Dialing Up Your Curb Appeal: The 50/50 Adage
When my dad got behind on his honey-do home maintenance stuff, my mother would say, “let’s tidy up outside because I don’t want our place to be 50|50.” Translation: Our home was only looking its best from 50 yards - or when passed by car at 50 miles per hour. These days if you ask my wife how she gets boxes checked on the home exterior to-do list, she’ll tell you that the 50|50 adage works as well today as it did in ages past with my dad. And so, without further ado, here are a few services that will dial up your home’s curb appeal:
Pruning and yard cleanup is near the top on the curb appeal hit list. Hedges and shrubs, lower limbs (dead or unhealthy) along with gathering up fallen branches, pinecones and other detritus really helps square up the look of the yard. Here in NOVA, this is always a great place to start. And if your mulch is getting thin, that can be another action item.
Roof and gutters are next on the list. Branches and leaves along with gutters full of gunk, often growing little green shoots here and there. And while up on the roof, it’s good to check the cement chimney cap for cracks along with the chimney flashing and flashing around skylights and vents. Patching the chimney cap and repairing flashing is relatively easy and can prevent water damage inside your home. Finally, prune away any tree branches in contact with the roof to reduce insect and squirrel travel onto the roof.
Roof stains are not always a huge issue, but from time to time I will carefully remove some moss growing in shady areas and clean other areas stained by leaves and branches. The trick was always to be gentle to maintain the integrity of the shingles.
Back on ground level, power washing brickwork and siding and treating mildewed wood fencing adds lots to the curb appeal as well.
The last effort is always focused on hauling away anything that was not in use or just cluttering up the yard. This included things like old clay planters, old yard furniture along with the yard waste from the pruning.
Give me call if any of these home services sound like things you’d like to have checked off the to-do list. I look forward to meeting you. -David