Building a House.... but I'm a noob
#41
Originally Posted by juniorbean
Yeah, it was pretty cheap. They had the cable... so he just ran it in the rooms I asked, and I showed him where I wanted it in each room and where I wanted it to terminate. He even ran a phone, cable and Cat5e to the basement for us withough us even asking (it was unfinished, so he just left it coiled up, and we installed it when we finished the basement).
Yeah whenever I run stuff to the basement I always plan for them to finish. I have to put phone wire in steel conduit so I just leave enough to hit the floor. And cable I'll just roll up some in the ceiling
#42
The Creator
Originally Posted by ccannizz11
... what's the standard, one outlet every 10 feet? Should I have more above the counter in the kitchen?
and have them mounted horizontally above the counter rather then vertically. i meant to do this but forgot too...
it looks alot better and makes alot more sense functionally.
#43
^^ was that meant to go here
yeah I like them horizontally too, but for some reason I don't see people get them very often. Also remeber to account for a counter-top change. If you get a taller counter-top you might have an interference if your outlets are too low. And don't forget about the extra space the covers will take...
Originally Posted by soopa
put them everywhere you can imagine using/needing an outlet. all your work areas.
and have them mounted horizontally above the counter rather then vertically. i meant to do this but forgot too...
it looks alot better and makes alot more sense functionally.
and have them mounted horizontally above the counter rather then vertically. i meant to do this but forgot too...
it looks alot better and makes alot more sense functionally.
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Originally Posted by Scottman111
^^ was that meant to go here
Anyway, so - in our world - the kitchen is going to have an oversized island (similar to the one pictured below) with a sink and dishwasher, and overlooking the living area. But this requires eliminating a wall with a J-bar that overlooks the living area/breakfast nook from the standard plan. My question, is there any reason we shouldn't make this change (the price for doing it is fine)? Is there any reason, other than personal preference, why this change would makes things much better for us?
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Originally Posted by Scottman111
Wow those cabinets on both sides of the range look cool. I don't think i've ever seen anything like those before... Is yours going to be like this or just the island?
#48
Originally Posted by ccannizz11
Our island is actually bigger (4' x 10' with 1' overhang) with disguised storage underneath. As for the kitchen, the ceilings are higher and we don't have that elaborate setup around the range but it's still pretty nice, dark wood, staggered cabinet levels, etc.
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One thing we did not do was extend the kitchen island. We didn't think we would need it.. but now we wish we had since we have plenty of room to do it.... We've toyed with just sucking it up and having a bigger piece installed.... but probably not worth it at this point.
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Start by renting the Money Pit and the War of the Roses, just to get you in the right frame of mind.
Check out the local contractors in depth, including their warrenty programs, their warrenty support teams and the state of litigation against them. Talk with each about the specifics of what you want to do. At least in my area, the market is softening just a bit, and the result is you can negotiate more. Make sure they can guarantee the delivery of the home at the agreed upon closing and that if they bust the delivery date, they are contractually obligated for swing housing for you. THere are horror stories in Philly of folks having their delivery date pushed back months and being forced to live in motels, since their prior house has already been sold. In addition, look at any mortgage implications of a delayed delivery date, and confirm the track record for on-time deliveries by the contractor that you want to work with.
The truism is that kitchens and baths sell houses, the rest follows. I would look to finetune the kitchen to your needs, including getting the cabinet fitout devices that maximize the storage potential. With baths, I cannot imagine carpet on the floor, even if the toilet is in a separate compartment, but suit yourself . If you do go with tile, go with tile that is larger than 1x1 or 2x2 to minimize grout, and for gods sake, get grout that is grey, brown or some other medium tone. White grout will never stay white. It will age, stain and discolor. Tinted grouts will do the same, but the coloration will conceal peestains, etc....... Ideally, by the way, the toilet compartment should have a sink so that one can wash one's hands post-use, without touching doorknobs, frames, etc. Something they forget in the "crank-em out" world of commercial residential design.
Some things folks miss.
