How to Take Care of Your Homes Exterior

Your home’s exterior is the first thing you, your family, and your guests interact with when they drive up the compound. This should be enough reason to want to ensure it’s always in good shape and looking as aesthetically pleasant to the eye as possible. It ushers guests into your home. Here are some tips to help you preserve the aesthetics of your home’s exterior.

1. Conduct an Inspection

Stroll around the perimeter of your home every four months, looking for potential problem spots. Conducting an exterior house inspection at the turn of each season is an excellent way to stay on track. Check for foundation cracks that may necessitate the attention of a deep foundation contractor, damage or staining in the exterior walls, deteriorating siding, the need for rooter services, and missing shingles on the roof. You might be amazed at how simple and valuable it is to identify problems affecting your home’s exterior before they become horrifying emergencies.

2. Remove Wood Rot and Maintain Exterior Paint

The exterior paint of your house improves curb appeal and acts as a moisture barrier. Preserving it keeps your home dry. If you see peeling or chipping, have a professional refresh the paint job as soon as possible. For wood siding, check for indications of swelling or discoloration.

Use a screwdriver to inspect the wood’s integrity. Paint might conceal wood rot. If it’s anything short of hard and firm, you’re likely dealing with a wood rot problem. If the damage isn’t too bad, it can be remedied. Drying the wood and applying a wood preservative are the typical repair steps.

3. Wash Your Home’s Exterior

Your home’s exterior deserves a wash at least once or twice a year. One power washing session can remove months or years of grime and dirt buildup from your siding, lower its likelihood of developing mildew and mold, and restore its fresh, clean appearance. If you decide to do it yourself, start by familiarizing yourself with the workings of a power washer and how to operate it. Once you’re comfortable using a power washer properly, start cleaning the highest reachable area of your home and work your way down while moving the hose from side to side.

4. Locate and Get Rid of Pest Infestations

Pests enter your living space through the exterior cracks, fissures, and gaps of your home’s exterior. If you notice any of these flaws, inspect them to check for a pest infestation and clear anything you can. Common indicators include rodents, dead bugs, droppings, nests, and pests. To avoid future infestations, seal up or repair potential entryways to keep the annoying creatures off your property. For the best and most efficient solutions, invest in a reliable pest control service with years of experience in the industry.

5. Keep Your Yard Clutter Free

Whether on your granite countertop or your home’s exterior, clutter causes chaos. Avoid having things lying around your back or front yard, as they’ll create a mess. Keep your outdoor spaces clean and clear at all times, if possible. With this straightforward technique, you’ll find it easier to find the things you need. Plus, you won’t have to worry about finding nasty surprises hiding under or behind mounds of stuff.

6. Keep Up With Your Landscapes’s Maintenance

Your landscape is one feature that can single-handedly make or break your home’s exterior esthetics. You could have the best-maintained roof and paint job in the neighborhood. However, if the yard looks unkempt, it’ll be hard for lookers to notice all the work you’ve put in. That’s why you should prioritize lawn care and other landscape maintenance tasks.

One of the most important yet seemingly basic aspects of maintaining a landscape is watering. Depending on the plant species, you may need to water your lawn daily, weekly, or monthly. So, before watering plants, check their labels to be sure you’re giving them the right quantity. Watering your plants when the earth feels dry is an effective technique to determine when to do so.

It’ll help you avoid over-watering while giving your plants the needed moisture. However, the best time to water them is in the morning as it’ll give the water enough time to evaporate before the sun sets. This will lessen the chance of mold or mildew growing on your plants.

Another great landscaping tip is to deadhead any annuals, perennials, and flowering shrubs on your lawn. This may be as straightforward as plucking off spent flowers using your hand and pruning spent stems or shearing off dead heads at once. Doing this is a great tip for keeping your plants blooming. The goal is to keep the plants fresh and green while encouraging them to flower again.

Don’t forget to give the soil some TLC. When you take care of the soil, maintaining the health of your plants is easy. Mulching is a great gardening practice as it ensures your soil has a steady supply of nutrients as it breaks down while protecting it from harsh elements. Adding compost to your vegetable garden once annually will replenish the nutrients and feed the microbes.

7. Trim the Trees

Trimming trees should also be on your list of landscaping tasks. By now, you know these magnificent monuments of nature don’t follow any rules as they grow; they do what they want. Over time, they tend to overgrow and block windows, driveways, and sidewalks. They also drop acorns, branches, and leaves onto the ground below, which can be a nuisance and an eyesore.

The best solution to avoiding these issues is trimming the trees in your yard regularly, which should involve dropping any dangerously hanging branches. You can do it as a preventative measure or when they get too big. For major jobs, it’s best to let the pros take over. The best time to trim trees is usually the summer or spring, as it’ll give them time to regrow before winter.

Certain trees and bushes tend to drop many seeds and leaves throughout the year. If you let them pile up, you’ll invite pests such as termites and mice and create the perfect condition for wood deterioration if the pile is against your home’s siding. To avoid such problems, ensure you pick up any fallen organic matter and dispose of it correctly.

