Your home is likely to be the single most costly investment in your life. As a homeowner, you’ll want to do everything that you can to ensure that your home remains sturdy, reliable, and in good repair — not only because it will keep you comfortable and happy, but also because it will help you build wealth by ensuring that your home maintains (and, even better, increases) its value over time.
Homeowners know this, and most do their best to keep up with everything from the siding to the roof. But if you want your home’s value to go up, then you’ll want to be sure that you look down. Don’t forget about the floors and foundation.
Flooring and your home’s beauty and value
Flooring doesn’t stand up for itself much — after all, we’re walking all over it. But if it could speak up, it might tell you that its maintenance, care, and replacement can make a real impact on the value of your home.
As experts at a flooring store in Portland, OR, point out, homeowners have a diverse array of flooring options at their fingertips. From foolproof and affordable linoleum to elegant hardwoods, you’ll be able to find a flooring type that fits your style (and your house, too). Keep an eye out for aging, beat-up carpeting and other flooring, and be sure to invest in the cleaning and restoration services that it takes for such flooring to stay in good shape. And if you’re getting sick of some cheap or ugly flooring, why not invest in an improvement? Adding new, better flooring to your space could really make your home feel more beautiful and comfortable. Plus, the money you spend updating flooring will help boost the resale value of your home.
A foundational value
Below all of your floors is your home’s foundation, and it’s one of the single most important parts of the house.
A foundation, typically made of gravel and concrete, among other materials, has a very important job. The entire house rests on the foundation. Without a foundation, the slow movement of the soil, rocks, and sand beneath our feet would soon cause a house to collapse.
Foundations are big, tough things, but they’re not invincible. They can form cracks and allow water to leak in, which in turn will worsen the problem. You should check your home for foundation issues regularly and call the experts right away if you notice anything amiss.
Foundation repair pros can fix an awful lot. They can use foundation jacks to stabilize sagging ceilings, and can even lift up your entire house and repair or replace the foundation beneath it. But you should certainly want your foundation repair and maintenance needs to be as small and affordable as possible, which is why you should check for issues regularly and act fast to fix anything that may pop up. The sooner your repair the issue, the less the fixes will cost.
On top of that, you’ll also avoid the nightmare of trying to sell a home with foundation issues. Foundation problems can become quite serious if neglected, which is why even some experienced home flippers won’t touch properties with foundation problems. If you can’t get the fixer-upper crowd to look at your spot, you’re going to have an even harder time selling to more traditional buyers.
But you know what you need to do. If you remember to keep your floors and foundation in mind when it’s time to consider home maintenance and repairs, you can rest assured that you’ll enjoy a sturdy (and valuable) home for many years to come.