Many home buyers today are choosing to either entirely remodel or build from the ground up. Following the economic and real estate crash a few years ago, a lot of homes went into foreclosure. Many of these houses went untouched for years, mostly because they were under water. Home repairs and required maintenance was not kept up. This resulted in run down and damaged houses flooding the market, leading to home buyers today ether tearing down and starting entirely new, or completing remodeling a house. If you have recently taken on a construction project that will eventually lead to your dream home, keep the following construction services in mind.
House layout
One of the best things about remodeling or starting from new is that you get to design the overall layout of your new house. A lot of homes that were built decades ago contain tight and uncomfortable layouts. The houses years ago tended to be very choppy. You would have to turn multiple corners to enter a new room. Today?s preferred house layout is modern and open. An open floorplan means that you have one large living space. The living room can be seen from the kitchen. The kitchen can be seen from the dining room. An open floor plan makes the entire living space look much larger and cleaner.
Plumbing
Your home?s plumbing is very important. One of the problem with older houses is that much of the plumbing used years ago is now considered outdated and non functional. Replacing an entire plumbing system on a home involves a lot of work. In many cases, you have to dig up the entire front or back yard, including the foundation of the house. This can be very expensive and can require extensive construction services. When you start over, however, you can design your new house with updated full service plumbing systems that will not need to be maintained or replaced for many years.
Electrical
Many older houses have outdated electrical wiring systems. This can make it difficult to keep up with today?s updated technology. It can pose to be a fire hazard, if the electrical systems are not properly updated. Again, updating an older home?s electrical system will require pulling out the walls. Contractors will spend many weeks rewiring and replacing outdated electrical units. The cost is likely to be very high. Newer homes are built with updated and safer electrical systems.
HVAC systems
HVAC systems are another home item that has undergone significant change throughout the years. Your HVAC service will not run as efficiently and will cost more in monthly utility bills, when it is outdated. Newer systems are built to require less energy, thus conserving and reducing energy bills. A general contractor can replace or install an entirely updated HVAC system. Currently, the lowest efficiency allowed by law for new gas furnaces is 78%, and some new models achieve 97%, near total efficiency. Switching to high efficiency air conditioners and taking other actions to keep your home cool could reduce energy use for air conditioning by 20% to 50%.
Appliances
A home?s appliances are easier to upgrade than other parts of the house. However, many people utilize their home?s appliances, until they stop working entirely. Construction services can actually improve your current home?s appliances, by cleaning out the air ducts or furnace to improve their overall efficiency. Purchasing a brand new home, however, will give you all brand new appliances that will work for many years. Furnaces, for example, typically last an average of 15 to 18 years.
The housing market has finally fully recovered. However, the housing market is left with outdated and run down homes. Many homeowners are choosing to tear down and rebuild or to completely remodel these homes. If this is your housing plan, you will require many construction services, with the most important being your HVAC system, electrical, plumbing, and the overall layout of the home.