Look at the lighting, including confirming that lighting is where you need it. Developers will frequently provide "bling" lighting in major spaces, but look to see how the stair is lit (if you buy a two-story), look to see how the bathroom is lit. Is there a light that properly lights the toilet? are you going to be showering in the dark? Undercounter lights in a kitchen are a must. If you can, see the "model home" at night so that you can understand how the house works exclusively with artificial light. Is the lighting that is part of the design where you want it? is there focal lighting above a fireplace or other "special feature" elements of the house? How flexible is the lighting? Does the kitchen have a mix of flourescent and incandescent or quartz light? Flourescent, even the presumed color-corrected lamps, can turn the richest roast beef into mud.......Where are switches located? Is their location logical? Are closets lit, and if so, where is the light source, and will it be hidden or cast wierd shadows? Will the closet lighting really allow you to see the contents of the closet, which is, after all, the point? Take a look at the "bling" lighting, and if it is not to your taste, change it now, or budget some money to change it out later. Artimide makes great modern fixtures, very luxe Itialian design. There is an excellent firm in Portland Oregon (rejuvination lighting) that makes reasonably priced "retro" fixtures for anything from Victorian to mid-'fifties in style. They also make complementary hardware.
COnsider what your computer needs are and make sure you have access to dataports, not only in every room you might want, but every wall you might want. In our current ad-hoc residence (forced by my wife's health) we have our computer line taped to the ceiling and running the length of the room.)
Look at insulation design. Confirm the R-value of walls, and ask about the insulation of the basement slab and foundations, if you have a full basement and expect to use it. Look at the heating system and determine the zoning. If you have two floors, you should at least have two zones. If you have rooms that you want that are essentially unused, get them zoned so that you are not heating and cooling them to the same temperature as the rest of the house, evry day, all of the time.
Look at the baseboard trim. Is it clamshell or a simple section, or is it more ornate, larger and more well-proportioned with a finishing ogee trim? Are any of the main rooms trimmed with crown mouldings and/or chair rails, and if so, is it wood, plastic or fiberglass? (if it is a traditional house). Look at the doors, including closet doors, and look at how the door is mounted. Cheap hinges break, rack the door and become a challenge on a daily basis. Look at where they have doors, and figure out whether they are where you want.
Look at the standard hardware, feel it, handle it, and determine whether it is cheap shit or something reasonable. You will use your hardware daily, if it is cheap and feels cheap, it cheapens the entire house.
Size of house is a very personal thing, but to develop an understanding of what you need, think about your average week in the house. What rooms would you use daily, weekly, monthly. THat "great room" may be a beautiful space, but if you are going to use it once a month...........is it worth it? COnversely, many developer homes have a large informal room and a "formal" living room. THe latter tend to turn into a furniture display diorama, as the family really lives in the "great room"...........Do you have unusual spatial needs? do you our your wife have need for a home study, studio or workshop? (Both my wife and I needed home offices located remote from each other, as we both used to bring our work home with us. Our respective studies were small, tiny even, but very efficient and for us, essential at the time.) How often do you expect to have overnight guests? If a lot, then that guest bedroom makes sense, if not, an address of the local hotel is a lot cheaper than maintaining and furnishing an unused room. Many folks overbuy a house, then end up with several beautifully furnished rooms that are not used. My personal tendency is to maximize the value of my dollar by buying smaller and making sure that it has all of the amenities, rather than buying larger with fewer goodies. Maintenance of a larger house is a telling aspect of how you choose to live, and if vacuuming, painting and cleaning are your thing, buy big or plan to hire a housekeeper or cleaning service. You are right to think about how much furniture you have and will be able to afford to buy. The true hidden costs of home purchase come with the desire/need to furnish the larger rooms, the spare bedroom, the media room, etc - and you either end up furniishing it with stuff from Ikea (for now - that then runs for fifteen years) or you face a major fiscal committment to buy quality. Again, buying smaller may result in your being able to furnish well the house you buy, rather than having a beautiful living room with two pieces of furniture floating on a sea of floor.
