There are many motivations for improving your household, from engaging in repairs to fixing up the aesthetics to reorganizing the space entirely. All of them are valid and worthwhile provided you have solid reasons and the budget to make the plans reality.
However, there can be some times when you don’t want to design within an inch of your life, when you don’t want to emulate a perfect showroom, and you’re not looking to be featured on any repeated weekly house design show.
Now and again you just want to improve your home for convenience and ease of use. That’s especially true if you have other concerns to think of, be that a family to raise, a hard job to work, or medical concerns to live with. Having a highly complex home with many things that could go wrong could be a huge impediment to all that. Sometimes, you want a home improvement that guarantees the least amount of future maintenance and cost.
Let’s explore what those could be:
Replace Old Roofing With Long-Lasting Materials
Your roof takes a beating from weather year after year, so upgrading to materials that can handle decades without much fuss makes good sense. Metal roofing lasts much longer than the usual tiles and needs barely any maintenance once it's up there. Also, slate is another option that can go fifty years or more without needing attention, though it costs more upfront.
Getting a reliable roofing company to assess what you currently have and recommend enduring alternatives in this way could save you from dealing with leaks, repairs, and replacements for years to come. The initial expense might seem steep, but when you add up what you'd spend on regular maintenance and emergency fixes, better materials often work out cheaper in the long run.
Install Hard-Wearing Flooring Throughout
You’ll usually find that carpets need to be cleaned often and eventual replacement, but certain types of hard flooring can last for decades with little care. Moreover, well-designed vinyl planks look nice and can handle spills, pets, and heavy foot traffic without showing wear or damage easily. False hardwood gives you the appearance of real wood but stands up better to moisture and temperature changes which is great if you live in a hot area, too.
Polished concrete might sound industrial but it's practically indestructible and easy to keep clean, which is why people use it in garages. Whatever you choose, having the same flooring throughout most of your home means less variety in cleaning products and maintenance needs, and you could always place large rugs that can be removed if you want a little decoration. You don’t need hard floors in all areas of the home, but where you don’t want to maintain, this can help.
Upgrade To Low-Maintenance Exterior Cladding
Painting the outside of your house every few years can be pretty tiring, especially if you're dealing with peeling paint or weather damage. That’s why certain cement siding, brick veneer, or composite materials are known to last longer than wood siding and can look like other materials too.
Such materials will also help you resist moisture, insects, and fading, so once they're installed you can pretty much forget about them. The upfront cost is higher than a simple paint job, but you'll save time and money, which is the real goal here.
With this advice, you’ll be sure to guarantee the least amount of long-term care in your home.
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