When you’re building a home, you don’t want it to be a temporary thing, instead you want to make sure that it lasts forever. This means choosing the right materials so that it can stand up to the weather and whatever wear and tear you and your family put into it while living there. With the right materials your home can look amazing, even years down the line.
Bamboo
You might be surprised at how resilient and versatile bamboo can be in a home. From flooring to walls and even on a ceiling as an accent, bamboo looks amazing and can last for a very long time. Bamboo is also generally pretty affordable which makes it an awesome option, no matter what your goals are for your home. You can choose bamboo in many colors and grains so you can find an option that really works for your home and can last throughout the years without requiring a lot of maintenance.
Steel
Steel is a tried and true building material that can help any structure to stay safe and standing throughout many different weather issues and even earthquakes. If your house is fortified with steel it is sure to last well beyond the years that you live there. This can help your home to maintain value and stay gorgeous and strong no matter what happens outside or inside your house. Steel is generally used for framing purposes which makes it very structurally sound.
Copper
Copper is another important building material that works incredibly well and continues to function effectively over time. You can use copper pipes for your plumbing, which will help them to stand the test of time. According to Gerety Building & Restoration, you can also use copper for your roofing material, which will make sure that your roof lasts a long time and functions well. A copper roof will get a nice patina over time which only adds to its beauty as it ages. A metal roof also comes with many benefits like a lower likelihood of leaks or other issues as compared to traditionally shingled roofs.
Concrete
Concrete is an important building material that will help your foundation to be strong as long as you live in your home. It can be used in many elements of your house and it will always bring sturdiness and security. You can even use polished concrete as flooring for a low-maintenance floor that looks great. Concrete is also really good at standing up to intense temperatures, so no matter where you live, it can do a great job. As Gra-Rock Redi Mix points out, concrete can usually withstand up to 800 degrees. Repairing concrete is also generally easy, so you should keep that in mind as well.
Brick
It’s very traditional, but brick has been around in home building for a long time for a reason. Brick is very strong and it can be used to build a stable structure that will keep you and your family safe and warm. According to Residence Style, brick can also be chosen in many different styles and colors that can match your personal preferences. If you are looking for versatility, brick is a great option that can be used in many different ways. You can even find reclaimed brick that will last forever and give your home a more established feel.
The Earth Itself
If you want to get more creative with your home or feel inspired by the hobbits, you can build your home out of the earth around it. Having a home that is embedded into a hill or deep in the earth can create a very sustainable and sturdy place. You can have all of your home embedded or use the earth as a supporting structure. Building materials like stucco or traditional hay bale homes use the benefits of natural construction materials to increase both structural soundness and durability.
Maintained Wood
Wood can be a great building material that adds both structure and beauty to your home. Depending on whether the wood is on the interior or exterior of your home it can require more or less maintenance. If you want wood on the outside of your home, it simply needs to be treated to help it stand up to the weather. The kind of treatment it needs can vary depending on your local climate. When wood is treated appropriately it can last forever and will add a level of beauty to your home that many other materials can’t provide.
Your home is a place where you will be spending a lot of time over the next several years, so you want to make sure it can last. By choosing high quality building materials you can make that hope into a reality. And then you can enjoy your home during the warmest days of the summer and the coldest or stormiest days of winter.
Read this next: How to Build a Home for Those Who’ve Never Done It
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H&H Home Builders have constructed Energy Star Compliant homes since we burst onto the building landscape in 1995 as ‘North Liberty’s Premier Builder’. Since then, Energy Star Guidelines have evolved into what we consider today as the pinnacle of efficiency and we, as builders of ‘green’ homes, have kept pace with those guidelines and have adapted them into each home that we build. H&H Home Builders will build you what is known today as a ‘green’ home, but what has always been lesser known as a ‘sustainable’ home. Sustainable homes are quality built so that they last not just decades, but are built to maintain value, encouraging pride of ownership for generations to come. An H&H ‘green’ Home uses raw materials in a responsible way, using fewer resources, resulting in the use of less energy.