With the number of kitset homes or construction firms that specialize in cookie cutter style homes, people are out of the habit of thinking about what they really want in a house. Once upon a time people had far more input into what their home would look like, consulting with a builder who would often design the plans for a homeowner.
Of course, since that time, we have been lucky enough to have new building materials, new design effects, and a range of new products that are able to be used. Unfortunately, people tend to take what they are given and miss out on the opportunity to really get a home that is completely unique to their tastes and needs – when there is absolutely no reason for this to be the case.
Design From Top To Bottom
When you are designing home through a construction firm you may feel that you have limited scope to make changes, and every change you want will usually be an extra on the bill. However, if you go with an independent building contractor there will be more opportunity for complete control over your home.
What this means is not just do you need to choose colors for exterior and interior design, but what type of flooring, what sort of door handles, bathroom setup, and most importantly, the roof design.
Why Is The Roof Important?
For such an important aspect of your house, it is surprising that the primary thing many homeowners worry about is the color. While the color may have an effect on the overall look of your home, the pitch of your roof, the type of material you use, the height of your ceiling, the clearance between ceiling and roof, and the type of insulation you have installed, all make an enormous difference to the comfort level of actually living in your home.
The type of material used (see here) will also make a difference to the long-term repair and maintenance required to be undertaken on your home. With new materials being invented and designed, you are wise to have a good look around to see what is on the market currently.
Solar Design
One of the many options that you can include when you are designing, or reinstalling, a roof is the addition of solar panels. Once upon a time these were huge, often requiring the roof to be reinforced, and were only suitable for certain types of roofs. The improvements in this technology has been remarkable over the last 20 years, to the point where you can even get clear solar panels that will replace your windows (at least, in theory, they aren’t in commercial production at this stage).
However, in order to get the best value from your solar panels, having them installed in the right location, and on a roof with the right pitch, makes a big difference to your investment. If you are in an area that snows you can still get solar installed, but you will want to make sure that the panels you install are not going to be covered up with snow every winter – as even in winter you should still get beautiful sunny days that allow you to take advantage of the suns natural power.
Going Really Green
What about introducing a living roof to your home? Once this was something really only used by hobbits, but the idea of having a home that blends into the landscape and provides extra produce while reducing your carbon footprint has been taken from the realm of ‘hippy fantasy’ and gone mainstream. Really, who couldn’t use a few more flowers, or extra space to sit and relax. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_roof
Obviously, a house with a step pitched roof won’t be ideal to add a fishpond and a nice BBQ area but turning your roof into a garden space not only looks beautiful but increases the usability of your area. Sod roofs create a positive environmental impact, and rooftop gardens are now regularly being introduced on top of city high-rises not only for the environmental impact but also because of the positive psychological impact that being around greenery has on humans. This could work for your home too.
