Renovating Your Floor? Consider these 5 Things First!
The flooring of your home plays a vital role in setting the tone for your interior. Whether it be a new home or renovation, flooring makes a significant impact on the overall design theme of any space. As the floor is the most exposed part of your interior and goes through regular wear and tear, the practicality and durability of the flooring material also has a crucial function. Such factors make selecting an appropriate flooring material a highly essential task. Consider These Things First! Before you get started with your floor renovation, here are a few things that you should keep in mind. Don’t Replace – Fix It! While completely getting rid of the damaged floors seems appealing, you should first try to replace the damaged areas without getting rid of the good parts. Besides helping you save time, money, and energy, this will also prove beneficial for the environment. For example, single floor tiles that are easy to replace and can be switched out without damaging neighboring tiles. You can also clean up and re-grout old tiles to breathe a new life in them. Explore All The Options First Several flooring options, like carpets, vinyl, tiles, etc., are available in the market. However, vinyl flooring has recorded a rise in demand due to its durability and the variety of available design options. Quick research will show you that materials like tiles and hardwood floors are more expensive options. The bottom line is that if you stay open-minded about the products and their varieties, you can discover many flooring options that you may not have even initially considered. Durability The durability of flooring material, often overlooked, is very important while installing floors. Vinyl, hardwood floors, laminates, and adequately installed tiles can prove durable options for your home. However, before installing your flooring, you have to consider the related features for durability, such as ensuring that the subfloor is smooth and flat. An uneven subfloor can negatively impact the durability of your flooring, with tiles laid on such surfaces often cracking or breaking easily. Resale Value Installing the correct type of flooring can enhance the resale value of your home. While hardwood floors have the most significant impact on the resale value, other flooring materials can also help increase it. Tiles also prove relevant tools here. If installed correctly and with a trendy aesthetic, tiles significantly increase the resale value besides contributing to your home’s functionality and visual appeal. 5 Simple Ways You Can Renovate Your Floors On A Budget Here are 5 material choices that you can use to enhance your home’s quality while remaining within the budget. Tile Tiles are one of the oldest, most popular, and most commonly used types of flooring. These are available in various materials, like ceramic, vitrified, porcelain, etc. They are also available in different finishes like glossy, super glossy, matte, and multiple sizes, shapes and patterned tiles as well. Tile is well-known as a fantastic flooring option for a variety of reasons. The first reason is because it is inexpensive. In addition, the tile is waterproof, which is ideal for areas such as kitchens and bathrooms. Concrete Concrete flooring, while slightly expensive, is an excellent flooring option. Highly functional, the flooring is super robust and suitable for various areas. It is primarily used for the basement, which often has water seeping through the floor or walls. However, similar to tiles, concrete is a cold-flooring option and fails to retain most of the heat. Hardwood floors You can never go wrong with wooden flooring. Pair it up with wood wall tiles, and you have a warm and inviting space waiting for you! All hardwood floors have unmatched beauty and go well with all decors. While these floors are a bit expensive, their durability makes up for it and makes them one of the best choices in the category. The only major drawback is they get damaged easily and require considerable maintenance. Laminate The usage of laminate flooring has increased exponentially over the past few years. Their ease of installation and low-cost material are the two main reasons for increased demand. However, the biggest drawback of this flooring is that if it gets damaged, the whole flooring needs to be replaced, which puts them on the costly side of the flooring spectrum. Vinyl Vinyl, an affordable flooring option, is apt for use in all the parts of your home. It replicates the look of stone or hardwood flooring and augments the visual of the house. However, vinyl can also be torn and dented easily, making it essential to take care of them. It is imperative to choose the correct flooring for your space, considering the aesthetic, durability and cost of the flooring in mind. What works for one room may not work for another. Thus, it is best to complete your own research before investing in a flooring option, as you are going in for a long-.term investment. – Isha Tandon Isha has worked within the architecture and interior design industry as a flooring consultant expert – specializing in tiles, stones, and terrazzo. She has worked with Orientbell Limited, a leading tile manufacturer in India, as a product development manager in the design team and has recently joined the marketing team as their digital content expert. Her experience comes in handy in understanding the audience as she creates value-driven functional & informational content for the readers. She creates lifestyle pieces that focus on interior design products, trends, and processes. She loves to travel to historic places with rich architecture.
