Eyesores You Need to Fix on Your Property

If your home has gotten a lot of interior DIY help during the pandemic, but the outside needs repairs, it’s a great time to take a critical eye to the outside of your property and see what things might need a little extra care. In order to keep serving you well in the future, your home needs attention around its exterior to maintain curb appeal and value. What are some things that can quickly turn into an eyesore on your property? Here are some of the worst!

An Overgrown Lawn

It’s really easy to let a lawn and landscaping get a little bit shaggy over time. Since winter is well under way, it’s a great time while the bushes are dormant to figure out what they are and how best to trim them as well. Think about how much water your lawn is using and consider replacing some of it with things like moss or clover, which are less water intensive but also beautiful ground covers. As a bonus, they don’t need cutting! Look for hardscaping solutions which minimize your watering schedule, both for your finances and the environment.

Deteriorating Siding

If your siding is painted, and not made of vinyl or concrete, you know it’s not as long lasting without repairs. This means checking your siding yearly is important, to make sure it’s not cracked and breaking. You don’t want pests, termites, or other complications coming into your home through broken siding! You also don’t want easy entrance to mold or other water issues, as your siding is important in keeping out moisture. Protect your home’s future and your family inside of it by making sure its outer covering is also protected.

Peeling Paint

Peeling paint can be ugly, but a fairly simple solution to solve. It’s important to scrape peeling paint and sand it before repainting. Repainting should always be done with a paint that is graded for outdoor use. You really would prefer to not need to paint yearly, or even every two or three years. It protects your home to have a good paint job, and it makes it look fresh, clean, and inviting. Look for gentle neutral colors and go for a big pop of color with your door! Try to keep the trim neutral as well. Use a high gloss outdoor paint on all trims to protect them and make pressure washing more effective.

Driveway Cracks

Your driveway is an asset to your house, and it helps your home to continue to look inviting to guests. Power wash every few years, and fill small cracks with patch material. This prevents small cracks from widening in winter storms when water freezes over and widens them. A professional can determine if you need new paving or if you can patch the crack. Remember, preventing and patching cracks is a great option in advance so that you don’t need to replace later on.

Faded or Outdated House Numbers

While your home isn’t a business, making it easy to find is important. You want your house numbers to be easily visible, and ideally luminescent at night. If you have a house which has sidewalk and curbs, consider redoing your curb numbers to be visible easily as well. Why? You want your house to be easy to find for emergency purposes, of course! But a lovely side reason is that guests, uber drivers, package delivery, and food deliveries can find you much more easily also.

Trash or Debris

Debris just . . . happens. Whether it’s bits of trash blowing in from other places, or leaves and pine straw from trees, those things can quickly pile up. Piles of debris, leaf litter, and other materials (man-made trash or natural) can cause varying pests to choose to take residence on your land. While creatures like racoons and opossums aren’t dangerous, you don’t want them living next to your home, and you definitely don’t want rats or rattlesnakes. Cockroaches also love leaf litter because they are composters. Getting rid of debris helps your home to prevent infestations of insects, including having a termite bond, but also preventing rat’s nests and housing snakes and other critters among debris.

Lighting

While you’re doing an annual walk around your house, it’s important to note which lights aren’t working properly. You want good safety lighting in your garage, outside of your garage, and anywhere else that needs additional safety protection, such as your deck. Likewise, you want your front porch light to be illuminating well, both for safety and beauty purposes. There are so many beautiful new designs for houses for front porch lights, some of which involve camera and security options also. Then, your home can have safety lighting while being modern and beautiful as well!

Play Equipment

If you have children, it’s especially critical to check play equipment for accidental damage over the year. Swing chains or ropes can wear and might break. Children can get tangled in broken equipment, which can pose a strangulation hazard. Likewise, things that are plastic, like climbing equipment, slides, or other pieces of playsets can wear over time and crack or break with extended play. Things like wasps and ground dwelling snakes can create warm winter homes under the shelter of playsets. Doing a quick check can help your kids not have an entanglement with yellow jackets or other pests.

Beautifying your home can not only help your neighbors’ happiness, but you as well. It can be depressing to have the outside of your home feel like you do not care for it, especially if disability or age have prevented you from making all the repairs you would like. Find those around you who might be willing to help you to make needed repairs, including friends, family, or groups in the community. It can seem overwhelming if you’ve not done outdoor work in a while, but a few small things can make it look so much better.

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