Home Renovation Tips To Ensure Longevity

Are you planning on updating your home? Home renovations are great fun! They give you the chance to be creative as well as change the place you live for the better. A home renovation is something everyone will go through at one point, whether that be your first home or your forever home. When you do it, it depends on the budget you have available. Updating your property isn’t always cheap (although there are areas where you can make some savings), which is why it’s important to set a budget and do as much research as you can before committing to anything – putting together a spreadsheet is a must as it gives you a place to keep on top of your expenses. 

The number one rule we like to apply when talking about home renovations is to ensure their longevity. If you are investing in your property, you want it to last and last well. The last thing you want is to have to do another home renovation, due to a number of errors being made. Things to consider that will ensure longevity include, using high-quality projects (buy cheap, buy twice), staying away from trends (they go out of fashion), using professionals when possible, and putting a proper plan together – as the saying goes “fail to plan, plan to fail”. 

To help you with your home renovations, we have decided to put together our guide on home renovation tips to ensure longevity. Browse through each of our tips and see which one will help you most with your project.  

Invest in high-quality materials 

We have all heard the saying buy cheap, but twice. This saying couldn’t be more relevant to home renovations. If you plan on using cheap materials for your renovation, then you can’t expect them to last. In the future you will likely have to replace them. By investing in high-quality materials, you can reduce the chance of things going wrong.

You also help the longevity of the updates you are making. High-quality materials may seem more expensive when you first come across them, but when you factor in you will only need to buy once, you will find they are cheaper than buying the cheaper materials twice. The wear and tear of materials is typical, with high-quality materials often outlasting low-quality materials. 

Try not to follow the fashion

This may sound odd at first ‘not to follow the fashion’ however keep reading and we will explain more. In this day and age, fashion is very fast. What is popular and ‘in fashion’ one week can quickly be boring and unpopular the next. When applying fashion to a home renovation project the same rule applies. You could be following a fashion trend for one week (like pink which is popular right now due to the Barbie film) and then a few months later it is gone. This means that your finished renovation is now outdated and in need of a refresh already. Now some trends can last longer, but if you are working towards longevity, it’s adviseable to try to stay away from any fashion trends as you don’t know how long they will last and be popular for. 

Use a professional when appropriate 

When taking on a home renovation, a lot of the decisions you make will be made taking into account the budget you have available. In order to fit your project within the budget, you may decide to take shortcuts. Or give certain jobs a go yourself. Now in some cases, this can be a great money saver. However, in other areas, this is a recipe for disaster. Especially if you have never done it before and are underestimating how difficult the task will be.

By doing it yourself, you could be signing yourself up for errors. Then you’ll have to get a professional in to fix what you have done. When appropriate, try to use a professional as this will ensure longevity. Professionals are experts in their trade and have the knowledge to ensure it’s done to the best of their ability. It may cost a little more, but what this means is it will last longer and you won’t have to get someone in to do it again. 

Properly plan your renovations before starting

A tip that we think is a life tip and not specific to home renovations but certainly applies to ensuring longevity is to properly plan. Whenever doing anything in life, part of the recipe for success is to ensure you dedicate enough time to planning. Home renovations are no different. Give yourself plenty of time to plan your renovation before starting it. Ask as many questions and speak to as many people to gain their knowledge and expertise. Don’t be afraid to use professionals as, as mentioned above, they will reduce the potential errors that could crop up. 

Opt for neutral colours for your decor

The decor of your home will be a big discussion when updating your property and why would it not be, what you plan to do with it will affect the whole project. As in this case longevity is the most important thing to consider, neutral colours will help achieve this. We touched on it above, neutral won’t go out of fashion. You can decorate today and this will still be nice 10, 20, or 30 years down the line. If you opt to use bold colours that are in fashion, how long will it be until they are not and you have to redecorate again? 

Have a maintenance plan in place 

Once you have spent your budget and time on your home renovation and completed it, it’s important to have a maintenance plan in place. You will have put a lot of time and effort into the renovation, which is why you want to stay on top of the maintenance to ensure everything stays as good as new as possible.

Regular maintenance checks that you should consider are:

• regularly checking your guttering
• checking your boiler
• inspecting for water leaks
• paying attention to condensation and staying on top of the locks.

By putting your time aside to maintain your home, you will not only help the longevity of your renovation but also be able to catch any issues quickly before they become a big issue. 

Protect the exterior of your home

A lot of, if not all your renovation may be on the interior of your home. This is not a problem at all, however, if this is the case, try to factor in the exterior as well, to an extent. The exterior of your home is where a lot of damage can occur, due to the everyday elements it has to withstand – rain, snow, sun, high winds etc.

The last thing you want to do is spend all your budget on the inside to find there are some errors cropping up on the outside. These are costly and reduce the longevity of your project. Areas which sustain damage on your exterior include fencing, doors, guttering, windows, brickwork etc. If you have decking, it’s a good idea to opt for aluminum decking – you can shop the range here – as this is designed to be long-lasting. 

Consider updating your windows 

When was the last time your windows were updated? The older your property, the more likely your windows will need updating. Old windows tend to let in more air and condensation, which can damage the interiors of your property. They also reduce the amount of heat that is kept inside, meaning your electricity bills (which have been at an all-time high) will be more. Consider having double-glazing windows installed or even better triple glazing as they are even more energy efficient.

In most cases or not, experts will be able to install them very quickly and have you saving money in no time. Effective windows also reduce the amount of glare that comes into your property. By reducing the glare, you can reduce the amount of fading that could happen to your furniture like your sofa. This helps improve their longevity alongside your home renovations longevity.

When it comes to home renovation, there are many tips that you can follow. We hope the above list we put together has given you some insight into a variety of ways to ensure the longevity of your property. Our biggest advice (and we mentioned it above) is to do as much research as you can before doing anything. The more knowledge and understanding you have of home renovations, the better you will be able to ensure their longevity. Never be afraid to ask for help! Reach out to your friends or family members who may work in the trade. They will often give you some great advice. 

Have you recently taken on a home renovation project with the priority being longevity? What tips do you know that can help ensure longevity? Which of the above tips did you find most useful? Is there anything you would like to share that will benefit our readers? Let us know in the comment box below, we would love to hear from you.