Building a custom home is a significant investment. Whether you plan on aging with your custom home or selling it during a market upswing, the only way the investment will pay dividends is if you build it with materials that will stand the test of time.
There are a number of innovative building materials on the market that can help your custom home maintain its integrity in the face of harsh weather and the debilitating effects of time.
Choose Insulated Concrete Forms for the Framing
Traditional wood framing, such as insulated structural panels, comes with a number of issues that negatively affect a home’s durability. First, the prefabricated panels come with minor imperfections that allow wind to take hold and moisture to leak in. This can lead to elevated utility costs.
In addition, the wood and oscillated strand boards used to sheath the insulation can become damp and soggy in the face of heavy moisture, leading to mold and rot that will eventually make the framing ineffective.
A superior framing alternative is insulated concrete forms (ICF). Concrete framing provides the following advantages over traditional wood framing:
A solid, one-piece design that presents no opportunity for wind to take hold
An elite barrier against the flow of air and moisture
A superior thermal mass that provides outstanding insulation and affords a stable interior temperature
While building with ICF materials, make sure that you take the added step of weatherproofing windows and doors. This will team with your ICF framing to prevent air and dust from entering your home and expediting the degradation of your home’s interior.
Synthetic Roofing Options Are the Way to Go
When looking into ways of creating a long-lasting and durable house, it is always a great idea to start at the top, as the roof is the home’s first line of defense against the forces of nature.
Unfortunately, though, many homeowners take the common path of roofing their house with traditional asphalt shingles. While asphalt is a decent roofing material that is attractive on a wide variety of homes, it is well known to lose its effectiveness in well under 20 years, shedding granules, cracking, and blistering to create leaks and limit insulative properties.
The best asphalt shingles use a synthetic fabrication. In addition to being aesthetically pleasing and affordable, these shingles are weather and UV-resistant to stand the test of time, limiting the opportunity for leaks to form in your roof.
Install Solid, Nonporous Kitchen Surfaces
The kitchen is one of the most heavily used areas of a home and, unsurprisingly, is also atop the list of most frequently renovated. When choosing cheap kitchen materials, the constant traffic, heating, chopping, sliding, and spilling can make new islands, countertops, and bars look shabby in short order.
Look into the cost of quartz countertops when designing your custom kitchen. Not only does modern quartz come in a variety of colors and patterns that will go well with any design idea, but its solid, nonporous fabrication prevents the cracking and staining that undermines surfaces such as granite and marble, limiting the likelihood that your quartz surfaces will need to be replaced.
Consider Polished Concrete Floors
Outside of the garage, concrete is not traditionally thought of as a popular flooring option in homes, with many people assuming it is too drab and boring to be featured in a living space.
However, modern polished concrete comes in a variety of patterns that can give your home a trendy, innovative look. In addition, polished concrete offers supreme durability, as it is not susceptible to the dust and spores that bed down in carpet or the chips and stains that can deface wood tile.
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.