Look at the specifics of your site, and your lot. Are headlamps from cars going to blast your living room like floodlamps because of the placement of the house on the property? Are you acceptably buffered from your neighbors or does your master bedroom look into your neighbors? Might be entertaining, but...........
To that end, get a floor plan of the house you want TO SCALE, preferably 1/4" to a foot. Then, get some grid paper, and draw every piece of furniture you own and intend to keep. Then, cut the stuff out, and start to arrange furniture in every room. This will "test" the floor plan; you may discover, for example that the Master Bedroom may be so limiting in door and window placement as to accommodate only one way to arrange it, or that the living room, though large, is difficult to arrange because of circulation paths. There are computer programs that do this stuff, but I prefer the KISS mode for this. There are many wonderful floor plans available, but the real test is their livibility. It is easy to make a posh "model home" that looks like a million bucks but if the circulation plan is such that everyone walks by the only location for a television, then you're screwed....... and many developer plans have that kind of thoughtless inefficiiency built into it.
PErsonally, I am of the Soopa school of residential purchase; buy an older place with good bones and screw around with it until you have exactly what you want. But - if you're going to buy new, go into it armed with every bit of research about the builder you possibly can find, including a wealth of information that is pubically available. And - don't blanch at asking the hard questions - what percentage of warranty recall do they have in the development that you are looking at buying in.........
Check out the local contractors in depth, including their warrenty programs, their warrenty support teams and the state of litigation against them. Talk with each about the specifics of what you want to do. At least in my area, the market is softening just a bit, and the result is you can negotiate more. Make sure they can guarantee the delivery of the home at the agreed upon closing and that if they bust the delivery date, they are contractually obligated for swing housing for you. THere are horror stories in Philly of folks having their delivery date pushed back months and being forced to live in motels, since their prior house has already been sold. In addition, look at any mortgage implications of a delayed delivery date, and confirm the track record for on-time deliveries by the contractor that you want to work with.
The truism is that kitchens and baths sell houses, the rest follows. I would look to finetune the kitchen to your needs, including getting the cabinet fitout devices that maximize the storage potential. With baths, I cannot imagine carpet on the floor, even if the toilet is in a separate compartment, but suit yourself . If you do go with tile, go with tile that is larger than 1x1 or 2x2 to minimize grout, and for gods sake, get grout that is grey, brown or some other medium tone. White grout will never stay white. It will age, stain and discolor. Tinted grouts will do the same, but the coloration will conceal peestains, etc....... Ideally, by the way, the toilet compartment should have a sink so that one can wash one's hands post-use, without touching doorknobs, frames, etc. Something they forget in the "crank-em out" world of commercial residential design.
Some things folks miss.
Look at the lighting, including confirming that lighting is where you need it. Developers will frequently provide "bling" lighting in major spaces, but look to see how the stair is lit (if you buy a two-story), look to see how the bathroom is lit. Is there a light that properly lights the toilet? are you going to be showering in the dark? Undercounter lights in a kitchen are a must. If you can, see the "model home" at night so that you can understand how the house works exclusively with artificial light. Is the lighting that is part of the design where you want it? is there focal lighting above a fireplace or other "special feature" elements of the house? How flexible is the lighting? Does the kitchen have a mix of flourescent and incandescent or quartz light? Flourescent, even the presumed color-corrected lamps, can turn the richest roast beef into mud.......Where are switches located? Is their location logical? Are closets lit, and if so, where is the light source, and will it be hidden or cast wierd shadows? Will the closet lighting really allow you to see the contents of the closet, which is, after all, the point? Take a look at the "bling" lighting, and if it is not to your taste, change it now, or budget some money to change it out later. Artimide makes great modern fixtures, very luxe Itialian design. There is an excellent firm in Portland Oregon (rejuvination lighting) that makes reasonably priced "retro" fixtures for anything from Victorian to mid-'fifties in style. They also make complementary hardware.
COnsider what your computer needs are and make sure you have access to dataports, not only in every room you might want, but every wall you might want. In our current ad-hoc residence (forced by my wife's health) we have our computer line taped to the ceiling and running the length of the room.)