8. Take Care of Your Roof

Have local roofers perform roof maintenance checks regularly to ensure it lasts its anticipated lifespan. Otherwise, issues may eventually arise, and the damage may be far worse than you initially thought. There are some tasks one can complete without a professional.

For example, leaf removal is perhaps one of the simplest roof care tasks. Regular leaf removal isn’t only for cosmetic reasons; leaves that accumulate close to roof valleys, skylights, or chimneys tend to gather and retain moisture. Ultimately, this will lower your roof’s lifespan and the house beneath it. You can employ tools like a leaf blower or rake to remove the leaves. Ensure a friend checks on you from the ground as you perform this maintenance task.

The condition of your gutters significantly impacts your roof’s integrity. These are designed to direct rainwater away from your roof and your home’s foundation. However, when they’re clogged with debris such as leaves, water may accumulate in the gutters, penetrate shingles, and even enter the home. To avoid these issues, regularly clean your gutters to ensure water flows smoothly through the system, and consider installing gutter guards as a preventative measure.

When inspecting your roof, you can only see so much with a pair of binoculars. Hiring a reputable professional roofer to examine your roof routinely is a smart move and an investment in your property. Some roofers offer upkeep packages that include roof inspections, gutter cleanings, debris removal, and identifying and fixing any underlying issues before they develop into bigger ones. Roof replacement costs are literally through the roof. Keep up with roof maintenance to avoid taking the hit prematurely.

9. Pay Attention to Your Garage Doors

Most homeowners believe garage doors are functional structures with only one job: safeguarding the items inside. They couldn’t be more wrong. These doors also considerably influence the overall esthetics of your home’s exterior. The right garage door will amaze your visitors and increase your home’s market value.

The preferred material for garage door panels may be steel. However, if you want to revamp the appearance of the outside of your house, consider investing in wooden doors. Wooden garage doors are not only stunningly gorgeous but also amazingly customizable. You can choose from various designs and modify the door for non-standard openings. Plus, wood is an excellent way of introducing nature’s calming effects to your home.

The most popular garage door woods are mahogany and cedar. They’re durable and frequently feature the original wood grain. Both types of wood can serve you for years without needing to be replaced if given the right weather treatment.

10. Consider Artificial Grass

A genuine turf isn’t for everyone. That’s why more homeowners are opting for artificial grass for landscaping, and for good reason. Unlike what most people believe, artificial grass has a realistic look and texture. You can enjoy all the advantages of conventional grass without many drawbacks, such as high maintenance needs.

Astroturf will give your home’s exterior an appealing aesthetic all year round. It delivers a considerably more appealing look even during the off-season. In contrast, harsh winters could make your natural turf look lifeless and unappealing.

Artificial grass also continues to be useable under all conditions. It drains water away rapidly, so you can frequently utilize the surface shortly after inclement weather. Heavy rain can quickly convert a natural yard into mud. Have an astroturf flooring business visit your home to determine the best artificial turf for your outdoor space.

While it may seem unconventional, you can get tiles for your outdoor spaces from a ceramic tile store. Just ask the personnel to point you to the slip and scratch-resistant options. Outdoor tiles are a great way to transition from indoor to outdoor spaces seamlessly.

11. Remember the Windows

Windows are naturally eye-catching. They’re an undeniable source of visual interest for your home’s exterior, whether they reflect the sun or provide a glimpse inside the house. It’s what makes them a common focus of scrutiny for homes.

Your curb appeal may suffer if your windows are ugly, outdated, or severely damaged. Such windows are also often inefficient, forcing your HVAC system to consume more energy than necessary to maintain the ideal temperature in your house. Replace outdated windows for curb appeal that serves a purpose. Besides getting replacements, you can improve the windows themselves.

New curtains are a great place to start. Besides providing privacy, they can transform and give your interior space character. These additions are decorative and functional.

There are many designs to pick from, as opposed to the past, when there were few options. Today, you can choose between installing shades, shutters, or window drapes. These will spice up your interiors and enhance the view from outside. Your choice of curtains will give your room character and set a mood.

12. Keep Up With Driveway Maintenance

While your home’s driveway is one of the areas you interact with the most, you likely don’t pay much attention to it until it stains or cracks. However, this shouldn’t be the case if you want to avoid contacting concrete suppliers for a replacement. Luckily, there are steps you can take.

To stop water from entering, freezing, and causing cracks on driveways, seal concrete yearly and asphalt every few years. Roots from trees and shrubs can create fractures by pushing up from below. The best remedy in this case is to cut down or remove trees close to roadways.

Patch holes or cracks as soon as they emerge. Remove loose materials with a masonry chisel and clean up the mess with a brush before applying the crack filler and patching the compound. Wait for the compound to dry before sealing the whole driveway. A smooth driveway will boost your home’s exterior appeal and reduce the risk of trip accidents for you, your family, and your guests.

Whether you’re searching online for “ways to sell my home faster” or want to enjoy your home’s outdoor spaces more, you’ll need to intentionally make an effort to take care of your home’s exterior. There’s no shortcut besides putting in the work.

Think of the facade like your skin. Invest in it to achieve that famous glow that pops on Instagram photos, whether moisturizers, exfoliators, or makeup. Be equally hands-on with your home’s “skin.” This article provides helpful tips.