Your blacktop driveway should be, you know, black.
When someone views your house from the street, your driveway is the most predominant thing they see. So if yours is gray and weathered, recoat it with asphalt sealer. Start by thoroughly cleaning the surface with a pressure washer and letting it dry completely. Then use a sealer applicator with a squeegee on one side and a brush on the other to spread and smooth the mixture. If the original surface was deeply pitted, apply a second coat. Sealer will not stick to oil on your driveway, Use an oil spot remover before coating the driveway. Of course you could always call your local blacktop company and they can get it done in half the time…..with half the mess!
Has anyone seen the sidewalk lately?
It's there, all right. You just have to look under the grass and weeds. When walks and driveways lose their edge, it creates a first impression of casual neglect. Haul out the hand edger, power edger or a string trimmer to cut back the grass. The manicured look you get from edging a thick, green lawn provides a pleasing transition between grass and pavement. Don’t just take my word for it – take a walk around the block in your neighborhood and take notice to people’s yards. You will see the lawns that are trimmed out nicely just have a much better feel to them as you walk by.
Hard to believe, but there used to be a house behind those shrubs.
Severely overgrown shrubs not only destroy the architectural lines of your house, they make the neighbors wonder what you've got to hide. Get out and prune those bushes.
Shade is nice. Bare dirt under the trees isn't.
Deal with collateral canopy damage by installing short retaining walls of cast concrete blocks to create planters. Concrete blocks are durable, environmentally safe, and don't need a rigid footing installed below the frost line. Once you've placed all the blocks, just fill topsoil in behind them and add shade-tolerant plants.
The planting beds next to the house should sue for abandonment.
That's probably because they take so much time to weed and water properly. If you want to make them easier to maintain, lay in some mulch, which holds in moisture and prevents weed growth. "There are two dimensions to mulch, one is what it looks like, and the other is what it does. Just about any mulch will improve the health of your plants. For a formal look, stone mulch is a good choice. For a more casual approach, organic mulch, like wood chips, is a better bet.
You can see the outline of Illinois in that stain beneath the gutters.
To find the culprit, look no further than clogged gutters, which cause water to spill out and stain the siding. Remove debris out of your gutters at least two times a year. Bring a bucket up the ladder with you and hang the bucket from the ladder using a painter's hook. This way you can clean with both hands and make the job go faster. While cleaning, check for leaking joints. If you find one, apply a heavy coat of gutter seal over the seam.
Pattern baldness is for men…..not your yard.
To thicken the turf, over-seed your lawn by planting new grass without tearing up the old. The best time to over seed in the Belvidere and Rockford area is in the late summer or early fall. Throw some extra seed down and let Mother Nature take care of the rest.
Can you write "wash me" on that dingy siding?
Clean away the crud with a pressure washer. Start at the bottom and work up. When you get to the top, rinse down to the bottom. These washers are standard rental items, but many people prefer to buy one. Most machines come with a nozzle that adjusts the flow of water from an intense pencil-thin stream to a broad fan. Choose the widest (least intense) pattern that still cleans effectively. Too narrow a stream can damage wood in siding, decks and fences.
Why does everybody have to kick the front door when they come in?
Sounds like the grand entrance to your pleasure dome could use a facelift, and it's the kind of makeover that can instantly upgrade your entire home. Consider it a good opportunity to improve the look of your house and not just as another chore that needs to be done. If your door can be painted, that might be a quick fix. The easiest approach is to change only the door, this practice isn't common because it's hard to know who made your original door. Sometimes there's a sticker, etching or brass plate on the hinge edge of the door that identifies the original manufacturer. If you can’t see one, get a full frame replacement, which means a new door that's pre hung in new jambs.
The paint looks great…….other than that little chipping.
Before you just throw a coat of paint up, inspect your existing paint and see if you can find any cracking and/or pealing. Then ask yourself "Why is the paint failing?" The most likely reasons are moisture intrusion, broken caulking and faulty flashing. Once you've addressed the underlying problem, scrape off the loose paint, prime and then paint with a finish coat. If you're using some of the original paint that you've kept around for just such an occasion, be prepared for a difference in sheen or color due to weathering of the old paint.
With all those cracks, it looks like this sidewalk was built on a fault line.
By repairing cracks when they are small, you can prevent the erosion and the freeze-and-thaw damage that will ruin your walks in the future. For cracks that are 1/2 in. wide or less, fill them to within 1/2 in. of the top with pieces of foam plumbing pipe insulation. Cover this with a polyurethane compound, flush to the surrounding walk surfaces.
Your deck is starting to look exactly like something that's been left outside in the weather, year after year.
Add refinishing the deck to your checklist, especially in the Northern Illinois area. The hard winters and humid summers accelerate the wear and tear on that beautiful deck you have. Start by removing the old finish with a deck stripper and pressure washer. Then, scrub the surface with a deck-cleaning solution, and rinse. Do a thorough job. "Eighty-five percent of all deck-finish failures result from improper surface preparation, Complete the job by applying a single coat of new sealer.
The most important thing to keep in mind when preparing your house is to be objective. Look at your house and yard as if you were a buyer, and determine curb appeal from that perspective. You may notice things you've spent years overlooking. By spending a little time fixing up your house, you could potentially add thousands to the selling price.