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6 Structural Choices Affecting Long-Term Home Maintenance

For those of you deliberating over a new build or an upcoming renovation, take a moment to consider what parts of your future home can make or break its longevity. These crucial early-on choices will decide whether you can expect a hair-pulling maintenance cycle or a stress-free future to enjoy the most of your home. Below are a few of the most common areas that benefit the most from careful decision-making.


Roofing 

Your home’s foremost shield from the elements, it’s imperative for your roof to keep not only the inside dry, but also the underlying timber structure. While materials such as asphalt shingles are low-cost and come in many styles, they are more prone to weather damage and require more frequent maintenance compared to slate, metal, or tile. Even if you do go with metal roofing, for example, it still benefits from occasional maintenance to get the most out of its long lifespan. This involves cleaning, removing debris, and checking for damage.


Dark gray shingled roof under a cloudy blue sky, with bare trees in the background, conveying a calm, serene mood.
Asphalt shingles are durable for the price, affordable, and come in many different textures and colors.

White stucco wall with a black-framed window, adjacent to a dirt area and wooden fence. Overcast sky and barren trees in the background.
Stucco cladding is a durable, cement-based plaster finish applied in layers over a building's exterior

Cladding 

Cladding acts as your home’s armour, and protects it on all sides. When it comes to maintenance, stucco is a popular material. It offers excellent toughness and thermal performance, but is prone to cracking, which in turn creates water tightness issues. As such, skilled installation is required to avoid shrinkage, which causes hairline cracks. These can happen anytime due to hot weather or movement, leading to further maintenance. Its porous nature also means that underlying barriers are required to protect the home. Materials such as brick, metal, and fibre cement offer greatly increased crack resistance but still require infrequent washes or refinishing.


Plasterboard 

A staple of New Zealand’s bustling DIY industry, plasterboard (or Gib) is your finishing wall material, providing insulation, fire, and structural support. While contractors are typically adept at choosing the right board for the right room (e.g. water-resistant Gib for bathrooms), you may have personal preferences such as quieter rooms, which can call for specialised boards. Installation is important, as pops (fixings pushing through the board) and cracking can occur if the boards aren’t properly installed.


Two men installing drywall in a bright, unfinished room with tools and ladders. They wear black shirts with a colorful logo, exuding focus.
GIB comes in different types for standard, moisture-prone (Aqualine), noisy (Noiseline), or fire-risk (Fyreline) areas.

A modern black cabin with large windows sits in a forest. Wooden deck with chairs, and trees in autumn colors surround the serene setting.

Home Design 

When realising your dream home, you may have some particularly ambitious designs in mind. Some of the most demanding components stem from the initial concept. Tall ceilings and skylights can rack up steep HVAC costs with difficult cleaning. The same goes for complex or irregularly-shaped layouts. These can also be hard to repair if they require specialised parts. Also be careful when choosing which materials are exposed to the elements if they’re not cladding.


Door & Window Joinery 

Facing high traffic on both faces, windows and doors are unique in that they need to be tough on weather while also connecting the indoors and outdoors. A key choice is the material used for the joinery here, which often comes in timber or aluminium. You can expect great insulation and aesthetics from timber, but it also brings increased maintenance. Spurred from natural timber movement, cracking to door jambs and window reveals can occur. Maintaining the seals is important to curb moisture damage and rot. Alternatively, aluminium joinery is notably low-maintenance in comparison.



Flooring 

Two people in a modern kitchen, one leaning and drinking while the other sits, talking. Warm wood tones, gray cabinets, relaxed mood.
Timber flooring costs in NZ vary widely, from around $100 to over $500 per square metre

Popular and classy, timber floors are a staple of New Zealand homes, and offer a long-lasting, easy to maintain flooring solution. Still, there are some nuances that are known to many homeowners. Squeaky floors, for example, often arise as the result of thermal expansion. Like the rest of the materials on this list, water is not its friend (sorry, water). Moisture ingress can cause damage and springy flooring. Take care when planning timber-floored rooms in proximity to your bathroom and kitchen, especially if it’s in an open layout. Put mats around entryways and have proper storage ready for wet boots. Vinyl offers superior waterproofing at the cost of authenticity, but is nonetheless a stable choice.


These are just some of the myriad structural decisions involved in planning a home. If you’re eager to go hands-on with keeping your materials like new, there’s no bad choice among the listed materials. If you’re after something “out of mind, out of sight”, some of the alternatives can be easier on the mind and wallet.

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