Renovating your home, whether it’s a simple bathroom renovation or a complete overhaul of your home, is an exciting and stressful time. The opportunity to transform your home into the home of your dreams is real and tangible during a home renovation. But there are a lot of choices and decisions that must be made to ensure that your renovation goes on smoothly. The most important decisions that you make when renovating your home surround the materials that you choose. Here are eight things to know before you choose materials for your home renovation.
Determine the Cost
Having a. budget and sticking to it during a home renovation is an essential step to make sure that you don’t go overboard and end up regretting a splurge. And one of the costliest components of your home renovation is going to be the actual materials that you choose to use and utilize in your home renovation. You should determine the total cost for any materials that you are considering using and find out what items are within your budget, and which are not. There are plenty of cheaper alternatives to materials like marble or granite that look the same but cost less and can help you save for other areas of your renovation like labor and décor.
Consider the Value They Add
One of the key considerations to always have in the back of your mind when renovating your home is the value that your renovation adds to your home. When renovating, you always want the value added to your home post renovation to be greater than the cost of your renovation – this guarantees you a return on your investment. The materials you choose have a major impact on the value added to your home, the nicer materials used, the more value added. Make sure to consider the added value of the materials you choose for your renovation when deciding between materials.
Pick Quality Materials
The last thing you want to do is choose flimsy or unsound materials that will break and require you to replace every so often, or completely restart your renovation in a few years’ time. Quality materials should last a very long time and be stable and sturdy, allowing you to use them the way you need to without risk of breaking or damaging. Do your research and speak with your contractors to determine what materials are the best quality for the cheapest price to ensure that your renovation is done in a way which makes for longevity.
Think About Sustainability
The environmental impact of your renovation should be near the top of the list for considerations on the materials and items used in your construction. The environment is in danger, and your home is a great place to start to build sustainability and make an impact. Many materials used today follow green energy standards for new home construction. If sustainability is important to you and your family, make sure to do your research into green materials to use for your home construction and consult with your contractors to see what areas of construction can be streamlined for the most sustainable materials for your home renovation.
Choose a Style
Having a cohesive vision for the style of your home renovation is essential. Choosing a style or two to base your decisions off of will help narrow your options to the materials that fit your desired style. While exposed brick and wood may work great for an industrial feel, it will be all out of sorts in an art deco style home. Look around and research home design styles before making any materials decisions to ensure that your choices are going to work together and create the look that you are going for in your home renovation.
What Maintenance is Required
Some materials that you might choose for a home renovation have more or less maintenance needs than others. When renovating and building a deck, using real wood means that you will need to reseal it every year, whereas an artificial material may not need such hands-on care. Talk to your contractors and do your research to find out what kind of maintenance different material options require in your home renovation so that you can choose options that line up with your level of involvement in maintenance and what works best for you and your family.
Is This Material Appropriate for My Region
Loving the look, feel, and impact of certain materials is great, but not all materials are suitable for all climates and regions. If you love the look and feel of real wood siding for your home or shed, but you live in a wet and rainy region like Houston or Louisiana, then you could be setting yourself up for lots of water damage in the future. There are considerations like this that need to be made for every specific region and climate that significantly changes how and if certain materials can be used in home renovation projects. Do your research and find out if the materials you love for your home are a good fit for our area.
Can I Get Access to These Materials
Depending on where you live, your ability to get certain materials may change. The more unique or region specific a certain material is that you want to use, the longer you are likely to have to wait for your materials. All home renovations run on a budget and a timeline, and if your timeline is too tight, then some materials may just be impossible to use in the time needed. Make sure you know how long you are willing to wait for certain materials in your building project when considering your options.
There are a ton of building materials out there to use in your home renovation project. But not all materials are created equally, each have their own unique upsides and drawbacks to consider. Follow these eight considerations, and you will bae ready to select the materials for your home renovation stress-free.
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