What ever you call it; living by the sea, having a house at the shore or owning a beach house, it is a dream come true for many of us. We like to feel the breeze, breathe the salt air and hear the sound of the waves crashing onto the shore. We like to walk along the beach alone, with a friend, a loved one or our favorite pup. Many of us are also passionate about all the water related activities available to us —anything from swimming to surfing to fishing to kayaking to parasailing to chilling on the beach.! These are the joys that bring smiles to our faces and warmth to our hearts. When we get these opportunities we feel like we managed to find a piece of heaven. We feel free from the problems we left at the beach access. It seems that stress rolls right off of us. And, if only for the short time that we are there, all is right with the world and we exhale.
I have owned a house at the beach for almost 10 years now. If you own a house at the beach, you’ve probably learned, like I have, that while we enjoy all of these wonderful benefits of living by the sea, homeownership by the sea has its challenges. There are also some unexpected disadvantages to having a home by the sea. SHOREHOUZ is dedicated to exploring, understanding and presenting strategies and techniques as well as finding solutions for managing or overcoming the challenges of seaside homeownership. Our goal at SHOREHOUZ is to find methods and tools to reduce our financial outlays and the time spent dedicated to maintenance of our seaside homes so we can spend more time enjoying our piece of paradise.
For those of you considering buying a beach house, you will be armed with knowledge that will save you time and headaches upfront. We will also periodically take a look some of the many options available for seaside living. We plan to explore what each beach community has for you. These are important considerations, because we want to enjoy ourselves and each seaside or beach town can have its unique character. Each of us are different and what appeals to one may or may not appeal to another. So picking the right place to live by the sea is crucial to enjoying ourselves. There are others, who for one reason or another, know exactly where they want to vacation for the foreseeable future. They‘ve found their perfect place in the sun.
There are many to seaside regions to choose from in the US:
The California coast,
The Gulf shores of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, or Florida.
The Massachusetts Cape,
Long Island,
The Jersey Shore
The Delaware, Maryland and Virginia beaches.
The Outer Banks,
South Carolina and Georgia Coastal towns.
The Atlantic Florida Coastal towns, South Florida and the Keys
The US Virgin Islands
Having found the right place, and taken the plunge to buy a place by the sea. We are then faced with the responsibility of maintaining our own little piece of heaven. We enjoy the same benefits of this heaven as the renter, yet we have the additional benefit of being able to live there when we want or can. Unlike the renter however, particularly for those of us who don’t live at the ocean full time, we also have to squeeze in some honey do’s during our time at the beach. This includes the stuff that you are faced with wherever you own a home, compounded with a set of additional challenges. We have a unique group of variables to deal with directly resulting from being located in a the seaside environment.
Unique Challenges of Living by the Sea
There are many unique challenges we face when owning a home and living by the sea. Mother Nature is a constant adversary of maintaining your home. While she can be a challenge elsewhere, of course, she presents some unique challenges when you live by the sea. She can be sweet and she can be bitter. Her sweetness in the form of ocean breezes, heat and sunshine are beautiful but also can cause serious issues for the home owner over time. Alternatively, her bitterness is intense. It can manifest itself into substantial and horrifying damage to our piece of paradise.
The oceanside is gorgeous. We can enjoy many activities from fishing, jogging along the beach, flying kites, building sand castles or just kicking back in an easy chair on the beach. There is a feast for the senses. Our ears enjoy the sounds of the waves crashing into the shore, the sound and sight of seagulls searching for dinner and the breeze flapping the umbrella protecting us from the sun. Our eyes are capturing those same things as well as the distant sailboat or the fishing boat followed by jumping dolphins. We feel the sand and shells beneath our feet, the breeze upon our face and the warmth of the sun making us feel almost perfect. Our noses, meanwhile are taking in the undistinguishable fragrance of the ocean, from the sea air to what some describe as the smell of fresh seafood.
Along with these heavenly characteristics, the other edge of the proverbial sword for seaside homeowners and homeowners-to-be, are the effects this beauty has on our dream homes. Be it a little beach shack or an oceanside mansion, Mother Nature does not discriminate. She can be brutal to our homes. Corrosion and rust can result from exposure to the sea spray which contains salt; fading and dry rot from the sun and accompanying heat; flooding and strong winds from hurricanes and storms all can turn your little piece of paradise into a constant maintenance and replacement headache and even unfortunately disaster. These maintenance issues can rob you of time, money or both and keep you from enjoying your paradise.
SHOREHOUZ will bring you information about these seaside challenges, explore techniques for dealing with them and expose you to some of the products that can be used to reduce, if not eliminate the damage they cause. We will also endeavor to introduce you to products, hardware and feature beautifully designed, classic fixtures made from quality materials that are specifically made to resist these harsh elements.
Living by the Sea is wonderful. SHOREHOUZ hopes to be a part of making your life at the sea even more enjoyable.