5 Things Homeowners Regret NOT Upgrading During Construction
Building a new home is exciting. You get to choose the cabinets, countertops, flooring, siding, fixtures, colors, and all the other details that make the house feel like yours.
But after years of helping homeowners build custom homes, we have noticed something interesting. The upgrades people regret most are not always the ones they skipped because they wanted a nicer finish.
More often, they are the things they wish they had addressed while the walls were open, the basement was unfinished, or the house was already under construction.
Once construction is complete, some upgrades become dramatically more expensive or nearly impossible to add without tearing something apart.
That is why we encourage homeowners to think beyond the obvious upgrades and ask:
"What will I wish I had done five or ten years from now?"
Here are five upgrades worth considering before construction is finished.
1. Better Insulation, Air Sealing and Sound Control
This is probably one of the least exciting upgrades on a builder's selections sheet, and one of the ones we are most likely to encourage.
Nobody walks through a finished home and says, "Wow, I love this insulation."
But you will notice the effects of good insulation and air sealing every day.
A better-performing building envelope can mean:
More consistent temperatures from room to room
Fewer drafts
Better energy efficiency
Improved comfort near exterior walls and windows
Less strain on your heating and cooling system
A quieter home
At Jones & Jones, we also believe some of these performance measures should not have to be an "upgrade" at all. We make a point of going above and beyond typical construction practices when it comes to insulation and air sealing as part of our standard building approach.
That is intentional. We would rather build a better-performing home from the inside out than spend the entire budget chasing cosmetic upgrades that can be changed later.
Do not forget about sound
Sound control is another area where homeowners sometimes tell us, after the fact, that they wish they had done more.
You may not think much about soundproofing when you are looking at a floor plan, but consider what happens once the house is occupied.
Kids playing upstairs. A television in the basement. A bathroom next to a bedroom. A laundry room near a living space. A home office next to a busy hallway. Someone getting up early while everyone else is still sleeping.
Adding sound-dampening insulation in strategic walls, floors or ceilings can make a surprisingly noticeable difference in how comfortable a home feels.
And like thermal insulation, it is much easier to address while the walls are open than after the drywall is finished.
You do not necessarily need to soundproof the entire house. In many cases, strategically choosing a few areas where privacy and noise control matter most can provide a lot of value without dramatically increasing the overall construction budget.
There is another important reason to think about these things during construction. Insulation, air sealing and sound control are incredibly difficult to improve once the walls are closed.
Once drywall is installed, improving the building envelope or adding sound control can mean removing finished materials, opening walls, or finding much more invasive solutions.
You can replace a countertop.
You can change a light fixture.
You can repaint a room.
You cannot easily go back and improve the insulation, air sealing or sound control behind your walls.
That is why we encourage homeowners to prioritize the parts of a home that are difficult or expensive to change later before spending every available dollar on finishes.
The best time to make your home perform better is while you are building it.
2. More Electrical Outlets and Strategic Electrical Planning
It is amazing how quickly a brand-new home can develop a shortage of outlets.
During construction, adding an outlet might be a relatively simple change. A few years later, you are running extension cords, adding power strips, or wishing you had thought ahead.
Do not just think about where you need outlets today. Think about how you will actually use the house.
Consider additional outlets or dedicated circuits for things like:
Garage refrigerators or freezers
Workbenches and tools
Home offices
Wall-mounted televisions
Holiday lighting
Exterior entertaining areas
Basement workshops
Kitchen appliances
Bathroom accessories
Future landscaping equipment
EV charging
Backup power
And do not forget about locations that are easy to overlook.
Would an outlet inside a kitchen cabinet be useful? What about behind the toilet? Inside a pantry? In a closet? Near the soffit for holiday lights? At the location where you may eventually mount a television?
These are inexpensive decisions to make during construction compared with trying to retrofit electrical after the fact.
It is also worth thinking about where your furniture will actually go. An outlet that is technically in the room is not necessarily useful if it ends up behind a large piece of furniture.
A little planning now can save you from living with extension cords and power strips later.
3. Running Wiring for the Future
This is closely related to electrical planning, but it deserves its own category.
You do not necessarily need to install every piece of technology today. You just want to make sure your house is ready for tomorrow.
