Spiffing Up the Exterior

With all the dirt washed away, time to address issues on the exterior.

Den window: before, during (see old wood on ground), and after

The wood trim really needed replacing in many places (more than we thought), and all of it needed a good paint (even after the power wash, some areas looked a little dim). 

Front porch before and after

Fortunately, the siding is HardiPlank and has held up well over the years, so no repairs needed there. They left us the paint remaining in the two 5-gal buckets, for touch-ups and for the new owners. We kept the same color scheme so as not to run afoul of our homeowners association.

West corner before and after

These guys are much braver on those tall ladders than I ever would be (and they’re working way up there). Some of the trim was a real challenge to remove, judging from the loud banging echoing through the house.

The last step: removing the deck. The wood wasn’t in good shape, and the whole thing sagged in the middle, so no way to salvage it. (Even if they’d power washed it, it would still have been a saggy deck and not a good selling point.)

I am very glad they have access to a dump site; it would have been a challenge for us to remove all this debris.

Working the front porch; Nathan on the circular saw; and that's not all the trash

We’re thrilled with the results, and once again, saying “We should have done this a long time ago.”

Next up: So what replaces the deck?