Upgrading A Period Home: Our Guide
Upgrading and renovating a period home is not easy. Wrong choices and decisions could decrease the value of your home, and then it might be more difficult to sell it in the future. Whether you acquired the property just recently or lived there for a couple of years and just want to make some minor improvements, there are many things you need to consider throughout the project.
Our guide will help you to upgrade your period home while maintaining its historic charm and unique character. It is of course important that you find a good supplier of all the construction materials you will need. If you live in Wolverhampton then Gilmore Building Supplies will be the place to go. They supply all building materials including bricks, blocks, lintels and many other building materials which will help increase the value of the property and improve the overall state of the building.
Highlight Historical Features Of The Property
When you decide to upgrade your period home, it is crucial that you maintain and highlight the features that made you love the house in the first place. The historical features of the property are what make the building unique and charming. Most likely, they played a significant role in your decision to buy the property. If you dismiss the features or even remove them, you will undermine the value of the property.
Some of the features to focus on while renovating can be original fireplaces, period mouldings, stained glass windows or wall panelling. Companies such as Period Mouldings will be able to help you keep the charm and character of your home. Remember that in this case, adjusting your plans to the house features rather than the other way around will work out in your favour.
Do Not Get Carried Away With The Choice Of Material
Choosing new material for a period property can get overwhelming very quickly. Because of that, you might get lost in all the options and pick materials that will not help your house decorating efforts at all. Just like historical features, original materials are a foundation of the property’s character and ambience. All the signs of age, wear and tear and unevenness make the house valuable and desirable.
Even though builders do not see these materials as worthwhile, all the lime plaster, original timbers and windows make the property unique. And if these materials lasted in the building for so many years, they had to be of high quality. On top of that, these materials are best suited to the building’s performance and structure. But when you do add new materials, ensure that they fit well with the original structure and design.
Make Your Home More Energy Efficient
Making a period property more energy efficient is one of the biggest challenges when renovating such a building. Tackling the issue successfully will also add value to the property. Before you even start to carry out any work, have a look if all the walls are dry, as damp makes walls less thermally efficient. If you find any dampness in the property, fix everything that might be causing the issue before you carry on with the project.
To stop warmth from escaping the building and cold air flowing in, make sure that the structure is airtight. You can get rid of the issue by fixing windows that were fitted wrongly and eliminating any gaps in the building structure. These repairs usually are not too expensive.
