Using Environmentally Friendly Building Materials For Your Building Project
Each and every day individuals are looking for means to safeguard the environment. Eco friendliness is one of the most debated topics to date. People are becoming more and more conscious of their environment. Every activity that you indulge in must be within the laws of Eco friendliness, this is because our environment is our most prized possession.
Using brick veneer is not recommended since it is not the most environmentally friendly construction material. Especially for a home. This is because a lot of power is required to build or rather make bricks. It provides poor insulation and so it requires large amounts of energy to continuously heat it. So the amount of fuel or energy required to cool homes built with bricks is considerably high. This hurts the environment majorly. You should consider using lightweight materials for your construction projects.
Elements of an eco-friendly building material
- Production
The best way to judge if your building materials are ecofriendly is to look at the origin of the particular materials. If it hailed from an ecological source, for example wood or timber, you know that a specific amount of energy was utilized to make the final product. In the same way, steel needs a lot of energy to be forged so it is not ecofriendly. Mud bricks on the contrary require minimal energy to be prepared. So for you to choose a building material, understand how it was produced to its final setting.
- Efficiency of the material
What comes into play here is the insulating capacity of your construction material. If it requires a lot of energy to be heated it is not ecofriendly. Go for materials that when you use, will require minimal heat since they absorb enough heat and do not need continuous reheating. The materials that comprise of great insulation components are the most eco-friendly and this dictates to less amount of energy required to warm or generally keep your home cozy.
- Durability
The more lasting a material is, the better it is for you and the environment. If your building materials are long lasting they do not need replacement a lot of times and this reduces the amount of energy you consume in renovation and revamping your facilities. This will prove to be a benefit even to you in the long run.
- Recycling and the material removal
This is usually considered if you are demolishing a structure. If you demolish a certain structure that you own, will the building materials be disposed effectively. They should be able to be disposed sufficiently without polluting the environment. Basically, they should be biodegradable. The other issue is the ability of the materials to be recycled when they are no longer in use. You should take all this into consideration when choosing an ecofriendly building material.
Some of the eco-friendly construction materials are mud bricks which are produced by blending clay with water and often straw, then drying of the blend. Rammed earth, which is basically walls that consist of mud, clay, silt and clay compressed into the panel forms.
If you’re considering to build a durable, beautiful home for you and your family, we offer the most efficient and reliable building supplies in Melbourne. Talk to us today.
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5 Easy Fixes To Increase The Value Of Your Home
Although housing prices may have dropped in your region, there are still great ways to invest in your home today so as to help maintain its value. In fact, you can spruce up your home without having to spend much. It does not matter if you are if you are spiffing it up for your own enjoyment or you are planning to sell it soon; here are easy fixes that can help you boost the value of your home.
Spruce up your kitchen
The kitchen is the heart of your home, so you need to make it really cook. You should note that homebuyers take it as the first important place, so you need to make it look reasonably updated and clean. You don’t have to break the bank for this to happen, with a few dollars, you can add new cabinet door handles, replace the kitchen faucet set and update the old lighting fixtures with the modern ones. You can even give your cabinets a simple makeover.
Get new appliances
Sometimes, the kitchen appliances are outdated, so when you get new ones, you can easily change up the look of your kitchen. Again, your kitchen is the heart of your home and potential buyers want to see items that look new and technologically advanced. It is the modern kitchens that make the difference in the homebuyer’s mind, as well as the home’s resale value.
Buff up your bathroom
Bathrooms come second after the kitchen, so they too can be spruced up without spending much. You can install simple things such as a pedestal sink, new toilet seat and replace the lighting fixtures with newer ones. This will make a big difference when it comes to the resale value of the home. And you can update your old floor too. One of the tricks is to install your new floor over the old one if you have the budget.
Curb appeal will always count
If you want a fresh perspective on the price of your haven, then you need to walk across the streets in your neighbourhood. Just turn around and you will tell if your home has curb appeal. You need to make sure that it looks attractive, structurally sound and welcoming at first glance.
Install velux windows roof
Velux windows are increasingly gaining popularity for many reasons. Apart from coming with several options for opening them, they also improve ventilation in the rooms as well as natural lighting. And if it pleases you, you can even integrate blinds into the windows so as to reduce the amount of light coming in. With these windows, you will expect an air of luxury even if your rooms are the darkest. And these windows are affordable and easy to install too.
Are you looking for building materials? Don’t look any further because at Fox Hay, we have a wide range for you to choose from. Contact us today and we will be pleased to work with you when you are looking to improve the value of your home.
