Value is in the Eye of the Beholder: The average homebuyer does not necessarily value the improvements that contractors find important. Dont be too surprised if your buyer is not overly excited by your astute choices in sheeting and vapor barrier, or your wise selection of solid moulding instead of finger-joint, or that extra thick carpet padding . If you think you will use these to successfully justify your price point, you may be disappointed.

Image is Everything: The average homebuyer does value external appearance, and the perceived superiority of the home. A house may be superior structurally to every other house on the block, but if it does not appear that way, it may not be valued by the buyer. Curb appeal always seemed to me to be silly. Flowers, shrubs, plastic shutters — we contractors know these are all meaningless compared to the important things like wiring size, stud spacing, and plumbing vents. Yet, the visible portions of the property are often what makes or breaks the sale.

Find a Balance: Do whats right, but dont go overboard. Be careful not to focus all your time and capital solely on the unseen aspects of a project. Make a concerted effort to direct some energy into areas that buyers appreciate. That may mean mowing that raggedy lawn, trimming the overgrown bushes, and shining up grimy windows. Or maybe the driveway and sidewalks could do with a good power-washing, or re-paving if theyre cracked. Fresh paint can do wonders. Generally, take a survey of what may need to be repaired or replaced, such as mailboxes or door knockers. None of these fixes has to be particularly labor-intensive or expensive. But they can go a long way toward adding to the appeal of the property and increasing profit margin upon resale.

First impressions are important, and, when it comes to houses, curb appeal is the first impression. Of course you should focus on the structural integrity of the home, just dont neglect what buyers will see. If they dont like what they see on the outside, youre not likely to get them inside. Putting yourself in the potential buyers shoes will give you a much needed perspective, one that will enable you to see through someone elses eyes: the eye of the buyer.

Related posts:

1. Enhancing Curb Appeal, Part 2
2. Curb Appeal Makeovers For Your Home
3. Inexpensive Driveway Repair Adds Value and Curb Appeal

The lawn is always a good place to start in any yard. As the largest single entity aside from the home itself, the lawn has a lot of say in the overall appearance of the home and property. Make sure that the lawn is cut cleanly and trimmed to perfection, if the grass has gotten a bit yellow then spend some time watering an fertilizing to bring out the green. The driveway is another good area to focus on. As the entranceway to the property the driveway will form part of the overall first impression of the home. Cracked and weedy driveways never look appealing and should be taken care of before the home gets listed. If the drive is cracked then simply resurfacing will not straighten these problems out. Re-paving a driveway can be quite costly so make sure you assess the the cost against the projected asking price before moving ahead with such a major fix.

Gardens also play an important role in the creation of proper curb appeal. A freshly tended and organized arrangement of flowers and bushes add an artistic note and color to a home. Gardens with weeds and untamed bushes again speak of a level of disinterest in the condition of the property so thorough maintenance on a regular basis is always a good idea. Finally we come to the home itself. New paint is always a big bonus for buyers but be careful in your color selection. You may want to simply offer buyers a paint credit or concession so they can select their own colors but that does not do too much for your curb appeal. Try to pick colors that accentuate the home and also blend well with the other homes in the neighborhood, Remember, the first impression that buyers have of your home is extremely important so don’t skimp on upgrading the visual impact of your home.

Related posts:

1. Eye of the Buyer: When Rehabbing, Dont Forget Curb Appeal
2. Curb Appeal Makeovers For Your Home
3. A Green Driveway Adds Plenty of Curb Appeal

Whether you’re upgrading your home or wanting to sell; increasing your curb appeal is always a great investment. If you’re selling your home, it can increase interest from potential buyers and add to the value of your home. There are many different ways to do a landscape makeover. Landscaping can be divided into two different groups. Hardscape and softscape. Hardscape refers to driveways, footpaths, landscape curbing, stamped concrete patios and decks. Hardscape materials typically include concrete, natural stone, and brick pavers.
Softscape refers to the groundcover – flower beds, trees, shrubs and grasses & flora.

