How do we decide which material or product is the best one for our home?
The decisions you make about what materials and products to use in your home can have major ramifications on the enjoyment and the long-term cost. Ideally, you will love the products you choose, they will be long lasting and low maintenance, and they will be affordable both in terms of upfront cost and long term cost.
However, given the inevitable variables of any project, the complex relationship of cost to quality to schedule, and the seemingly infinite material choices available, the selection process can seem exceptionally complicated and time-consuming. This complexity is often compounded for first time home builders who lack construction expertise and who may opt for something they know instead of trying something better that they are less familiar with.
The following are important criteria to consider when evaluating the suitability of materials, products, and finishes for your home project. These factors MUST be viewed through the lens of your particular project and your particular situation. What is important to you may be less important to someone else. Cost may be a big driver in the selection process for some people but aesthetics and sustainability may be more important to others.
The key is to understand your project goals and priorities. Then, let those goals dictate how you make decisions. Getting the selection right the first time by selecting the optimal combination for your home has enormous benefits and is why setting good project goals in the first place is so important. Once you understand where your priorities are and what’s most important to you, you can use those to guide your decision.
Here are 5 selection criteria for choosing the right materials and products for your home.
Materials and products affect a home’s overall cost, appearance, durability, sustainability, performance, and completion date. As such, material selection can also present huge challenges due to the sheer amount of selections and because of the number of options in each selection. Architects, designers, contractors, and even home improvement store employees can save you time and money by helping to reduce the risk of costly mistakes or explain the pros and cons of your options and help you make the right choice. Setting good project goals is a great way to prioritize and understand what is most important to you. But ultimately, it’s up to you to use this criteria to make the best decisions for your home and communicate that to your team.
We also have a course on setting good S.M.A.R.T. project goals because we know this first crucial step in the process is one of the most important.
Click here to learn more about the course and to sign up!