Look at insulation design. Confirm the R-value of walls, and ask about the insulation of the basement slab and foundations, if you have a full basement and expect to use it. Look at the heating system and determine the zoning. If you have two floors, you should at least have two zones. If you have rooms that you want that are essentially unused, get them zoned so that you are not heating and cooling them to the same temperature as the rest of the house, evry day, all of the time.
Look at the baseboard trim. Is it clamshell or a simple section, or is it more ornate, larger and more well-proportioned with a finishing ogee trim? Are any of the main rooms trimmed with crown mouldings and/or chair rails, and if so, is it wood, plastic or fiberglass? (if it is a traditional house). Look at the doors, including closet doors, and look at how the door is mounted. Cheap hinges break, rack the door and become a challenge on a daily basis. Look at where they have doors, and figure out whether they are where you want.
Look at the standard hardware, feel it, handle it, and determine whether it is cheap shit or something reasonable. You will use your hardware daily, if it is cheap and feels cheap, it cheapens the entire house.
Size of house is a very personal thing, but to develop an understanding of what you need, think about your average week in the house. What rooms would you use daily, weekly, monthly. THat "great room" may be a beautiful space, but if you are going to use it once a month...........is it worth it? COnversely, many developer homes have a large informal room and a "formal" living room. THe latter tend to turn into a furniture display diorama, as the family really lives in the "great room"...........Do you have unusual spatial needs? do you our your wife have need for a home study, studio or workshop? (Both my wife and I needed home offices located remote from each other, as we both used to bring our work home with us. Our respective studies were small, tiny even, but very efficient and for us, essential at the time.) How often do you expect to have overnight guests? If a lot, then that guest bedroom makes sense, if not, an address of the local hotel is a lot cheaper than maintaining and furnishing an unused room. Many folks overbuy a house, then end up with several beautifully furnished rooms that are not used. My personal tendency is to maximize the value of my dollar by buying smaller and making sure that it has all of the amenities, rather than buying larger with fewer goodies. Maintenance of a larger house is a telling aspect of how you choose to live, and if vacuuming, painting and cleaning are your thing, buy big or plan to hire a housekeeper or cleaning service. You are right to think about how much furniture you have and will be able to afford to buy. The true hidden costs of home purchase come with the desire/need to furnish the larger rooms, the spare bedroom, the media room, etc - and you either end up furniishing it with stuff from Ikea (for now - that then runs for fifteen years) or you face a major fiscal committment to buy quality. Again, buying smaller may result in your being able to furnish well the house you buy, rather than having a beautiful living room with two pieces of furniture floating on a sea of floor.
Look at the specifics of your site, and your lot. Are headlamps from cars going to blast your living room like floodlamps because of the placement of the house on the property? Are you acceptably buffered from your neighbors or does your master bedroom look into your neighbors? Might be entertaining, but...........
To that end, get a floor plan of the house you want TO SCALE, preferably 1/4" to a foot. Then, get some grid paper, and draw every piece of furniture you own and intend to keep. Then, cut the stuff out, and start to arrange furniture in every room. This will "test" the floor plan; you may discover, for example that the Master Bedroom may be so limiting in door and window placement as to accommodate only one way to arrange it, or that the living room, though large, is difficult to arrange because of circulation paths. There are computer programs that do this stuff, but I prefer the KISS mode for this. There are many wonderful floor plans available, but the real test is their livibility. It is easy to make a posh "model home" that looks like a million bucks but if the circulation plan is such that everyone walks by the only location for a television, then you're screwed....... and many developer plans have that kind of thoughtless inefficiiency built into it.
PErsonally, I am of the Soopa school of residential purchase; buy an older place with good bones and screw around with it until you have exactly what you want. But - if you're going to buy new, go into it armed with every bit of research about the builder you possibly can find, including a wealth of information that is pubically available. And - don't blanch at asking the hard questions - what percentage of warranty recall do they have in the development that you are looking at buying in.........
