It’s inevitable that buildings will age and things change over time. Some buildings are left to their own devices and become derelict but more often than not, classic older buildings are worked on by restoration experts to keep them looking fantastic and help them to stand the test of time. You can bet that if you’ve chosen to buy an older building to restore, you have a big but beautiful job on your hands.
From needing to bring in the chimney repair companies as experts to restore older chimneys, to talking to ground experts to repair any outbuildings, you’ve got a big job on your hands! Nevertheless, it’s a job that’s worth it and every penny you sink into this job is going to come back to you when you then sell it later. Are you still on the fence about buying an older home? That’s okay – we have the top reasons to go for it below:
- You want to maintain the unique design of the space. Let’s be fair, some of the oldest buildings are the most beautiful that you’ll ever see. If you want to maintain a unique design and original outlay, then ensuring that you are buying an older home and working on restoration will help. Buildings undergo a LOT of wear and tear over time and this can lead to foundation damage, salt crystallization and other issues that can affect the design of the building. If you want to keep hold of the original design of the building, then you need to make sure that you are hiring experts to ensure that you can bring the building back to life.
- The heritage of the place is important to you. If this building that you’re looking to restore is one that is a part of your family, then the best thing that you can do is restore it to keep hold of the heritage that came with it. There are landmarks all over the globe that portray the histories of other generations and cultures and the architectural design features no longer in use today are something to preserve. Preservation of history and heritage are important and history can and will be erased unless buildings are restored properly. Spending the time and money on this as a project is absolutely worth that preservation.
- It’s a cost-effective method to live somewhere beautiful. Restoration can be more affordable than buying an entirely new building and it’s definitely true where interiors are concerned. A fresh coat of paint and fixing a chimney can be much cheaper and simpler than buying an entirely new building, for example. A fraction of the cost of a new building still gives you somewhere amazing to live but without the price tag! You can then enhance the appearance of the building itself without breaking the budget you have set.
- You’re going to save a lot of time. House restorations can take time but tearing down an entire building to build another one in its place takes longer. Exterior restoration of the original build can be done quickly as long as you have the right company working on it for you. With the right equipment and people who know what they’re doing, you can have the building restored properly in a matter of days. Some jobs take longer, of course, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth doing it.
- It’s a sustainable thing to do. It can often be better for the environment that you restore an older house. Construction waste is a big issue as it impacts landfill, but it is a bigger job to knock down an entire house and construct it from scratch. Preservation can add waste to the environment but it isn’t nearly as much as the amount of waste that is used when restoring an old house. You can preserve resources and ensure that building materials are preserved, too.
- There are huge options for grants. Did you know that building preservation attracts a lot of grants? You can really enjoy a number of funds that support building and historic preservation and you can bet that restoration work in a heritage site can offer so much to you. When you think about what it costs to restore, you might be pleasantly surprised but you’d also be shocked that grants are available to you in the first place. If your local govt can see the benefit of ensuring that you restore, then it’s got to be worth it, right?
- It’s so much more impressive than you think. It’s a super impressive project to restore an older building to make it look beautiful and it can add a touch of class to the area, too. You get to watch this elegant building come back to life and you don’t get that same experience when building from scratch.
- There is huge cultural significance in an older building. You’ll see it as the building improves and you’ll experience the connection to the local area as it comes back to life. You can understand better the culture of the area and that can lead to feeling a deeper connection to the area.
- It offers value. It’s not just about monetary value, but intrinsic value. An old building that you’ve spent time restoring is often worth way more than a brand new one that has been risen from the ground from scratch. Older buildings used much higher quality materials and so the restoration of said building can outlast a new one. If there’s a decent story behind that building, too, it’s therefore worth more.
- It doesn’t cost as much as a new build. You don’t have to pay for zoning costs, or demolition costs, or utility connections. You don’t have to erect a brand new building and you don’t have to purchase land. Which means that you won’t spend nearly as much as you would if you were building from the ground up. This is a good thing and you then get all of the other benefits on top!
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