External House Renovation Ramifications

External House Renovation

When renovating a house, special care must be taken on the external renovations as this is the portion exposed to the elements and are subject to severe wear and tear.

Due to the extreme conditions that they endure, it is wise to really look into each and every aspect of the external renovations from the roof to the external siding that you need to choose to ensure you get the best value for your money.

The care taken when looking into this area of your home improvement project will pay off in the long run with minimal worries and repairs needed.

Although the garden is part of the external environment of the house that would probably be undergoing renovations, we will focus our attention on the areas where choosing the right materials and professionals to do the work is vital to your long term peace of mind.

The 2 critical areas that we would focus on are the roof, which would keep out the rain, sun ray and dust would be the first and the walls or siding that are chosen or used would be the second.

Where the roof, or shingle as some call it, is concerned, the materials available are many with slate and ceramic being the hardiest with expected life spans of between 30~100 years. However, they are quite costly and due to their wieght, the supporting structures must be able to support their weight. This could add to the construction or re-building cost.

Metal roofs have been developed as a alternative to slate or ceramic roof tiles. Due to the ability for more precise manufacturing, they can be locked together to give long term durability and life span.

The lowest cost metal roofs are the corrugated galvanised steel roofs which can serve its purpose but are quite flimsy and are mainly used in commercial buildings like stores and warehouses.

Thermoplastics and Thermosetting Plastics such as EPDM rubber, PVC roofing materials have also been developed as have Polyester and PTFE.

In some places, natural vegetative materials are still being used as a way to stick to past traditions.

For the walls that help keep out the elements as well as unwanted intruders from the side, brick is commonly used in many countries where the incidences of earth quakes are non-existent. However, in earthquake prone areas, wood or other types of wall materials have been developed to give the house more flexibility than bricks would in the event of an earthquake.

Many different types of sidings have been used in the past such as wood siding, asbestos siding, aluminum siding, vinyl siding, hardboard composite, fiberglass, cement fiber siding.

With asbestos not being used anymore due to health concerns and fibregalss and hard board composite sidings having been replaced by newer materials such as vinyl and cement fibre, the choises available today are still quite wide and varied.

Choosing the type of siding is important as they can impact on how energy efficient your home will be thus saving money and being green in the long run. The type of siding chosen will also impact on the resale value of the house as the different types of sidings have a differing life span.

Hence, always be aware that the choices made in the types of materials used in the external renovations have long term effects on the house, the ongoing maintenance, the green factor as well as the future resale value of your home.