We know that there are many tradeoffs for your clients when building or renovating a house to a budget. The challenge is communicating the benefits to your clients, especially when it's about creating liveable spaces that perform in every season and every stage of life.

Insulation

Your clients may not fully appreciate the importance of insulation in their homes. It is also worth discussing with them insulation from both a thermal and sound. Choosing the correct materials will improve the thermal and sound performance for your client’s home and livability. 

Thermal Insulation

While the upfront cost of thermal insulation may be a barrier for your clients, the long-term cost-savings will help them see the value. Insulating their homes will help ensure that their indoor space remains cool on warm days and retain heat in the cooler months.

Sound Insulation

The changes in our lifestyle and living habits over the past decade have meant that today more than ever, noise is intruding in our daily lives. Adding sound insulation to specific rooms means that sound will not travel from high traffic/entertaining areas to spaces designed for rest and relaxation. The combined use of Soundscren insulation and Soundstop will improve sound isolation performance for more sensitive areas within the home. 

Read about Bradford’s insulation options

Quick and easy to build with

A significant portion of the build is the cost of labour that goes into completing a project. Choosing materials that will save time on site will help keep the build within   the intended budget. For example, sheet cladding link James Hardie's Axon will cover more per m2 and takes less time to install compared to other products, so an initial higher cost of a product can be offset by the labour.

Read about products to help save time on-site

Materials suited to the environment

We know that the Australian environment can be harsh so the careful selection of materials, suited to the site specific, will benefit your clients. Some of things you need to cover with your clients during the material selection stage include:

• Sun exposure for select areas of the house
  • You clients may want to consider the sun’s position on their colour selection. For areas where there is prolonged exposure, they might choose light coloured materials to help prevent the surface from getting too hot, or if a dark colouration look to the appropriate substate to enable and achieve long term results.
• The on-going maintenance of timber products
  • Timber products on decks or posts will require sanding and staining so other options may need to be offered or discussed.
• BAL rating
  • Homes built in high BAL areas will required specialised materials and/or installation methods.

Read about products safe for high BAL areas

• Moisture protection
  
  • Australia can go from a drought to a period of excessive rain. Weatherproofing your client’s home means being prepared for both. Using products that can help manage moisture build-up means that you can help prevent mould or rot.

Read about products that can help prevent moisture build-up

There will be more to cover with your client, what’s important to remember is that highlighting the long-term benefits of each product may help convince them that quality outweighs the cost of your recommended materials.