with your collective creativity, I can make my new home into the technology showcase I want it to be.
[tags]relocation, oklahoma real estate, home building[/tags]
11 Comments
scott loddesol
October 30th, 2007
at 12:58am
Matt,
At the very least I would say cat 5 throughout if you can swing it use conduit makes it easier to snake new wires when you need to. I would run generic speaker/multipurpose wiring to every room , and make sure the electrician understands to put the circuit your computer/server/router is on by itself. The other thing I had done with my existing home is to have at least the circuit your dsl is on ran separately instead of in series like most phone installs
good luck with the move
Scott
AG
October 30th, 2007
at 5:26am
I suggest that you run your CAT5 or 6 through conduit so that if you ever need to replace it with fiber or something new it will be easier.
AG
Randy Allen
October 30th, 2007
at 6:35am
Wondered what happened to you. Tulsa? Better you than me! Spoken by a true Texan. CAT 5 or 6? 6 is a little higher, but a lot cheaper to put in now than later. Do it once and get it right. The only problem of wiring for a future possible projector is you may change where you want it. If you can easily get to where you think you want it later, wait, so you won’t have that box in the ceiling until you can cover it with the projector.
Good luck on your move and your new home. You are in for some culture shock. We moved to Mississippi from Texas 4 years ago and it was months before we could understand half the people that live here. I am still not used to being called Mister Randy.
Gary Robinson
October 30th, 2007
at 6:54am
Welcome to Oklahoma! We are quite proud of the state.
Robert W Gilcrease
October 30th, 2007
at 8:34am
I’m not commenting on what you should use for your new home in Tulsa. I would like to invite you to go see the Gilcrease Museum (The Museum of the Americas) if you haven’t seen it already. It’s worth the time or effort needed to see it and the grounds.
Thomas Jones
October 30th, 2007
at 8:35am
Welcome to Oklahoma!
When we were getting our home built, my wife insisted on a minor feature that I didn’t even know existed at the time. It saves time, energy and light bulbs.
She had them build the closet light switches into the closet doors. The little automatic switches are cheap and simple. The closet light comes on when the closet door is open and it goes off when the door is closed.
Refrigerator technology now available for closets!
Wolfhard
October 30th, 2007
at 9:44am
Dear Matt,
just sharing some thoughts I had when building my home (in Austria):
*) Always use cat. 7 - the cables will be there for many years and the price difference is minimal.
*) Use high-qualty network outlets - we had problems with losse connections when using some sort of patch cables, the pins bent after heavy use, etc.
*) Use a switch with power over ethernet (or a patch panel) - you will need it ;-)
*) Drop ceiling: believe me, it’s a must! So you have enough space to run all the cables you can imagine - and there’s no easier way to lay them. Yes I know your first thought: it’s ugly and the whole house looks like a cube farm, but there are solutions where you will not even notice that you have a drop ceiling…
*) Big enough pipes in the wall for the cabling and enough pipes and a pipe to EVERY spot in your home where you could need it (and be it in 10 years).
You can leave the pipes and the outlets empty - the cost is very low if you do it when building your house.
Put a cord in every empty pipe so you can pull the cables through easily on your own.
*) Enough electrical outlets - I think that’s the most important point ;-)
*) USV circuit: put electrical outlets connected to a USV where you want to place sensitive equipment. Don’t forget to take outlets with a different color and a plastic protector which must be removed before sthg can be connected - you don’t want your wife to connect that 5000 watt hair dryer to it ;-)
*) Think of buying an emergency power generator that automatically starts when the power goes out.
*) A seperate ground fault circuit interrupter for every room and for the USV.
*) An emergency light in every room (I use LED spots) which is switched parallel to the “normal” light, but connected to the USV circuit.
*) Don’t forget the cabling for the alarm system.
*) I’ve my complete house controlled by a custom built control system running on a Windows 2003 Server - I think that would be overkill for you but think of a home automation system - one that doesn’t have it’s own bus but uses your ethernet…
*) A clean, sophisticated lettering of EVERY cable and EVERY pipe at both ends is an absolute must.
*) Have an up-to-date elecrical plan.
