Looking after your new home: interior maintenance
How to preserve that high quality finish in your new home
When you first move into your new home, the interior design aspect is one area where you can really make an impact – and also put your own personal stamp on the décor and subsequent interior maintenance.
With a new build property, there is a lot of flexibility regarding interior decoration. Our Sales Executive will help you choose your finishing touches, from tiling to toothbrush holders.
The interiors of our houses are always finished to a high standard so there won’t be bare plaster on the walls and exposed screed floors – walls will be painted or tiled, while floors will be tiled, boarded or carpeted. Whatever finishes you choose, it’s worth bearing in mind how easy – or difficult – they will be to maintain.
A lick of paint for interior maintenance
When it comes to preserving that high-quality finish, it’s worth making the extra effort to make sure this standard is retained. Any surfaces that have been painted can pick up occasional knocks. This can even happen as you move in – it’s all but impossible to avoid unless every box and item of furniture is swathed in bubble wrap.
Having a selection of the paints that were used by the decorators is useful – even if it’s simply a small ‘tester pot’. This ensures if you need any touching up with a colour match, you have something readily at hand. You can check with the developer as to what colour shades were used. Of course, it’s easy to carry out your own decoration these days – if you find that you don’t like your initial colour choices, you can always change them. In an ideal world, to maintain a good quality finish, a repaint should be carried out every four-to-five years. But in thoroughfares that have higher usage, such as halls, landings and passageways, this may need to be redecorated more frequently.
To carpet or not to carpet?
Carpeting is another aspect that is very much down to personal taste. It’s getting the balance right between being practical and looking stylish. Maintaining carpets can be difficult however, especially if they are getting a lot of use by a large number of people. Households with a number of children and/or pets will be using (and wearing out) their carpets much more than single people or couples. Location has an impact too, as rural properties can often have to endure much more wear and tear, by dint of the ‘outdoors’ often being brought inside on footwear. There are some handy ways to keep your carpet in great shape, including for-hire carpet cleaning machines, which both hoover and deep-cleanse the carpet fibres and keep them in excellent condition. There are a number of other carpet cleaning solutions too, and they’re worth exploring to keep your home in its best condition.
Hard floor options for ease of interior maintenance
Carpeting isn’t your only option when it comes to flooring, however, and there are several alternatives that offer certain advantages – especially in terms of maintenance.
Hard floors such as tiles and timber are so much easier to maintain than a carpet. They can be cleaned much more easily and are often much more hygienic. If you have interior maintenance issues with the new build, your flooring may be the worst affected. A water leak, for instance, might cause a wooden floor to warp, or wash grouting away from tile joints. But any replacement or repair will be easier than a ruined carpet.
CB Homes is an A1+ member of the National House Building Council (NHBC), a registered builder with the Local Authority Building Control (LABC), as well as a member of the Federation of Master Builders.
Each of our homes is backed by our unique and dedicated personalised approach to customer service. This ensures every CB Homes development delivers ultimate peace of mind to its new owner, long after we’ve handed you the keys.
Contact CB Homes today to discuss your next move.
