Building a home is almost everyone’s dream. It can be one of the most exciting and fulfilling projects you can take on. Some don’t want to build from scratch. They want to buy an already-built home and then furnish it to taste. However, either you build a home yourself or buy one, you need building materials to construct and enhance the home.

Contemporary custom home on Fentiman Av by Shean Architects ↑

The materials you’ll need are largely dependent on the kind of home it is. Some homes may be made of wood, block, and concrete, or metal. Some homes are built using a combination of all these materials. If you’re considering building a residential home, here are different construction materials you’ll need.

Construction Materials

Comfortability, durability, longevity, beauty, among other things, are some important aspects to consider when choosing materials to build your home. All these factors play a role in determining the choice of your construction materials too. For instance, using metal as home building material provides durability and sturdiness.

On the other hand, bricks and concrete as home building materials provide comfortability, beauty, and durability, while wood provides affordability and comfort. Making a good choice won’t be difficult with the detailed explanations provided in subsequent information.

Metal

Contemporary and low energy home by 2020 Architects ↑

Metal has proven to be an excellent building material in the construction industry. Many builders are starting to prefer it to other types of construction materials, even for residential homes. Moreover, metals can be used for the framing of the roofs, doors, and windows. Metals can also be used as roofs (metal roof sheets) and doors (metal doors).

Recently, the construction industry has used metals to construct a whole building. The process of building is quite easy as the metal home kits are readily available for installation. And the installation is easy enough for a do-it-yourself project.

The first set of installation is the legs, followed by the girts, the girders, the purlins, and the walls. After installing the walls, you’ll have to fix the openings of doors and windows and install them, and finally, you fix the roof.

Holiday home with corrugated aluminum cladding in Scotland ↑

As a residential home, you have to work on the interior and provide materials to insulate it from heat and make it homey.

Some of the reasons people are gradually shifting to building metal homes are:

• Metal homes are super easy to build. You can even do it yourself. All you have to do is follow the construction manual.
• They’re cheaper to build and easy to maintain.
• They can withstand any weather condition, especially if they’re installed well with suitable quality metals. These and many more reasons are why metal buildings are becoming the top choice of building materials for construction.

Concrete

There’s no gainsaying about it. Concrete has withstood and proved the test of time when it comes to building infrastructures. For high rising towers and buildings, concrete is the sure way to go.

Concrete House By ISM Architecten ↑

It makes allowance for tiers because of its strength and durability. As a result, concrete buildings can last for years without a significant drawback. No wonder it has become the most popularly used material for building in recent times. Concrete generally is composed of cement and aggregates such as sand, gravel, and granites mixed well together with water.

Here are some of the reasons why concrete has become the top choice of building materials over the years and worldwide:

• It’s more affordable when compared with other building materials.
• It’s easy to maintain and very durable. It could also withstand time and weather conditions.
• You can trust it won’t combust.
• Concrete is a very pliable material. You can mold and design to the shape you want.

Mostly, the concrete is cast using a mold to form your desired shape. When it’s dry, it’s removed from the cast and cured. To cure a concrete simply means to expose the concrete to the necessary temperature and moisture. This will strengthen the concrete and make it usable for building.

Minimal concrete house By Robertson Design Studio ↑

Concrete houses are usually built by technically supporting them with metal reinforcement. This way, you can shape the building and build a home out of rocks.

Using concrete materials to build residential homes has come to stay as creative minds get engaged in the construction industry. Besides, building a residential home with concrete material is quite easy, although it may take a while, especially when compared to metal building materials.

The general disadvantage of concrete buildings is that some people don’t find them aesthetically pleasing. However, with the help of a professional architect and builder, you can carve out your haven and make it beautiful, cozy, and homey.

Types Of Concrete Materials For Building Homes

Concrete interior ↑

Concrete blocks

Concrete blocks are cast and formed into specific shapes. The shapes and sizes the blocks will take depend on the design of the home and the builder. Blocks are popular and easy to manufacture and use. You can even utilize them according to your taste.

The Precast

House clad with cement panels and perforated shutters ↑

Like the word precast, these materials are usually cast at the casting site before they’re transported to where they’d be used. They’re professionally made, and so, they’re beautiful. The only downside is they may be more expensive compared to the blocks.  

Insulating Foams

These are foams that are filled with concrete. The purpose of these concreted foams is to create insulation for the building. While they may not be aesthetically beautiful, they’re good insulators from extreme weather conditions and even loud noise.

Wood

A wooden cabin designed by GO Logic ↑

Wood is another building material that’s not only beautiful and versatile in its uses, but also affordable and readily available. This might be because it’s a natural resource material. It could also insulate from harsh cold or hot weather. Furthermore, wood can easily be cut into your desired sizes and shapes, making designing your home super easy.

They also have high tendencies to absorb noises and echoes. This makes them super great if you want a studio in your home. That way, you can be sure of the acoustic effects.

Wood is a high electric insulator. It’s high resistance to electricity makes your children safe from electrical hazards and accidents.

A wooden house in Slovenia by Dekleva Gregorič Architects ↑

Woods can generally be divided into two: hardwoods and softwoods.

• Hardwoods are usually stronger and heavier than softwoods. This makes them most suitable for the making of walls, floors, and the ceiling. It’s advised that you leave the choice of hardwoods to a professional to ensure durability. This is because, being an amateur, you may not be able to tell the difference between the woods easily.
• On the other hand, softwood can be used for window frames and windows, doors, and other wooden interior decorations and furniture. The furniture in your residential home could include kitchen cabinets, bedroom wardrobes, bookshelves, chairs, tables, and stools. If you have a garden, you can also use softwood to create a serene sitting shed in your backyard.

A minimal wooden house by Paul Bernier ↑

Commonly used hardwoods include teaks, oaks, or mahogany. In comparison, some commonly used softwood includes pines, cedar, or ash.

Bricks

Bricks happen to be one of the oldest building materials in existence, aside from woods. They were made out of clay and sun-dried until they can be used. However, in modern times, inventions and creativity had been added to clay production to make it stronger and more beautiful for constructing homes.

Riel Estate House by Joris Verhoeven Architectuur ↑

Common types of bricks include clay bricks, sand-lime bricks, engineering bricks, fly-ash bricks, and hollow bricks.

Some of the reasons why you may want to build your new home with brick include its ability to store heat and slowly dispense it later. In summer times, your brick walls store heat, and during winter, it dispenses it. This makes your home cool in summer and warm in winter.

It also has acoustic properties as it can absorb noise effortlessly. This makes it suitable for your studio effects. Brick houses have high fire resistance abilities, and what’s more, bricks are highly durable, recyclable, and reusable.

Conclusion

Outlined above are four materials you can use to build your residential home. Each of them is beautiful and very good, depending on what you want and how you want your home to look. It should be noted that building materials aren’t limited to these four as there are still glass building materials, stones, etc. Your home is your haven and should have the best of your attention.

Villa “Alders” by Joris Verhoeven Architectuur ↑

As a matter of fact, you can combine different building materials to make a strong, beautiful, and highly sophisticated home. You can use metal for your roofing, doors, and windows frame, use good hardwood for the interior black steel doors, while you can use metals still for the outer door. You can also use blocks and concrete for the walls while bricks for the studio part of your home. Glasses can be incorporated into the house for windows and create aesthetic effects for your exterior.

If you want to include a greenhouse in your compound, a glasshouse would be lovely for it too. And finally, you can use the softwoods for your interior furniture. Combining all these materials with a professional builder will make for a fantastic home you look forward to every day.