Alternative and Innovative Building Materials for a Home Renovation
One of the most advantageous things a person can do with a HELOC is to invest that money back into a home improvement project. Not only can remodeling your home increase its safety, comfort, and functionality, but it can often substantially increase the home’s resale value. Therefore, if you are considering ways to deploy a HELOC of your own, the following innovative building materials are becoming increasingly popular in home renovation projects.
Modern Wood Flooring
A flooring upgrade is one of the first ideas that comes to mind when most people think about a home renovation project, with a hardwood floor installation being the ultimate goal. While solid hardwood floors do offer a stunning aspect and can significantly enhance the home’s resale value, they have a couple of distinct drawbacks. First, they are extremely expensive, with many homeowners unable to perform a complete hardwood floor installation in one shot, needing to spread it out over time. In addition, solid hardwood is very heavy and difficult to work with, often requiring the handiwork of skilled professionals to properly install.
As a result, faux wood floors are exploding in popularity. This innovative flooring solution offers a nearly indistinguishable appearance from solid hardwood while maintaining hardwood’s durability. With options such as laminate, wood-like tile, luxury vinyl, and engineered hardwood, faux solutions are much more manageable to work with than solid hardwood. And while they may not match solid hardwood in terms of increasing resale potential, there is still a strong investment aspect to going faux: statistics show that engineered hardwood can return between a 70 and 80% ROI, rivaling that of solid hardwood.
Quartz Countertops
The kitchen is often described as the focal point of a home, a true hub in which friends and family convene to share good times. And when speaking of the kitchen, the first thing most people notice is the countertops.
While marble has traditionally been the choice for stately, elegant kitchens, quartz is rapidly making a move as a preferred countertop solution in contemporary homes. Engineered in a wide array of colors and designs to match the ambiance of any kitchen, quartz countertops are completely nonporous and have high tensile strength, ensuring that they will maintain their pristine appearance for years to come.
Industrial Bathroom Fixtures
The rugged, unfinished aspect of an industrial bathroom is becoming a favorite style for contemporary homeowners. Drawing inspiration from the sparse, utilitarian restrooms necessary for the large plants and factories of the Industrial Revolution, some common characteristics of the industrial bathroom include subway tile, exposed pipes, black bathroom fixtures, and tub-style sinks with wire baskets to replace traditional vanities.
Vinyl Windows
Not only do old, dated windows diminish the aesthetics of a home, but they can significantly decrease energy efficiency. As old frames rot and seals crack, warm air inside the home will escape to the exterior, replaced by cold exterior air. This can cause the HVAC system to work overtime to keep the home at a comfortable temperature.
Therefore, a good idea would be to replace your old wooden windows with more innovative vinyl windows. Vinyl frames can be engineered in a number of designs to match the aesthetics of natural wood. However, they are practically impervious to inclement weather, pest, and UV damage, allowing your windows to maintain their attractive appearance and airtight properties with little intervention required by the homeowner.
Shiplap
If your home is a bit on the cozy side, one interesting idea is to explore the use of shiplap. Not only does the texture provide some warmth to the space, but horizontal shiplap can make a room feel wider, while vertical shiplap can make the space seem taller. Kitchen shiplap can be used in a number of creative ways, either as a backsplash choice to accentuate countertops or as a wrap for the exhaust hood to make the range seem less utilitarian.
Sliding Glass Door
A couple of prevailing trends in home renovations are to increase natural light flow through the house and to create more subtle transitions between interior and exterior spaces. You can capitalize on both of these trends by installing a sliding glass door. Not only can a sliding glass door improve the energy efficiency of a home by leveraging natural sunlight, but the unobstructed views of the outdoors are a welcome sight to homeowners desperate for a little nature after months of being stuck inside during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pergola
Expanding on the idea of adding a little nature to your life, homeowners are increasingly looking for ways to improve the functionality of their exterior spaces. Some ways to accomplish this include building a deck, adding an outdoor kitchen, and installing a fire pit. If any of these projects seem appealing, consider one of the many DIY pergola kits on the market to ensure that you have access to these exterior features in all seasons.
The Most Innovative Building Materials for a Home Renovation
Deploying HELOC funds as part of a home renovation project is one of the savviest tactics a homeowner can take. By choosing innovative materials such as alternative wood flooring, quartz countertops, industrial bathroom fixtures, vinyl windows, shiplap, sliding glass doors, and pergolas, homeowners are sure to capture the latest trends in home renovation and increase the comfort, functionality, and value of their homes.
Brian Jeffries is the content director for 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.