Top Factors That Influence Choice of Building Materials for New Homes

Construction & Contractors Blog

Building your home from scratch is always an exciting project. This is because you have a great opportunity to construct a design that suits your requirements and is unique from the rest. But new building construction projects come with their fair share of challenges that if are not anticipated can lead to serious problems down the road. 

If you intend to build a new house from the ground up, you should keep in mind that choice of materials is very important. This is because materials selection has a big say in determining the strength, durability, energy performance and even aesthetics of a building. Some of the factors that you will need to ponder over when choosing building materials is the climate of the building location, the availability of the materials, and the level of maintenance required. These factors are further discussed below:

Climatic considerations

Let's say you are building a house in an area that is prone to heavy rain, snow and ice. In this case, the exteriors of the house should be built with materials that can bear up well against the elements. When properly installed and mixed, concrete can offer maximum protection for buildings located in wet climates. If you love wood, the use of special grade structural wood that is natural resistant to decay can also work well. 

The point is, you should always go for materials that can withstand the climatic conditions of the building location. 

Availability of the materials

Sometimes, your choice of building materials is restricted by the location of the building site. It makes good financial sense to use what is locally available as opposed to sourcing materials from outside, given that high shipping costs may be involved. You can survey your neighbourhood to find out the most commonly used materials, so you can choose from what's available.  

Level of maintenance required

There are high maintenance building materials, low maintenance building materials, and materials that fall in between the two levels of maintenance on the construction market. Typically, high maintenance materials are cheap to buy, but cost more to maintain over their entire lifespan. Low maintenance materials, on the other hand, come with high price tags, but save money spent on maintenance over the long term. It's all comes down to what you can afford initially.

Engaging the services of building design professionals from the beginning is the first step towards building your dream home.

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15 March 2017