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Costly Mistakes That You Might Make While Doing Your Renovation
Many homeowners invest in home remodeling to keep their homes looking nice and good. Though the home’s value depreciates with time and things wear out, it is essential to consider the cost you will incur when you decide to do home remodeling. Quite a good number of people just make the choice without much insight and end up making costly mistakes that they could have easily avoided. In an economically challenging situation, taking the right steps in home renovation goes a long way to save you a significant amount of money. It is the sole reason why you need to learn from the following mistakes and know better.
Using the wrong contractor
People tend to tread on the surface when looking for a contractor instead of getting several quotes form a number of contractors and digging beyond before making crucial choice. Essential steps to this particular case involve making financial, criminal and legal background checks of contractors. In addition, looking into the customer and trade references enlightens you on contractor’s genuineness. As such, it will be easy to avoid an oncoming disaster. Prices matter as well and the more you go around getting various quotes the easier it becomes to rate the services of contractors.
Not acquiring relevant permits
More often than not, paper work comes in handy before a contractor starts working on your home. It is your responsibility to ensure that the contractor fills all necessary paper work such as building permits. This is because when inspectors roll by your house to examine everything, they will first look at the trade of the contractor responsible for the renovation. Factors such as rough-ins and finish stages of the renovation indicate proper or poor installation. In the event there is poor installation, inspector’s review may culminate into heavy fines.
Having a poor budget
Contingencies may occur when you least anticipate. Therefore, you need to ensure that even if you run out of money in the middle of the project, your home will not remain half-done for a good deal of time before laying hands on renovation cash again. It all boils down to setting a rational and feasible budget and keeping something in store in the event of contingencies. Remodeling will often have more cost than what you plan for in the first place. Vitally, costs vary depending on quality, size and complexity of the renovation project.
Using cheap renovation materials
More or less, whatever you give is what you get in return. Building materials are an essential part of the renovation project. When you choose to go for the lowest bidder, chances are you ending up with poor quality materials that will not last long after the renovation. After some time, you will have the same headache of making replacement and repairmen. Look at the trademark of products and determine their quality by a little digging and you will not end up with bad materials whether at a fair price or an expensive. Besides hiring a contractor, the most fundamental thing to work on is the material you procure for renovation. They need to be top-notch and durable, and you can only find them from good suppliers.
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Which Home Renovation Projects Can Offer The Highest Returns On Your Investment?
These days, a lot of people have realised the importance of regularly renovating their aging, sometimes even new homes. Even when not planning to sell the home, the question on when to carry out the home remodelling is always on every homeowner’s mind. For those considering selling their homes, a well carried out renovation in and around the home can greatly improve its value.
But before rushing to remodel yours, it is important to note that not all renovations are the same as some will bring in more money than the others. So which are some of the top-ranking home improvement projects a home owner could carry out to offer him the highest return on his investment? Well, read on to find out!
New front doors
Adding new front doors was the number one home improvement project last year according to a remodelling magazine annual cost versus value report for 2014.The door however has to be the right type if value addition is what you are looking for in a home renovation undertaking. Painting an existing front door in good condition sometimes offers the same payoff like putting a new one. Replacing old elements like windows, sidings and doors in general yields a better financial return compared to some bigger remodelling projects like room expansions and additions.
Kitchen remodels
Remodelers and real estate agents are of the opinion that remodelled bathrooms and kitchens are some of the rooms in a home that still bring a significant payoff, particularly at a resale time. According to the same report on cost vs. value report in 2014, kitchen remodelling projects yields a higher return on your investment than bathroom renovations projects. For example, a minor kitchen improvement project is able to add approximately 82.7% to the value of a home when selling it. Kitchen improvements are important as potential buyers often overestimate the amount of money it takes for the whole updating undertaking to be carried out.
Like for the case of a new front door, it is important to carry out the right kitchen remodel if a higher return on the investment is to be achieved as is expected by the owner. Adding a $70,000 kitchen to a $90 000 home isn’t likely to yield $70,000 in value when the home is finally sold though it will make the chef happy. As a general rule of the thumb, spend around 25% of the home’s value for a new kitchen and 12% to 15% to update the bathroom.
Also, adding an ultramodern kitchen into a 100-year old home is not smart either as it will be incongruous with the rest of the house’s architectural design.
Pool improvements
Whether this kind of a home improvement can add value to you investment depends on where your home is located. For example, adding an outdoor pool in place with colder climates won’t add any value to your investment. The same pool improvements or addition adds more value to the homes that are located in warmer climates.
Attic remodelling projects
Turning the attic into a useful space adds more value to the home than you can ever imagine.
All in all, remodelling projects that don’t require a home owner to build an extension or expand the foundation and the roof often return more value to the investment than building extra rooms onto it because they are much cheaper to carry out.
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