#51
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Man, good stuff, ric. I've seen those movies and that's what I'm worried about, whether it be my own ignorance or the builders' incompetence remains to be seen. I'm trying to avoid both as best I can.
I don't have any pictures of it right now, but I'll get one sooner or later.
Originally Posted by Scottman111
damn bigger than that island would probably be the biggest one I've ever seen Your kitchen must be huge I'm guessing if there is still plenty of room to move around comfortably with the island that big. Can you post a kitchen pic by chance? In the future I want a big kitchen and I want to see how you have stuff set up and how the dark wood looks No problem if it's a big deal...Thanks..
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Originally Posted by ccannizz11
Man, good stuff, ric. I've seen those movies and that's what I'm worried about, whether it be my own ignorance or the builders' incompetence remains to be seen. I'm trying to avoid both as best I can.
.
.
#53
Originally Posted by ccannizz11
Man, good stuff, ric. I've seen those movies and that's what I'm worried about, whether it be my own ignorance or the builders' incompetence remains to be seen. I'm trying to avoid both as best I can.
I don't have any pictures of it right now, but I'll get one sooner or later.
I don't have any pictures of it right now, but I'll get one sooner or later.
#54
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Thought of another general question.....
On the larger floor plans there can be up to 4 bedrooms, I was thinking of making the 4th bedroom into an office/study with french doors leading out to the back patio. I think Dave said something in another thread about how much Heat/AC you lose with each window added, so is it the same for adding doors? Pros/Cons of adding a double doors to one of the rooms?
On the larger floor plans there can be up to 4 bedrooms, I was thinking of making the 4th bedroom into an office/study with french doors leading out to the back patio. I think Dave said something in another thread about how much Heat/AC you lose with each window added, so is it the same for adding doors? Pros/Cons of adding a double doors to one of the rooms?
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Originally Posted by ccannizz11
Thought of another general question.....
On the larger floor plans there can be up to 4 bedrooms, I was thinking of making the 4th bedroom into an office/study with french doors leading out to the back patio. I think Dave said something in another thread about how much Heat/AC you lose with each window added, so is it the same for adding doors? Pros/Cons of adding a double doors to one of the rooms?
On the larger floor plans there can be up to 4 bedrooms, I was thinking of making the 4th bedroom into an office/study with french doors leading out to the back patio. I think Dave said something in another thread about how much Heat/AC you lose with each window added, so is it the same for adding doors? Pros/Cons of adding a double doors to one of the rooms?
#56
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Update
Well, after much searching and a lot of concessions as far as our budget is concerned, we decided on a floor plan and location. The location that we decided to get into really affected the price a lot, but I know we will see the benefits when we sell later on. We have one of the best lots in a great neighborhood, and it will only get better from here. The house will look similar to this.....
On ours, we extended the front porch across the front of the house, and changed up the kitchen and master bath. Signed the contract last week, and it should be finished by the beginning of the summer.
I want to thank everyone, especially juniorbean, for their help with all my questions. Oh, and scottman, I tried to take a pic of the island but the sales rep wouldn't allow me to take the camera in the house Anyway, thanks a ton, everyone's help is much appreciated.
On ours, we extended the front porch across the front of the house, and changed up the kitchen and master bath. Signed the contract last week, and it should be finished by the beginning of the summer.
I want to thank everyone, especially juniorbean, for their help with all my questions. Oh, and scottman, I tried to take a pic of the island but the sales rep wouldn't allow me to take the camera in the house Anyway, thanks a ton, everyone's help is much appreciated.
#61
Team Owner
Does it have a basement?
#63
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Originally Posted by ccannizz11
why?
Especially useful here in Cyclone valley.
#65
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Originally Posted by ccannizz11
why?
Is the basement an option? Sometimes they aren't permitted if the water table is high.
Last edited by doopstr; 01-26-2006 at 01:09 PM.
#69
Originally Posted by ccannizz11
Allow me to take the camera in the house Anyway, thanks a ton, everyone's help is much appreciated.
Cool house though Lovin' the garage...
