Does Your House Make A Good First Impression?
Whether you’re selling your house, or just trying to keep your house in an impressive condition to keep the neighbors off your back, there is one part of the house that usually goes unnoticed by you, yet is obvious to everyone else; the exterior. Your house could look immaculate on the inside, but everyone is judging you based on your untrimmed hedges, faded paintwork, and broken shingles. Is that really the first impression you want people to have of your house? Don’t worry; with a little bit of work, your house can look beautiful inside and outside.
Maintain your lawn
You’ll save yourself a lot of fights with your neighbors if you keep your front in an equally good condition to your back garden. Always make sure your hedges are trimmed and the grass is mowed. Once you’ve finished the lawn, you should also take the opportunity to clear your lawn of any debris, dead leaves, or weeds that are coming through the cracks. Follow up with a thorough cleaning using a pressure washer to remove dirt and grime. From here, you should start patching any cracks or holes in concrete surfaces with a concrete resurfacer.
Siding installation
Although you could pick up a paintbrush and touch up the fading paintwork on your house, a more long-term solution includes installing siding. Installing vinyl siding to your house’s exterior will give your home some added protection from the wind, rain, and wayward sports balls. A home siding contractor can sit with you to discuss your budget and style needs, but you might be surprised at how affordable it could be. As an added benefit, most vinyl siding and insulated siding are now made to be environmentally friendly, they can improve your energy efficiency, and they last a long time.
Clean your gutters
If you see evidence of animals nesting in them, you’ll know for certain that it’s been too long since you cleaned your gutters. Mice, birds, lizards, frogs, and even feral cats are all likely to find a home amongst all the compressed debris in your gutters. Sooner or later, your gutters will start to sag from all the weight of wildlife and debris in there, and it will all start to damage your roof. It might be a hated chore around the house, but you only need to do this twice a year to keep your gutters in good condition.
Inspect your roof
While you’re sorting out your gutters, you should also inspect the roof for curled and missing shingles, rusted and pitted flashing, and cracked caulk around pipe collars, skylights and other roof penetrations. If you’re not too thrilled about heights, you can do this inspection with a pair of binoculars. Make a note of anything that needs doing, then hiring a roof expert to get it done. You should conduct regular checks on your roof to make sure there is no damage, as this type of problem can spiral out of control quickly if not addressed.