Hiring a professional landscape design and landscape construction company is your best bet if you’re looking for high quality work and predictable results. But beware there are many fly by night companies only too willing to take your money and either not finish the job, or make a complete mess that has to be redone later at a greater cost. Sometimes the cheapest contractor doesn’t always work out to be the best.

A landscaping makeover will be dependant upon your budget and desires. To increase curb appeal and value, consult with a Landscaping expert. The best landscape construction and design companies sometimes charge a consultation fee to cover their time, but as with pretty much everything in life, you get what you pay for.

This article will address the hardscaping aspects of improving your driveway. Driveways have an important impact on the adjacent roadways and should facilitate a smooth vehicle entrance and exit to and from the roadway for drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists. Driveway design needs to include functionality, a safe access to the roadway, bylaws and existing natural conditions. Always check your city’s engineering regulations as to the minimum width of driveways, the cross-slope, grading, curb ramps, directionality and edge conditions at the intersection of sidewalks and your driveway. When removing old concrete please make sure your concrete contractor recycles the old concrete or asphalt.

The ultimate driveway makeover involves changing the contours of the driveway. Adding a curve with decorative concrete curbing and hedges can create a look of a lovely country road, or creating a circular driveway allows for many cars to come and go with ease. Regardless of the design you implement, a well planned and crafted driveway generates wonderful curb appeal and increases the value of your home.

For best results hire an experienced, bonded concrete curbing company who offer a warranty on their work and provide references. Previously, concrete pavers, AKA paving stones and blocks, were commonly used for hardscaping driveways, access lanes, parking areas, walks, patios, swimming pool areas and other flat surfaces, but they were problematic. Paving stones move and settle; they’re affected by weather and frost, and often after a couple of years become a trip hazard. A good concrete curbing or landscape construction company can provide beautiful hardscape surfaces with stamped and textured concrete, that aren’t subject to these problems. Concrete is durable and can last for hundreds of years, is available in a multitude of colors with stamped patterns to emulate a wide range of natural or popular stone surfaces. A stamped concrete driveway, footpath or landscape curbing around flower beds, can make a huge improvement in your home’s curb appeal and value. Curbing will also make cutting the grass and landscaping easier and faster.
If your space is big enough, you could include a water feature such as pond, waterfall or fountain to create a focal point in front of your house or beside your driveway.

Creating beautiful Hardscapes is hard work and requires planning, specialized equipment and skills, if you are looking for a spectacular finished result you will likely want to hire a Master Landscaper, or experienced concrete repair company.

Related posts:

1. Eye of the Buyer: When Rehabbing, Dont Forget Curb Appeal
2. Enhancing Curb Appeal, Part 2
3. Did You Know Your Home’s Rollover Curb May be Damaging Your Vehicle?

• Instead of tearing out the entire driveway and transporting all that weight to the dump, repave instead. Tear out only the affected part of your drive and expose the root material. Cut out the root material out and dispose. Compact the exposed area in preparation for re pouring the concrete back to its original level. Use water in your compaction to ensure better results. After a day your concrete is ready for repaving.

• Find a brick paver (A thinner version of a brick) that suits your taste. If you are married, have your wife pick the stone or brick, because, the person you choose to build your new drive will be a “General Contractor” not a “Marriage Counselor.” A pallet of stone usually weighs about 3500 lbs. or a ton and half. A pallet of flagstone will cover 300 square feet of driveway. Now your drive is ready to be paved over the newly repaired area and the old concrete surface. New advances in cementitious glue additives allow the new pavers to be laid atop the old surface and stick permanently. In the future, should one or two stones come loose, they can easily be repaired without the entire driveway being torn up. Just replace your loose stones and re grout it with a sponge.

Re-paving saves money.

• Using old concrete as a base for pavers saves on demolition

• Save on re-pouring new driveway

• A driveway done in flagstone looks much better than plain concrete

• Flagstone & brick can be repaired without being able to tell it was repaired

• The bigger the driveway, the more you save!