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Originally Posted by Purple Yam
No living room? no bay window, and no sunroom? Could you add those option to your house?
#74
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Originally Posted by Purple Yam
No living room? no bay window, and no sunroom? Could you add those option to your house?
His familyroom is really a great room, and is a family/living room. Very common in layouts nowadays.
Sunroom What is that,... like a glass room? Why would this be a must have? and where could he add it without losing something?
#75
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Originally Posted by Purple Yam
No living room? no bay window, and no sunroom? Could you add those option to your house?
Bay windows are nice for homes built in the 80's and 90's. Nowadays, most builders do either double or triple wide windows which are much more practical since they can actually open, and they let in the same amount or more light then a bay. Some are more decorative then others (such as paladium windows, arched windows, transom windows, and so on), but bays are rare. Of the 30 or so models we looked at, zero had bay windows. Now, if you're talking about a bumpout bay, then that's different, but still not necessary if you have a good amount of windows.
Sunrooms are nice, but not necessary. The dollar per square foot added on those is typically very high, so they look nice, but aren't always cost effective or the best investment. Plus, the heating/cooling (depending on the season) is also a consideration since they are not very effecient rooms. Same would go for bumpout bays (as far as cost effectiveness). Our builder was charging $10k for a bumpout in the master which added about 70 square feet and was pretty much all windows. We decided against it and kept the standard windows in there (which is a wall of almost floor to ceiling windows) and we get more light with those then the people who have the bay... so totally not worth it.
BTW, do you have any pics of your place? Have you ever built a house.. b/c your comments seem fairly ignorant. Just curious since you really haven't contributed anything other then a few critical comments.
Last edited by juniorbean; 02-03-2006 at 09:25 AM.
#76
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Originally Posted by juniorbean
Living rooms are a waste of space. Pretty much everyone we know that has one never uses it. Family room, Bonus room, and kitchen is where everyone hangs.
Living rooms are fine, as long as you actually use them (for entertaining, etc. )
#77
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Originally Posted by fdl
I would agree, minus the "bonus room". What the heck is that?
Living rooms are fine, as long as you actually use them (for entertaining, etc. )
Living rooms are fine, as long as you actually use them (for entertaining, etc. )
Back of bonus room:
Front of bonus room:
Last edited by juniorbean; 02-03-2006 at 09:34 AM.
#78
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Ah..Ok. So its on the second floor then. Honestly it doesnt seem like a room that would get used much? What do you use it for?
Around here alot of builders put bedrooms over the garage, or partially over the garage. Only problem is its kinda cold in the winter.
Around here alot of builders put bedrooms over the garage, or partially over the garage. Only problem is its kinda cold in the winter.
#79
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Originally Posted by fdl
Ah..Ok. So its on the second floor then. Honestly it doesnt seem like a room that would get used much? What do you use it for?
Around here alot of builders put bedrooms over the garage, or partially over the garage. Only problem is its kinda cold in the winter.
Around here alot of builders put bedrooms over the garage, or partially over the garage. Only problem is its kinda cold in the winter.
As for the bonus room, they are usually over the garage, so yes, usually on the second floor... some builders have them on the first floor and use the space over the garage as storage or an attic. So technically still a bonus room, but I'd say that about 85%-90% of the builders put them over the garage.
Funny you should say that. We haven't used the room for more then a few hours since we've been here . We just got an air hockey table, so we use that a few times a week. When people come over it gets more use obviously. As mentioned above, That room will eventually be a game room/theater. I hope to be getting the projector this summer, and the room already has surround, so I'll just need to hook everything up and I'll be all set. Then the back part will have the game table, air hockey table, arcade BBall, and darts. So it will be a rec room when all is said and done. We'll watch movies up there, or just play games.
Oh and sorry about the hijack canz
#80
I reread the post and I see that ccannizz11 has no basement. If you have a basement, add a sunroom will give you an extra space in the basement. I live in Maryland, and most houses have bay window, so I guess different location have different taste. Some people like to have Living room, some don't. I just asked ccannizz11 to make sure that he did not left anything out.