Who really wants to think about home maintenance! And especially when you’re all excited about buying your brand new home. Unfortunately, home maintenance is easily overlooked by builders and buyers alike – generally in pursuit of the lowest price!
So, we sat down together and brainstormed some inclusions that genuinely help decrease the need for maintenance on your new home, or will make your maintenance or cleaning easier! Read on to find out what these 7 inclusions are. We promise that you will be thanking us in 3 to 5 years.
COMPOSITE DECKING. NO MORE OILING & CRACKED DECKING!
While you will miss the character of timber, “Modwood” or composite style decking will remove the worry of having to maintain your timber deck. So, one of the main drawbacks of wood is that you need to regularly oil and clean it to keep it looking spectacular. If you don’t have the time to worry about this, then you need to consider composite decking on all your verandahs.
INSULATED PANEL VERANDAH ROOFING. SIMPLE TO CLEAN, COBWEB FREE VERANDAHS.
The next recommendation is to make sure you go with an insulated panel roof on your verandahs. The other alternative is to have exposed rafters and battens (free housing for spiders and bugs) or a painted ceiling (you’ve got to repaint it someday!). An insulated panel ceiling removes all the rafters and their associated cobwebs as well as provides a robust powder-coated finish that doesn’t need to be repainted. You just have to give it a hose and a mop once in a blue moon to keep it looking sharp!
COLORBOND OR MODWOOD SUBFLOOR SKIRTING. ROT FREE.
Ok, who does not like to see a modular home installed without a subfloor skirt? We reckon they do look a little half-dressed! If you’re going to hide your stumps, can we recommend that you consider using a Colorbond or Modwood skirt? This completely eliminates any maintenance such as repainting, as well as ensures you remove any chance of termite infestation!
VINYL PLANK FLOORING. HARD-WEARING AND EASY TO REPLACE.
Making sure you install vinyl plank flooring is a big win for maintenance. While it’s not any easier to clean than regular vinyl or tiles, it is way easier to replace in the unlikely event that someone damages your floor! As each individual plank is glued down with contact adhesive, you can quite easily pull up the damaged plank. Installing the new plank is as easy as plopping the new one down, give it a bit of a stamp and bingo, your floors back to looking lovely again.
BACK TO WALL TOILET SUITES. SIMPLE CLEANING.
Yep, no one, and we mean no one, likes crawling down and cleaning behind the loo. Or maybe you don’t dare look! At any rate, the perfect solution is a back to wall toilet suite. It makes cleaning easy and looks pretty classy to boot!
WALK-IN SHOWERS. SAVE YOUR BACK!
And while we’re talking about bathrooms, let’s do away with those glass shower screens! They’re a pain to clean anyway. Have a talk to your designer to work out a way to make your showers a walk-in type shower – you’ll be thanking them later!
WASH AND WEAR PAINT. WASHABLE PAINT!
Ok – lucky last! It’s worthwhile spending a few extra dollars on making your paint easy to clean. We’re talking about Dulux Wash and Wear. This excellent quality paint is durable, hardwearing and above all really easy to wash down. It’ll make getting rid of those handprints a breeze.
P.S. Upgrade to Wash and Wear Plus Anti Bac in your bathrooms and wet areas to protect them from mould and bacteria as well!
THE LAST WORD
Ok, so we hope these tips help you! Have a chat with your design consultant to discuss getting these features and inclusions into your home. And remember, you will taste the sourness of inadequate quality long after the sweetness of low price has faded. By putting a bit of your budget towards these excellent quality inclusions, you could save $1000s down the track. (And a whole lot of cleaning!)