Exterior Home Projects that Increase Your Home’s Value
Spring will be here before you know it so now is a great time to start planning some exterior renovation projects that will be perfect for the warmer weather and boost your home’s value. The exterior of a home offers plenty of room for upgrades, so let’s go over some of the best projects you can undertake that will not only boost your home’s value but provide you some personal benefit as well. A New Roof The roof of your home has a huge impact on its value. By installing some fresh shingles or other types of roofing, you can achieve a fresh, crisp look up top that will be reflected in your home’s value. You can’t go wrong with new asphalt shingles, but you might also opt for synthetic cedar shakes, rubber slate roof tiles, or natural wood shakes. For an added bump in value, consider attaching some solar panels to your roof as well. Landscaping Another big-ticket upgrade that stands out upon first viewing of a home is a landscaping project. This can take the form of a beautiful, winding stone pathway, a pergola, gazebo, hedges, a garden, or anything else you can come up with. Having some sort of prominent, unique feature in your yard differentiates you from your neighbors and adds value to your home. Improve Your Facade Your facade generally refers to the front of your home. This includes everything from your siding to your front door. Improve it all in one fell swoop for maximum value. You can replace your front door with a newer version or style, or you could simply add a fancy knocker or some window panels. For siding, consider swapping out traditional vinyl for something with more value like fiber cement, stone veneer, or vertical metal siding which are some of the best house siding options on the market today. New Windows Windows play as big of a role in determining the value of your home as many other large features. They can let in natural light and improve the aesthetic tremendously if you pick the right kind. Adding a skylight or two as well as swapping out old windows for newer ones is another highly effective way to add value. Replace your old single-hung windows with more creative styles like a bay window, sliding windows, or even garden windows that allow you to grow flowers or vegetables indoors. Weatherproofing Leaks One easy and super cheap way to add value to your home is by weatherproofing windows and doors. Adding some weatherstripping, an AirDam, or both can eliminate those pesky air leaks and raise the energy efficiency level of your home, adding significant value to it. A New Garage Door Especially if your garage door is facing the street as most garage doors do, you need yours in tip-top shape. Try replacing your old door with a new one for a fresh look. There are plenty of styles and colors to choose from and nothing helps add to a home makeover than a brand new garage door. Upgrading from a manually opened garage door to an electronic one is highly advisable if you haven’t already. If you want to further improve your garage’s curb appeal consider adding a garage trim to it such as a curbed trim. A Pergola for the Backyard Shade is a hot commodity in these times, so give yourself some extra shade by building a pergola in your backyard. A pergola can be like a little oasis of shade, especially if you don’t have many trees in your backyard. There are even companies that offer kits and a full set of instructions for how to build your own pergola. Permeable Driveway If your home deals with driveway flooding at all, this can lower its worth. Raise your home value and remake your driveway by installing a permeable driveway with a built-in driveway drainage system. One of many driveway paving ideas is filling it with beautiful limestone which is even more durable than an asphalt or gravel driveway. Permeable paver driveways provide both style and functional drainage, lowering maintenance costs, and adding value to your property overall. Add a Water Feature A water feature is an excellent way to add some value to your home. By installing a fountain, duck pond, or even a small in-ground pool, you can add some serious character and depth to your backyard and thus achieve a higher asking price on the market. The types of materials to choose from when adding a water feature range from inexpensive to high-class and very expensive, so you have a lot of freedom to take this one as far as you want to. Upgrade your Home Exterior for a Big Boost in Property Value There are plenty of ways you can invest in your home’s exterior to raise its value. From smaller projects like weatherproofing your windows and doors or building a pergola, to slightly larger ones like adding a water feature, building a permeable paver driveway, or swapping out your old garage door for a new one, there’s no shortage of ways to raise your home’s value with some exterior remodeling projects in 2021. Contact Matt Scannapieco for a home value estimate and forecast for these exterior improvements. Matt Lee is the owner of the Innovative Building Materials blog and a content writer for the building materials industry. He is focused on helping fellow homeowners, contractors, and architects discover materials and methods of construction that save money, improve energy efficiency, and increase property value. – Matt Lee