Now that you are done and your driveway is functioning again, you will notice that the stonework looks much nicer than did the old concrete. You can color your grout to enhance the stones look. After the tenth compliment, you will ask yourself why you did not do it years before. Adding a stone lacquer can give it the wet look that your neighbors will envy.

The owner of Delphi Construction served as an apprentice brick tender at age 6 in Waterloo Belgium.

Chris Doctor is a licensed general contractor in the state of California.
Owner of Delphi Construction # 631583
Celebrating 20 years of building.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chris_Doctor

Related posts:

1. A Green Driveway Adds Plenty of Curb Appeal
2. Curb Appeal Makeovers For Your Home
3. Eye of the Buyer: When Rehabbing, Dont Forget Curb Appeal

In recent years a number of factors, many beyond the control of householders, have critically influenced the design of the residential driveway. These trends ranging from changes in socio-economic demographics, work/life-style patterns, significant dependence (increasing in some respects) on the ‘car’ as the preferred or indeed the only practical mode of transport, architectural/town planning developments which are demanding increased population densities, reduced availability of ‘off-street’ parking options, smaller gardens etc. Meanwhile car ownership continues to grow but with less space available and many owners with busy ‘time poor’ lifestyles preferring a low/zero maintenance front garden solution, has seen front garden been replaced by nothing more than what is effectively an area for parking cars only.

In the course of determining allocation of spaces for parking, pedestrian, garden, services etc, first priority will most likely be given to parking. Type, size and number of cars will largely determine the area needs, but as an average rule of thumb, spaces in shopping mall car parks are typically 2.5-3.0m wide and 4.5m – 5.0m long. Most would agree such spaces tend not to be too generous and bearing in mind that parking in a car park can be easier given the wider access and generally better manouverability options which are available. In a private residential driveway the situation is very different, frequently the approach is not straight but can be complicated by nearby junctions, bends etc. Therefore the space calculations must take wider cognisance of the local geography, site topography (sloping sites need careful attention), turning room, driver skill, age and even obstructions/potential hazards (such as post boxers, street lighting, narrow pedestrian pathways, driver visibility, refuse bins, screening trees/hedges etc all influence the calculations.

Where space is plentiful the calculations are generally straightforward, but frequently there is pressure on available space and compromises must be reached over priorities. Ultimately it is most likely a case whereby most of the space is allocated to the ‘car’ but no matter how small the residual area is, it is possible to develop a planting scheme that is lush, complementary and requiring little maintenance. In such instances where space is limited, I would advise that owners utilise as much evergreen plant material, and supplement this with bulbs or seasonal flowers for additional colour display. It is very important that the planting looks good and lush all year round. There is a wide range of plant style and sizes to suit practically every site condition.

In instances where planting beds are narrow but screening is required, owners might consider using standards/half-standard shrubs, essentially ‘mophead’ style shrubs which are eye catching, providing visual breaks/screening at eyelevel but attractive displays. Popular choices would include Olive, Photinia, Laurus Nobilis, and Camellia to name a few. This is a much more satisfactory solution than expecting a traditional shrub/hedge such as Viburnum or Grisellinia to grow to 6’ 0” (1800mm) tall in a narrow bed of 2’ 0” (600mm) wide. This will involve considerable and continuous effort to maintain and frequently the results are poor despite all the efforts.

Smaller narrower beds can be planted up with ornamental bands of buxus sempervirens, and back planted with dwarf lavenders or indeed spring flowering bulbs which are perhaps up to 3’ 0” (900mm) tall when in flower.

A critical aspect of driveway design will be the choice of the surface material; again here there is a wide range from which to choose, starting with cobblelock/concrete paviors and at the top end in terms of quality, durability and maintenance natural stone. Despite the additional cost natural stone is increasingly a popular choice, not surprising when one sees the quality and diversity of choice. Granite, sandstone and limestone are popular. In terms of wear and tear, granite is without question the best choice for some, in my experience sandstone of lighter tones are not ideal. Cars tyres tend to mark sandstone and in such instances regular maintenance/cleaning will be required. If you wish to use sandstone better to use a darker tone such as a grey.