*) Electricians are ignorant fools that won’t understand your vision of the perfect house - at least in Austria ;-) So give all your instructions in written form - really everything from the size of every single pipe to your requirements for lettering…
*) Don’t use DVD, Sat-Receier, TV, etc… Use a monitor and a barebone PC - it’s the better and cheaper choice in most cases. And forget set-top-boxes like TiVo and so on… So you can put you MP3s and Videos on the Server and a PC in every room: klick and listen/watch - what could be better?
First sorry for my bad english but I hope I could give you some hints. Feel free to write me an e-mail if you need assistance, I’ve been a consultant for some “future homes” now so I know what’s important and where the problems arise…
bernhard muller
October 31st, 2007
at 7:03am
We built our home a few years ago and will build another shortly. We followed the advice I am going to give, and have no regrets.
Infrastructure is everything. Put as much money into 1st class electrical and plumbing as it takes to get it perfect. You can save some money by putting in cheap lighting fixtures, and even plumbing fixtures. These are easily replaced when money becomes available. Get cheap but servicable kitchen counters and appliances. These are also easily replaced when money becomes available.
In other words, put in the best cabling/conduit; multimedia junction boxes all over the house, telephone/audio/video outlets in every conceivable place now. Hard to do later. And comparatively cheap now compared to later.
Tom Farley
October 31st, 2007
at 10:10am
My only comment, as an architect (apprentice) is that you should seriously look into getting an architect. I don’t know what the state laws are for practicing architecture in Oklahoma, so I can’t comment on that. Not to knock builder’s. Most of them are good, but most people have the impression that an architect is only for rich people.
Believe it or not, an architect usually makes a smaller commission than a real estate agent does. The great thing about an architect is that you get a custom built home that is designed to fit exactly your needs and/or desires. Architects get degrees in this exact field. Making buildings that are custom designed for the owner. Most builder’s offer a book of home plans that you pick from and can modify somewhat. Any architect would argue that that is not built to your specific needs. If you can afford to build, you can afford to build to your specific likes. And why shouldn’t you? You will most likely live in the home for a number of years.
I encourage you to at least call a few local architects and get their opinions. They might even know your builder and could vouch for his integrity.
Tom Farley
October 31st, 2007
at 10:15am
I forgot to add to my last post. Many architects are keeping up with modern tech and can help you design the tech end of your home systems too. They will be able to guide and suggest the best layouts and equipment to fit your needs. Chances are that even if they can’t design the system themselves, they know someone that does.
Hope that helps.
Matt Wilkinson
November 1st, 2007
at 8:09am
Thanks for all the comments, Gnomies… keep ‘em coming. So far, I’ve decided that I will go with Cat 6 cabling for my new home’s data backbone. I’ve already started to plan out how I will build the network, and want to try to use all Gigabit Ethernet products throughout.
- I will most likely be going with high-speed Internet service from Cox Cable.
- For a router, I am thinking the Linksys RVS4000 4-port Gigabit Security Router.
http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?c=L_Product_C2&childpagename=US%2FLayout&cid=1150490915278&pagename=Linksys%2FCommon%2FVisitorWrapper&lid=1527801925B08
- For my Ethernet Switch, I am thinking the Linksys SGE2000P 24-port Managed Gigabit with PoE. I like the idea of PoE because I can then use Wireless Access Points that would draw power from the Ethernet cabling.
http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?c=L_Product_C2&childpagename=US%2FLayout&cid=1169672088979&pagename=Linksys%2FCommon%2FVisitorWrapper&lid=8897922279B04
- For Wireless, I am thinking the Linksys WAP 200 Wireless-G Access Point with PoE
http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?c=L_Product_C2&childpagename=US%2FLayout&cid=1172713082281&pagename=Linksys%2FCommon%2FVisitorWrapper&lid=8228139789B21
- I’ve found Cat 6 compliant wiring products from Leviton for the rest of my structured cabling needs — such as patch panels, and wall jack receptacles.
I will of course have some kind of NAS device setup. I am anxiously awaiting for HP to release their Windows Home Server-based MediaSmart server products. Having played with a pre-release version of WHS, I find it to be a compelling platform. I’m sure some of you Linux peeps will recommend a DIY approach, which I very open to if you make a compelling enough argument.