All Entries in the "Outdoor" Category

AB15 Painting your house exterior

If you are a landlord and are thinking of painting your house then it is vital that you get Landlords insurance to protect your house from any damage.

Painting the outside of your home can be a little daunting and in fact it really is a major job. However if you are lucky you might just get away with some maintenance which will spruce up your house paintwork and so reduce the number of times you need to repaint the whole house. Whether you are able to get away with repainting the worst bits, or if you really do need to repaint it all, the following guidelines apply.

Timing the job is important. The best time for external painting is late spring or early summer and early autumn. You should avoid the hot summer months and the cold and wet ones. Both will ruin your hard work and investment.

Preparation is very important and before you start to paint you will need to ensure that the surface you are painting on is in good condition. If the previous paintwork is peeling, this will be because either the paint was applied on damp wood (or moisture has entered the wood subsequently) or it was applied on a greasy or glossy surface. You should remove all flaking paint with a wire brush followed by sanding smooth any sharp edges. If any bare wood shows though then this needs to be primed.
Blistering is another affect of moisture. Any blisters should be removed by scraping and the areas treated as above.

Crinkled paintwork is often caused by applying a second coat before the first one is properly dry. It can also occur if the painting was done in cold weather. If you come across this you will need to scrape off all the paint and prime the bare wood.

Sometimes you might come across chalking paint. Certain paints will form a chalky surface which is a mechanism to keep them looking good, but excessive chalking can occur. You will need to remove as much of the paint as possible and over-paint with a non-chalking paint.

Mould and mildew are frequent visitors and occur where there is a combination of shade and moisture. You will need to remove as much as you can be washing and then treat the area with fungicide followed by over-painting with a fungicidal paint.

Outdoor Landscaping and Lighting Can Do Wonders

You have just completely renovated the interior of your home and it looks and feels simply terrific, and now you are wondering what you can do to make your exterior look just as good. Well, a great place to start is with outdoor landscaping and lighting. Nothing will improve your houses appearance faster or is more cost effective.

In fact in most cases, if you are on a budget doing your own home landscape is possible if you have the time and the inclination to do it. There are a ton of wonderful ideas you can acquire for your landscaping needs that can be obtained from just about anywhere.

A great place to start is to look at the different homes in your neighborhood that you admire. Other places to get ideas for your new landscape design would be golf courses, hotels, or other very nice exteriors of buildings located close to your home.

For the landscaping part of your renovations, you want to check with the local garden stores and only acquire plants and vegetation that is either native to your house’s location or that survives and thrives in it. After all, there is no reason to go out and get some kind of exotic plant if it is only going to die when the seasons change.

For your outdoor lighting you will need to do a little electrical work, so if you are not sure how to do it, you just might need to hire an electrician. Other than that, hanging lights is not too difficult, that is unless you are afraid of heights, and do not like to climb up ladders.

Once again, landscape lighting is something that is very easy to do yourself. If you need to come up with a few excellent ideas, please check on the internet and you will be able to find everything that you need.

You will first want to lay out your design before you start buying anything. Next, you will evaluate your needs and choose the appropriate products to fill them. This is another area where you may need to hire an electrician if you require a few outlets installed or some lines run.

It is easy to see that you can greatly improve your home’s exterior appearance with just a little bit of lighting and landscaping. It just might be a project that you will enjoy doing too, especially when you are finished and it looks great.