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Are you looking to build a home from scratch? Or looking to have your roof replaced? If so there are some great eco-friendly ways of doing so.
Making your home eco-friendly is not as expensive as people may think. With people sourcing recycled materials, used and energy-efficient ways that are saving money in more ways than one, maybe this is something you should be looking into.
Looking into added solar panels to your home not only produces an income, but it also adds ever important increased value to your home. When solar panels first came around they seemed very expensive, with no one knowing the full potential installing these into the home would have in the future. The expense seemed like a great outlay financially when there was still an electricity bill to pay for. This was until installing these became fashionable with the true results being recognized as an income, with whatever was spent being added to the home value too.
The cost of solar panels has decreased with time, understanding how to install these systems seems to be becoming more widely understood. The knowledge that has been learned about things such as solar power is no longer a thing of the past. The more society gets to grips with the situation the world will be facing if things do not change, the more efficient and eco-friendly our homes seem to become.
Bargains to Fill Your Home
When people talk about going green there are often things that are overlooked. When making your home your own, take a look into what can be achieved by using recycled items. Bathrooms and kitchens can not only be sourced but so can the contents you wish to fill them with. Going to fairs, markets or second-hand shops will throw up some great bargains!
Finding second-hand bargains can be easier than you think. Looking for garage sales, home clearance, or simply online ads can sometimes turn up things you may have considered not available. Especially when looking for originals from a different era. When purchasing previously used items, make sure if they are electrical they work but also have them checked by an electrician just to be on the safe side.
Look at recycled building materials like old tiles, reclaimed bricks, or maybe even railway sleepers, the list will go on. You will soon find what you can source and where from. Looking online for places that only sell these things is where to start, looking for advertisements online or simply seeing a house renovation. Remember that one person’s junk is another man’s treasure! Do not feel embarrassed to pull over and ask if you can have the piece of furniture that is sitting outside someone’s home. You may be saving them a removal job!
Eco-Friendly Furniture and Fixings
When doing up your home start by looking at the fittings you are installing. What is going to save you energy and costs in the long run? Fitting things like light bulbs that are not energy saving, is a false economy, using more power to run as well as breaking quickly will, in the long run, cost you more money. The price tag may put you off with the first initial payment, this needs to be done a lot less, saving you money long term.
By recovering old sofas in new fabrics, can eventually work out that you are saving hundreds, if not thousands. Often when replacing a sofa or chairs for the home is not because they need to be, normally it is because the decor has changed and the old soft furnishing colors do not fit with your new color scheme. The truth is, this does not need to be rushed if it does not match and you can not find the precise material you wish, just sit on it! Patience will bring you what you are looking for eventually.
When decorating the home many people will fill it with pointless furniture. The problem with pointless furniture is that then, it will be filled with pointless objects, unwanted, unused pointless stuff, that will sit gathering dust. These items are not often used. Live with the rooms, containing the minimum amount of furniture that your family can get away with. Give yourself a fixed time period, do you need extra furniture? Is it necessary? Can you live without it?
Getting Rid of Unwanted Items
When re-evaluating your new eco friendly way of life, look at what you have in your life now? Does your family need all the “stuff” that everyone seems to have accumulated over the years? The things that are no longer can be given to someone who needs them, or if in very good condition can be sold. Selling old household items will be added to your budget for things that are needed.
Having yard sales or selling on online sites can be a hassle free way of removing these items from your home. If selling online you need to take into account the buyer picking up what is being sold from you directly. Avoiding you dropping items off or sending by post, prices should be reflected in this.
Making piles of your items is a good way to save time in the long run. Sorting out your unwanted items can be sorted into 5 piles of listed items.
- Keep them
- Sell them
- Charity items
- Unwanted by not good for reuse = Bin
- Unsure items = place in a box, if not used in 6 months re-evaluate
When you sort things into piles it will give a better view of things that do not need replacing with a newer version.
Building from the Ground Up
Building your own home is one of the most stressful things a person can do in their life. Building any home will add pressure to family life and will make any situation that comes up seem bigger than it is. You can employ someone to project manage your building work. This should only be done if you are willing to pay someone to make some of the important decisions on your behalf.
A project manager can take some of the responsibility and weight of the task, you will still need to oversee things. Taking control of the finances will fall on you, keeping records of spending the whole time, is very important in making sure the budget is on target. Setting a budget and sticking to it will depend on if you can finish your home. This budget should include everything from concrete being laid, wages, fixtures fittings to major jobs are all important in getting the project finished.
Obtaining good places to get materials beforehand will let you compare prices. Be aware that prices are not everything, recommendations and ratings on company work, finishes, and their workforce is more important in getting a job done properly.
The Takeaway
Although when building an eco-friendly house, there may be ways that you can recoup some of the money spent you will have to be aware of deadlines and grant access before undertaking these parts of the house project. Solar panels are being encouraged by local governments and councils that support your area in environmentally friendly ways. Some of these may have a limit on what they can assist with, how much help can be given, and if it is a grant or a loan that you qualify for, if at all.
Get everything you need in writing from planning permissions to insurances that need to be obtained before work starts. Grants or loans in helping to assist can be done on an income basis. So it is important to have bank account information accessible for the correct authorities at hand.
Building a house, or renovation is going to be one stressful time, that you will be glad when completed, enjoying all that goes with it is equally as important. This may be the one and the only project your family will undertake, so when things are finished you will look at the end project knowing that you all achieved this together!
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