You and your family have waited so patiently for nice summer weather. And now that warm weather has arrived and school is out, you’ll want to spend more time having fun and less time on home maintenance. There are lots of new products available for your home today that will make your life easier. We’d love to help with some tips to get you started!
Once you update your home with a few of these great low-maintenance materials, you’ll be grabbing your sunscreen and heading out the door! Where should you start? Take a look at those to-do lists and Pinterest boards you put together during the winter and make some decisions.
What repairs are needed? What rooms need help the most? What project would make the biggest difference in giving you some extra time to spend with your family?
Low-Maintenance Exteriors
If you’re tired of painting wood siding or it’s time to replace vinyl siding, stone and brick can dramatically change the look of your home. Materials like these last a lifetime and require very little maintenance. If you don’t want the look or the cost of brick or stone, there are attractive options. Fiber-cement siding is guaranteed for 50 years, insects can’t bore into it, and it serves as an extra layer of insulation for your home — which can lower your heating and cooling costs.
Photo courtesy CertainTeed.
A deck is meant to add to your enjoyment, not your workload. Decking materials have come a long way and there is no reason to build a deck now that requires lots of maintenance. Composite and engineered materials such as TREX® Decking and AZEK® Deck Boards not only eliminate annual maintenance like staining, sealing and checking for rot or loose nails, they also provide long-lasting freedom from warping, rotting, splinters, stains from spills, and damage from the sun, moisture and insects.
If you want to go one step further, a little smart home remodeling can also remodel how much time and money need to be spent maintaining the yard, by replacing some of that lawn with something you might enjoy more. Adding a porch, remodeling your patio into a complete outdoor kitchen, or building a new sunroom will treat you to living space you can use throughout the year.
Low-Maintenance Interiors
In the kitchen, quartz countertops are taking the place of granite and marble because composites are just as sleek and shiny, but virtually maintenance-free. Engineered surface options such as Silestone, Caesarstone, and Cambria are particularly durable. Replace the top-mounted sink with an undermount solid surface or stainless sink that’s easier to keep clean because you can wipe spills and crumbs from the countertop directly into the sink and there’s no crevices to catch dirt. Add a high quality faucet that won’t break or peel in a year’s time.
If you want the look of rustic wood floors in a high-traffic area without all the fuss, you can get the durability of porcelain tile in a finish that looks exactly like weathered wood. There are also new, low-maintenance veneers with the appearance of natural stone or exposed brick to add texture to any wall.
Photo courtesy Kohler Co.
For a low-maintenance bathroom update, a solid surface shower surround and base that are grout-free, with frameless or semi-frameless glass doors, is the way to go. With lots of color choices and multiple finishes available (including high gloss, matte finish and even a faux tile look) you will find an option which will work with virtually any bathroom style and color scheme.
We can help you in your planning by outlining options and discussing the improvements you can make to make your life easier, within your budget. If you’ve come to the conclusion that one of your top home improvement goals is to spend less time and money on routine home maintenance, inside and out, call us today!
