It isn’t Pretty, But it’s the Basis of Everything
Don't Forget to Consider Your Home's Foundations When Renovating
Fit, color, style, and design come naturally as top of mind. Then onto any stylistic accessories to define your personality – express what it is you are trying to convey. But what happens when you try your outfit on and things do not quite fit as they should? Shoulders sit in the wrong place, darting is all awry.
Suddenly all that color, style and design is meaningless. It’s a strong metaphor for what you might consider when renovating your home.
As you know, at Turnstyle, we place quality as paramount in our design philosophy. Key to achieving anything that is meaningful in your home, a strong foundational basis in a home sets the tone for anything else to be built on top of it. Design-wise or other, a house cannot become a home unless things are taken care of in the right order.
One area that is often overlooked, is the foundation of your home. Mostly hidden from view, assumed to be as it should be, many homeowners might not realize that when it comes to a house – beginning in this foundational area (no pun intended) is something you should at least consider.
As with the example of finding something good to wear – any beautiful piece of clothing is simply meaningless if the basics of fit aren’t right. In other words – when we place aesthetics over function; things go wrong.
Now, this is not uncommon mind you. Most of us naturally look forward to skipping to the good parts: how will this look, how will I feel and what impression will it leave. And those good parts are what motivates us in the first place – so keep going with those – they are after all part of the end goal of expressing yourself, feeling good and creating a welcoming space.
Just don’t forget to go back a few steps and check in to make sure everything at the basis is clean and clear and ready to work with.
Why you should not neglect the foundation during renovations
The foundation of a building is the destiny of that building.
It anchors the entire structure and its shape determines what form the other structures of the building will take.
A failing foundation will distort the shape and level of walls, floors, doors, and windows.
The evidence of the structural damage will manifest across every aspect of the building. If the foundation of your building is failing, it will manifest as:
Dipping roof
Uneven floors and ceilings
Sticky windows and doors
Cracks in walls and the foundation itself
Cabinets that detach from walls
But it is possible that the foundation can have problems without any of these signs?
When this happens, a homeowner may go ahead to renovate their home without bothering to check the condition of the foundation. In such cases, the foundation problem is often revealed during the buyer’s home inspection, with three costly consequences.
The market value of the home plunges because the foundation issue makes the home less attractive. The money the homeowner spent to renovate their home has been wasted. The prospective buyer could walk away from the deal or make an offer far below the value the owner initially placed on their home. The owner could be faced with the added costs of solving the foundation problem. But this additional expense will not improve the value of the property.
This is why it is vital to make the foundation an integral part of your ongoing maintenance and subject your home’s foundation to regular inspections. This is the only strategy that will let you detect foundation problems before they become foundation failures. It will save you from wasting money on renovations that will not benefit you in the end.
This blog is in collaboration with Granite Foundation. To learn more about their company, services and what sets them apart from other contractors, visit their website.