Technology changes quickly. The house you are building today could still be serving you 20 or 30 years from now.
Running inexpensive wiring while the walls are open can give you options later.
Depending on your home and how you use it, that might include wiring for:
Security cameras
Wi-Fi access points
Television locations
Home audio
Internet and networking
Doorbells
Exterior cameras
Future smart-home equipment
Garage technology
Future electrical or low-voltage needs
One of our favorite principles when building a home is simple:
If it is inexpensive and easy to install during construction but expensive and difficult to add later, it is worth at least considering now.
You do not have to install every camera, speaker, or smart-home device today.
Sometimes the smartest upgrade is simply putting the infrastructure in place so you have the option later.
4. Better Windows, Exterior Doors and Other Long-Term Building Components
When homeowners are comparing selections, it is easy to focus on what they can see.
Countertops are easy to compare.
Flooring is easy to compare.
Cabinet colors are easy to compare.
But some of the most important components of a home are the things you interact with indirectly every day.
Windows and exterior doors are good examples.
A modest increase in budget may provide improvements in areas such as:
Energy performance
Comfort near windows
Noise reduction
Durability
Air infiltration
Condensation resistance
Overall long-term performance
The same philosophy applies to other components of the building envelope and mechanical systems.
We are not saying that every homeowner needs the most expensive product available. In fact, that is rarely the point.
The goal is to identify where spending a little more meaningfully improves the home's long-term performance.
That is very different from simply buying the most expensive option.
This is where we think a good builder can add a lot of value. There are countless products and upgrades available during construction. Homeowners should not have to become experts in every one of them.
Part of our job is helping you understand where an upgrade will actually make a meaningful difference and where you might be better off keeping the money in your budget.
5. Future-Proofing the Layout
Some of the biggest regrets are not really "upgrades" at all.
They are missed opportunities in the floor plan.
A house that works perfectly for your family today may not work quite as well ten years from now.
Before construction begins, think about how the house could evolve.
Could you eventually need:
A first-floor bedroom?
A larger home office?
A dedicated hobby space?
More storage?
A bathroom in the basement?
A larger laundry area?
A future finished basement?
A wider doorway or more accessible bathroom?
A place for aging parents or returning children?
More garage space?
A dedicated mechanical or storage area?
You do not necessarily have to finish all of these spaces immediately.
Sometimes the smartest decision is simply building in the ability to finish or modify them later.
For example, roughing in plumbing for a future bathroom is considerably easier while the basement is under construction than after the concrete floor has been poured and the walls are finished.
Likewise, planning the structure and utilities for a future finished space can save a lot of headaches later.
The same applies to the layout itself. Maybe that spare bedroom eventually becomes an office. Maybe a large open basement becomes a family room. Maybe a portion of the garage eventually becomes a workshop.
Thinking about those possibilities before construction can help you avoid designing yourself into a corner.
The Best "Upgrade" May Be the One You Never Notice
When you are building a custom home, there will always be more upgrades available than there is room in the budget.
That is why we do not think every homeowner should simply say yes to every option.
Instead, we recommend prioritizing.
Ask yourself:
Can I easily change this later?
If the answer is yes, it may make sense to keep the money in your pocket for now.
If the answer is no, or changing it later would require opening walls, removing flooring, breaking concrete, or significantly disrupting the home, it is worth giving that upgrade much more consideration during construction.
You can change paint.
You can replace a light fixture.
You can change countertops.
You can replace flooring.
But improving insulation after the walls are closed up? Adding sound control between bedrooms? Adding plumbing under a concrete floor? Running wiring through finished walls? Changing the basic layout of the house?
Those are different stories.
Build for the Future, Not Just Move-In Day
The best custom homes are not necessarily the ones with the longest list of upgrades.
They are the homes where the money was spent intentionally.
At Jones & Jones, we believe in looking beyond the surface-level selections and helping homeowners think about the things that will affect how their home performs and functions for years to come.
We love beautiful kitchens, great countertops, beautiful flooring and all the other details that make a home feel finished. But those are not the only things that make a house a great home.
Sometimes the best place to spend an extra dollar is on something you will never see.
Because when you are making decisions during construction, the most valuable upgrade is not always the one you notice when you walk through the front door.
Sometimes it is the one you will be thankful you made ten years later.