For some who prefer to us ea natural stone finish but wish to achieve a more cost effective result, the paving can be used in conjunction with coloured aggregates/stone chippings. This can look very attractive and indeed in some cases reflect a more rustic and formal look. Chipped stone/aggregates are better than rounded stone, the latter do not compact very well, and are therefore can be awkward for stilettos shoes, wheelie bins, baby prams, buggies etc.

When selecting material, also consider the range of formats, for example for a more coherent and pleasing result, choose a stone which is available in various forms. Granite paving is available various sizes and thicknesses (important for loading, i.e. pedestrian, light car, heavy traffic etc), colours, but it is also available as cobble setts, kerbing, steps threads and risers, bullnosed or flat edging, wall capping etc.

Lighting is also a very important addition to any driveway, good for security, illuminating parking areas and highlighting feature or specimen plants. Again choice would include bollards, adjustable spots, ground lights etc. Where possible use energy efficient lamps (CFLs or LEDs). More energy savings can also be achieved by using other controls such as photo electric cells, timers etc.

A driveway which has been well designed and properly installed is an important addition to any property. Not only is it a practical space for parking cars but also has an appealing garden irrespective of size, of which the owner can be rightly proud of. The driveway is a vibrant space of lush foliage and colour that appeals throughout the year but also facilitates parking cars.

 

Related posts:

1. A Green Driveway Adds Plenty of Curb Appeal
2. Paving Stone Can Design Extremely Beautiful to Your Home
3. Choosing a driveway style and design to make your home stand out

The installation process is easy to do for a residential property, and transforms traditionally paved driveways, sidewalks, walking paths and seating areas into naturally relaxing, inviting areas.

Designed to withstand the weight of cars and heavy foot traffic, a green driveway, or path, uses molded, honeycomb-style pavers, with grass growing in the holes. Most grids are made with 100 % recycled plastic materials, acquired from the production of the grids themselves.

One key benefit of this system is ground stabilization. Grass and turf pavers help in a variety of ways to avoid erosion, which prevents the soil from rutting and compacting, making the surface weak and unstable.

The second, and environmentally friendly, benefit of using a green grid is drainage. Grass and turf pavers allow the drainage of storm water back into the ground, which is recycled rather than being emptied into our waterways.

In regions that are traditionally prone to flooding, or at least gathering large patches of water in yards during storms or snow melt, homeowners who have grass grids installed are pleased to see there is virtually no water visible.

Easy installation:

This environmentally friendly grid system does not require any special tools for assembly. It can be cut into corners, and even if the ground is uneven, it is no problem. The grids will go directly on top of any surface. However, for best results, the grass pavers should be installed on a firm, well-drained base.

The walls of these honeycomb cells are approximately 1.5 inches (40mm) thick and virtually disappear beneath the surface after a few months of grass-growing seasons.

Once installed, topsoil, sand and gravel are added into the grid cells. This helps to prevent the turf or grass from settling and collapsing from underneath itself, while still encouraging filtration.

The next step is for the planting of the vegetation within the grid system, using either turf or seedlings for new grass. Of course, the turf method is quicker but does require some skill in laying the grassy rolls. Either way, the end-result is an attractive, grass-covered section for parking or walking.

Maintenance of a grass grid is easy:

After installation, taking care of a green driveway is as easy as a regular lawn, including regular watering and mowing.

Additional perks:

Grass grid areas are useful for creating additional parking spaces at a residence, without damaging the surrounding lawn.

Traffic areas are able to remain cool, green spaces rather than heat-retaining pavement.

Vehicles driving and parking in the area do not affect the protected roots of the grass.

Any potholes that arise can be repaired immediately by replacing a new paving system.

Related posts:

1. Inexpensive Driveway Repair Adds Value and Curb Appeal
2. Enhancing Curb Appeal, Part 2
3. Curb Appeal Makeovers For Your Home