Proper home maintenance is critical to keep your property in good condition, attract potential buyers, and keep current tenants happy. With proper upkeep, your home can withstand any outdoor or weather element all year round.
However, home maintenance isn’t only limited to its interiors. It’s also essential to attend to your home’s exterior maintenance. As stated by a 2020 survey, 57% of property owners focus more on upgrading and maintaining their home’s outdoor area.
Yet, despite its importance and necessity, outdoor home maintenance can be a huge time and money drain, especially if you’re unsure of where and how to start. But with the right planning and mindset, you wouldn’t need to go through all the fuss of maintaining your home’s outdoor area. This article will present a few tips to help property owners like you manage exterior home maintenance with minimal issues along the way.
Update your home’s landscaping
Among the first things that passersby and potential buyers will see when viewing your house is its landscape. Maintaining and keeping up with your home’s landscape maintenance can significantly influence how people perceive your property’s value and overall appeal. Furthermore, as per research, a well-landscaped property has a huge price advantage compared with houses that have none. And the advantage can range from 5.5% to 12.7%, depending on the type of landscaping project done.
So, step outside more often and clean up all the clutter on your landscape. Rake up the leaves and dead grass on the ground and eliminate all the weed infesting your yard. Reseed and fill in any bald patches in your lawn to improve the overall look of your grass.
The Hometown Concrete Leveling team recommends hiring a professional landscaping service to help you maintain and update your home’s landscape regularly. This will save you time and effort in managing your property’s outdoor area while ensuring that it remains visually appealing.
For low maintenance landscaping, you may focus on incorporating native flowers or plants since they require little maintenance and can thrive well in your region’s natural climate, unlike exotic plants. Lay more mulch on your flower beds as well to protect your plants and prevent weed growth. Generally, the best time to clean up and update your home’s landscape is during spring, although some of these tasks may be done at any time of the year.
Repair the driveway or pathway
Your driveway or pathway is a big part of your property’s curb appeal. Those small cracks on the path may be unnoticeable initially, but they can develop into bigger cracks when left unfixed for a long time.
Aside from being unsightly, cracked concrete on the path poses hazards to you, your tenants, or potential buyers. For instance, it can be a trip hazard to people and can damage cars, especially when it’s too deep. The cracks can also be the perfect spot for mold to grow and spread, causing the concrete to look even more unappealing and become slippery.
Thus, the moment you spot any small or big cracks on your driveway or pathway, have them fixed immediately. If the cracks or holes are less than ¼ inches, you may patch or fill them yourself or seek professional assistance. But if the damages are larger than ¼ inches and are already sinking or discolored, or the damage comes from underneath, you’ll need to hire a contractor for repair or restoration.
Inspect your roof
How often do you think about your property’s current roof condition? Many property owners often forget the roof because it’s located above and isn’t always seen at eye level. But the thing is, inspecting your roof regularly is vital to prevent costly roof repairs or replacements in the future.
Usually, the easiest and safest way to check your roof is to use binoculars. With a binocular, you can see if any loose or missing shingles need immediate repair.
For extensive roof inspection, enlist the help of a professional roofer. They have the proper equipment and gear to climb onto roofs and closely inspect the whole roofing system for possible damages. During an inspection, they’ll examine the chimney (if you have one), gutter system, and attic for any possible damage or existing leak that may call for immediate repair.
Clean and repair the deck
Regular cleaning and maintenance of your deck is the key to keeping it in its best shape. However, it’ll require more work if the deck has visible cracks, decay, or loose boards. Hire a contractor to help repair the loose boards or replace the ones with cracks or deterioration.
Moreover, watch out for any holes on the board, as they could be a sign of insects. Once the boards are fixed, you may clean the entire deck using a pressure washer to eliminate dirt, algae, mold, or mildew. After cleaning, make sure to reapply a waterproofing coating too.
Repaint whatever needs a touch-up
Exterior painting can lead to a 55% return on investment, which means it’s an effective way to boost property value. So, assess your property’s exterior and look for areas that need repaint or a touch-up. Some areas to look at when painting and maintaining your home’s exteriors are the doors, exterior walls, fence, and mailbox posts. Remember that painting touch-ups are only suitable if the areas only need a little dab of paint.
But if you’ve been falling behind with your home’s exterior maintenance, some of these areas may need an entire repaint job. In that case, it’s best to avail of professional services.
Wrapping up
Part of your responsibility as a property owner is to maintain the outdoor area, especially if you’re planning to sell or rent your place. Taking care of your home isn’t only about boosting your property value or increasing your return on investment. It’s also about ensuring that a buyer or a tenant has a comfortable, safe, and visually appealing home to live in. So, when the weather is pleasant, follow these maintenance tips to upgrade your outdoor area.
