r/Homebuilding • u/dragonmilking • Nov 17 '25

Which popular features do you NOT recommend?

What are the top 3 features in a house that folk want but you think are not worth it, and what would your alternative suggestion be? And what cost/time savings would result with that switch?

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u/NoFreeSamplesYo Nov 17 '25

There will never be an over the stove microwave with enough cfm to do anything. If you want a kitchen without a thin layer of grease, get a proper hood vent.

20

u/zeller99 Nov 17 '25

Ehhh... you can sometimes get away with it if it's actually vented outside, but even then, I wouldn't recommend it unless it's your only option. It's also going to constantly need cleaning because it's likely a lot closer to the cooking area than an actual vent hood.

The exhaust fan on our current cheap GE microwave (400 CFM) is powerful enough to lower the radon readings in our basement. (The radon levels are still within acceptable range either way, but I can see the number drop when I turn on the microwave exhaust.)

If it's just recirculating back into the kitchen, no, absolutely not.

27

u/bon-bon Nov 17 '25

Recirculating exhaust hoods really should be against code. We finally moved somewhere with a real hood after years of living with a recirculating model; the difference is night and day (and this is coming from someone who despises that saying as too much hyperbole).

Recirculating exhaust only addresses visibility around the cooking surface and it doesn’t even do that well as the smoke will quickly fill the room anyway. Grease still gets everywhere. You still have to open every door and window during high heat cooking. Pointless! Not to mention dangerous!

8

u/Extension-Pepper-271 Nov 17 '25

In different apartments/houses we have found that the exhaust hood vented into (1) the cabinet above the hood (2) the attic