17 Feb Protecting Your Log Home Investment
Owning a home is an investment, and there are ways you can reduce expenses while protecting your log home investment.
Investment or Expense?
Log home maintenance expenses become investments when they:
- Increase the resale value of your home, or
- Help avoid future costly repairs.
In addition to producing a reasonable Return on Investment (ROI) these investment expenses provide daily lifestyle benefits.
Remodeling Magazine (11/01/03) reported that the addition of a wood deck to a typical home increases its resale value by 104.2%. Imagine that… an investment that generates an immediate return on all your money, plus a 4.2% increase! All while enjoying your investment in the form of a new deck?
The second most profitable expenditure was reported as maintaining the exterior surfaces of your home. Residing a typical home returned 98.1% of the expense upon resale. Of course, in log home construction, exterior surface care is not only cosmetic but prevents future costly repairs and serves as a very visible indicator of the structural integrity of your home.
Reduce Your Out of Pocket Expenses to provide immediate cost savings:
1.) Consider a “menu” approach to purchasing services. We have found log home owners often have a strong “hands-on” work ethic, and many enjoy being a part of the maintenance process. If this describes you, inquire about completing those portions of the project you feel competent to tackle yourself. This often can include deck staining, chink painting, sealant application or other tasks.
2.) Schedule in advance. Like other contractors, our business is subject to seasonal variations and weather prevents us from offering some services year round. We can offer the best values to customers who allow us to efficiently schedule jobs to save on labor and material expenses.
3.) Let us “coach” you. If you have adequate mechanical skills but lack specialized tools, materials or expertise, we can train you to do some repair and maintenance projects yourself. Caulking application, for example, is time intensive but requires a minimum of specialized equipment. We are often called to consult with homeowners to apply their handyman skills to these types of maintenance chores.
4.) Don’t neglect your log home’s maintenance needs. Repairs are always more expensive than preventative maintenance. Rarely do problems go away on their own, and quite often homeowners are pleasantly surprised to learn that their home maintenance fears can be resolved quickly and at an expense far less than they expected. It certainly doesn’t cost anything to discuss your log home maintenance concerns and we’ll do everything we can to provide cost-effective solutions to your log home maintenance needs.