Moving into an Oceanfront Home? What to Expect and How to Upkeep Your New Home

Whether you are buying your first house or upgrading from your family home, moving into an oceanfront property holds the same level of excitement in either case.

There are plenty of good reasons for that. Your home offers highly distinct experiences around the clock, from enjoying magnificent oceanic sights to taking in refreshing sea breezes. When you add the combination of luxury and tranquility to the mix, the property boasts all the qualities you seek from a dream home.

But moving into a home that is oceanfront often comes with its challenges. With unique maintenance requirements, taking care of such a property may also seem quite difficult at first. With that being said, it’s not impossible at all.

When you know a few choice tips about an oceanfront home’s upkeep, you can take care of your property in an effortless way. A little cleaning here, a slight inspection there, and you can retain the beauty of your spectacular home without breaking a sweat.

Sound interesting? To help you through the process, here’s what to expect with owning an oceanfront home and taking care of your property at all times.

1. Your Metal Fixtures Need Additional Care

When you live in an oceanfront property, you have quite a few advantages. From enrolling in surfing classes for beginners to taking scuba diving lessons for advanced swimmers, you can invest your time and money in activities you may never have dreamed of enjoying before.

But as you grab your surfboard or diving gear, you need to pay attention to protecting your home from regular elements such as the open-air itself. That’s because the breeze that flows through your home is quite different than what surrounds the suburbs or city lines.

Due to excessive humidity and moisture, this ocean air can be especially harmful to any metal-based elements that are placed within your home. When the moisture or salt particles in the ocean air interact with metal-based construction fixtures, household appliances, and decorative pieces, they can lead to corrosion, rust, mold, and mildew.

In order to make sure that you keep your metal fixtures safe from this fate, you need to take a few key steps. The first tip is to make sure that you don’t have any metal material installed within your home exterior. If you absolutely have to use metal, choose copper for superior performance or stainless steel for comparatively less damage. If you are closing a deal on a home as-is, factoring in these costs is a good idea.

For indoor metal fixtures, make it a practice to wipe them down on a regular basis. You should also install high-quality filters in your HVAC system and clean them frequently. You can also invest in silicone lubricants that can add more safety to your metal surfaces.

2. Your Exteriors Require Extra Attention

Taking care of your home’s interior and stocking it full of modern technology might be your top priority. But you also need to focus on taking care of your oceanfront home’s exteriors. This includes nearly all elements of your home’s outward appearances, such as its paint, its windows, its doors, and its railings.

Even when you invest in high-quality exterior paint, humidity and moisture in ocean winds can cause it to lose its luster and start peeling off sooner in comparison to its city counterparts. To prevent these changes as much as possible, reach out to a contractor who can pay close attention to the preparation and application processes before a new paint job. If possible, avoid exterior paints from the get-go and instead invest in natural finishing jobs for wood staining or concrete walls.

When it comes to windows, it’s quite common for your window panes to start looking dirty and unkempt with just a few hours of embracing ocean winds. This calls for regular cleaning of these fixtures, advisably on an everyday basis. You should also invest in shatter-proof glass to prevent wind damage. Getting fiberglass window frames also goes a long way in preventing corrosion.

Doors go through the same risks and require you to invest in heavy-duty wood or fiberglass materials that don’t deteriorate on a rapid basis. Even then, regular cleaning is a must-have practice that you cannot compromise on at all.

Due to the risk of corrosion and rust, metal railings are once again a big no. If you absolutely need that touch of modernity, invest in stainless steel or copper. While the former is highly accessible, the latter needs careful handling due to its negative reaction to aquatic life upon disposal.

3. Your Home Needs Protection Against Humidity

Humidity is not limited to affecting your metal structures or paint jobs. It is also a major culprit towards causing excessive property damage in the form of mold and mildew.

If your home absorbs excessive moisture from regular air and doesn’t find a way to dry it out quickly, it can start forming mold spores and mildew against the damp surfaces. If you are not able to detect these growths in time, they can spread from one corner of your home to the other quite rapidly. Air quality in your home is always important to control.

Since mold and mildew can be quite harmful to your home and belongings alike, it’s essential that you take active steps to curb it before its spread. One of the best approaches in this regard is to use dehumidifiers throughout your home, which keep excessive moisture at bay.

You should also make it a point to wipe down your furniture and any wooden surfaces from time to time. If you see any specks of mold or mildew growing on your walls, fixtures, or furnishings, don’t hesitate to reach out to mold remediation specialists.

Apart from mold and mildew, moisture can also attract pests such as termites to your home. This usually happens if the soil near your home is damp. But it can also take place due to a variety of moisture-related reasons. That is why you should also make pest inspection a part of your regular home maintenance routine.

With these reasons in mind, make sure that when you are buying a house, you take care of these aspects to prevent any oversight. This makes sure that you are able to take care of your home on a long term basis.

By paying attention to these aspects, you can reap the rewards of oceanfront living without worrying about your home’s deterioration. As a result, you can steer clear of excessive repair costs and bask in the glory of beautiful seaside living with minimal issues.

Lastly, it is always important to have an estate plan. It makes known how you want your assets, like this new oceanfront home, to be handled in the event you can’t manage it yourself.

About The Author: Matt Casadona has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, with a concentration in Marketing and a minor in Psychology. He is currently a contributing editor for 365 Business Tips. Matt is passionate about marketing and business strategy and enjoys the San Diego life, traveling and music.

Photo by Dim Hou on Unsplash