Everybody talks about curb appeal–making the exterior of your house so attractive that potential buyers can’t wait to step inside–and plunk down the desired dollars.
Yet often eyesores–from bulky air conditioning units to peeling paint–detract from the charm of a house’s exterior. Too many homeowners focus on the inside and when money is available, tackle the outside, says Lou Manfredini, WGN radio’s Mr. Fix-It and Ace Hardware’s “Helpful Hardware Man.”
Manfredini suggests a different approach: “Do the outside first, then when you have a quality shell, go in and fix that up.”
The following 15 steps can eliminate or camouflage a host of eyesores:
1) Air conditioning unit. Big and bulky, it often is located at one side of the house, yet it still may be in view when you look outside or stroll around your property. Several experts suggest concealing it–but note it should be done in way that doesn’t interfere with the unit’s operation.”One of the worst things you can do,” Manfredini says, “is to cover the unit with a deck. That decreases the unit’s efficiency and shortens its life span because it’s supposed to breathe and not get overheated. What you’re doing is the equivalent of wearing a parka when you jog in summer.”
Instead, screen off an air conditioning unit with some type of fencing or shrubbery, between 16 to 24 inches away from the unit to maintain sufficient air flow. Judi Scott, who appears on a home-improvement show in San Diego, suggests using a latticework design, if that works with your home’s design. If you use plastic lattice, you won’t have to repaint it, she adds.
Also try to repeat the latticework or landscaping elsewhere on your property so it seems one part of the entire design rather than a single feature. Otherwise, you may only draw more attention to the unit, says Carrie Woleben-Meade, a landscape architect with Mariani Landscape in Lake Bluff.
2) Satellite dish. Try to locate the dish away from the house’s front. Yet even putting it in the rear or in a side yard may make it visible from the house’s interior or from your favorite back-yard perch. You can put a fence around the lower portion or plant shrubbery, but don’t obscure its “straight shot to the sky,” Manfredini says.
3) Gas meters. If you’re building a new house, it’s far easier to ask the utility company to put a meter in a less obvious location rather than smack dab next to the front door, says architect Richard Becker of Becker Architects Ltd. in Highland Park. But with an existing home, it can be expensive to move a meter. It might be smarter to consider shrub or evergreen to conceal it, he says.
However, don’t place the landscaping too close to the meter or it can’t be read, Becker says. The same strategy goes for alarm key pads. Try to place them in the least obtrusive spot.
4) Excessive wires. Another negative of having a dish or other cable system is the possible plethora of wires that may encircle the exterior. Manfredini suggests you reroute them or tuck them behind a downspout.
5) Worn gutters. You can repaint them, replace them or add a hood that stops leaves and other debris from clogging gutters.
Replacement is the most expensive option. New gutters average about $4 to $6 a running foot. But it’s a price many homeowners are willing to pay, if it means a stop to water overflows that tend to stain siding.
Lois Haligas, who has lived in her Lombard house for 47 years, recently added a seamless aluminum gutter system after seeing the Indiana limestone on her home’s facade discolor. “It was from all the `gook’ that ran out of the gutters,” she says.
Her new gutters cost about $1,500, but she eliminated problems with overflow, she says.
6) Worn vinyl siding. Though it generally requires little maintenance, vinyl siding can begin to look tired and worn over time. However, painting vinyl siding eliminates its low-maintenance appeal. “Some companies are developing a [paint] product that won’t peel, but it’s still months away from being available in adequate quantities,” Manfredini says.
Manfredini suggests either replacing the siding–which can be terribly expensive–or painting any wood trim to focus the eye on that feature and downplay the siding.
7) Cracked mortar. If you have a brick home, you periodically need to tuckpoint the brick, which involves removing and replacing the worn and missing mortar. If done properly, it can last 20 years but be prepared to pay about $2 to $4 a square foot, or about $4,000 for a 3,000-square-foot home, Manfredini says.
8) Ugly mailboxes. There’s almost no reason to make do with an unattractive mailbox, with so many good-looking ones on the market. You also can replace mailbox posts, recess the mailbox in brick columns with a limestone cap and planter on top, or plant flowers around the box to dress it up, says Chicago designer John Wiltgen of John Robert Wiltgen Design.
9) Cracked sidewalks and crumbling driveways. You may be able to do the work yourself by using crack filler that stops water and debris from getting in. Ideally, most asphalt driveways should be resealed every two to three years.
10) Overgrown landscaping. Landscaping should complement a house, but unkept lawns, oversize bushes and dead plantings do the opposite. Whether you do the work yourself or hire a professional, keep grass cut, mulch and edge planting beds, prune bushes and trees, and get rid of dead branches. Manfredini suggests walking across the street from your property to get an overview of what needs to be done.
You also should eliminate excessive ivy since it can embed itself in brick or wood, and discolor and damage the materials, especially on a house’s cooler north side, says Woleben-Meade. But, it typically takes a long time to happen–about 20 years for brick and 10 years for wood, she says.
11) Shoddy roof. Once a year walk around your house and see if any shingles have blown off, which detracts from the home’s aesthetics, Manfredini says. Replace warped and cracked shingles before icy temperatures force frozen water through cracks and under shingles. If you have a flat or tile roof, you may need to get out on it to be sure that no water is pooling.
12) Unattractive combinations of brick on the house’s front and vinyl on the rear or sides. To camouflage such cost-cutting designs, consider using evergreens to mask the vinyl siding, Manfredini says.
13) Worn shutters or no shutters. Shutters add a nice accessorizing touch, almost like the right jewelry on a dress. They needn’t be expensive, and you can buy pairs from $30 to $100, depending on quality and size, Manfredini says.
14) Worn or cracked windows. Replacing windows is an investment of time and money. The average replacement price is about $500 per window. Yet new windows can dramatically alter the look of a house and add character, Manfredini says.
15) Garbage cans. If you leave your full or empty garbage cans outside for more than just collection day, you may want to consider building a garbage stand or enclosure. They not only hide garbage cans but can deter stray animals from making a mess of things. Just remember to make a garbage enclosure collector friendly. Also, build a stand large enough so that it can accommodate your garbage, yard waste in the summer and recycables. Some municipalities and homeowners associations have restrictions against enclosures, so check first to see what the rules are in your community.
