It’s flush with the floor.
I guess you don’t have any switches in your home either…
If finished properly, initial installation, sure maybe, possibly, but certainly not very often after floor and house settlement. 
6+? 
That many and the home hasn’t been planned properly IMO.
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They were not offering as an option to be added in 2013 when we bought our retirement home, that’s why I know it’s an outdated concept.
Central vacuum system isn’t typically a retrofit. It must be built into the home because of piping. New house settlement is never an issue with these outlets and PVC pipes behind the walls and under the floors.
I had a central vac in my last house. I really liked it. Felt like it was more powerful than normal vacuum cleaner.
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Haha, my husband had to redo the rain shower, he found out it wasn’t install correctly after we stayed at a hotel in Las Vegas with rain shower. They just shoved it in, stuck to the cement. Finally after talking with Kohler for hours, they finally sent us the right part.
There is/was a retrofit market. I’ve seen plenty of retrofit central vacs. Homeowners do take their homes down to the studs and rebuild.
In that case, it’s just like a new construction, isn’t it?
No, not necessarily. Depends by jurisdiction I would assume but usually keeping the foundation and studs is not new construction, but a remodel.
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I think amongst the younger crowd of homebuyers, especially, the Roomba or robot vacuum cleaners are more of the in thing.
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I’m a huge fan of hoseless Dyson sticks. I especially like the one that is designed for non-carpeted surfaces.
It is featherweight and does a great job picking up cat fur - even on the stairs. With 1200 sft of wood on the ground floor and three very sheddy cats, it is a lifesaver. I can just grab it off the charger for a quick cleanup and put it back on.
Never warmed up to a robotic vacuum. Built in vacuum systems are like trash compactors here… very few opt for them in new construction.
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Just read that Dyson has filed a patent for a stair climbing/cleaning robot! Maybe they will be on the market when my Roomba dies one day or the technology will be wide spread by then 
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We’re not young but have two Roombas (Mr. and Ms. Roomba) and a Roomba mopper (Admiral Mopsie). We love the Roombas, although now that we are down to just the in-law suite, we only need Ms. Roomba. (Also, I’m around working and can’t really have the Roomba running during Zoom calls).
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I used my roomba until my 16yo fur baby had an accident while we were away and the roomba carried it through 4 rooms. It was in the grooves and veins of the hardwoods 
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I used to think it was kind of…,prissy (?) that my mom had a vacuum on every floor…but I ended up doing the same thing! (Don’t tell her 
)
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We have central vac. Ours needs a tune up…but I really can’t complain…it’s 25 years old. Our vacuum died just as we were building this house. It was either a new regular vacuum or Central. We opted for central. We have two hoses…one on each living floor. Very long hoses…no issues with suction. We also had a vacuum connection out into our garage which is very handy when cleaning the cars.
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Wow - lots of discussions on central vacs. When I posted the question, my thought was perhaps it could be helpful if we someday ended up building a new/downsize home.
Upon further thought, methinks if it gets hard to use current vacuum cleaners likely we’d be ready to hire out the housekeeping (like we had done during a busy stretch of working/child rearing.) But it would not be as necessary if we went to a ranch house. Currently my husband thinks he does most of the vacuuming, since he uses the Kirby downstairs when company is coming (ie not often). However I use the old canister upstairs (even less often)… with the big struggle being the carpeted stairs.
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I’ve hired cleaners before, they didn’t clean under the bed and I didn’t know it. Hence after that I didn’t hire anybody anymore. Right now my husband vacuums the whole house when our kids are visiting, otherwise he just vacuums the living space where we spend the most time weekly, most likely when I’m off playing Mahjong.
But eventually when we get to our 80s, maybe we get some help. Right now it’s a form of exercise for my husband, lol.
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I love my Roomba. We have two dogs. I have the Roomba programmed to run overnight every night starting at 1:00 AM. I love to wake up and hear it doing its thing downstairs.
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I use my dyson for the stairs. The hose can extend almost the entire staircase if a straight shot, and I can leave the vacuum base at the bottom and not lug it up step by step. When it dies, I’m switching to the dyson stick vac (unless the robot stair thing is available/affordable).
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