It’s National Home Improvement Month, Stephen Colbert. You think you’re America? Guess again, sir.
Despite being opaqued with basement tans, nursing ‘X-Box thumb’ and phalanxed by recycling bins full of empties (and irony), driveways perma-rutted by Jeeps that haven’t run since someone said, ‘It’d be cool if this thing would run,’ neighbors nationwide stand in defiance of your all-beef, flag-planting Ameri-CAN attitude.
For eleven months of the year.
But not in May! May is National Home Improvement Month and home, sir, IS America. With residential construction and improvement spending in March 2014 at nearly $370 million, home improvement is a force of easily deserving its own month—and more.
From fences to front rooms, from Mending Wall to mending wounds of the heart, we sit at our kitchen tables and text each other. Via satellite. Like strangers. But it still happens under our roof. So it’s time to take care of it.
And the more I think about it, the more Stephen’s Colbert-achter is right. This is America and here we plant our own flags. And flowers. So let’s make May the month we get out there and make America again. And let’s call it A-May-erica. We’ll kick curb appeal in the pants and make house, home.
According to Remodeling magazine’s 2014 Cost vs. Value study, home improvement projects involving curb appeal have very strong return on investment numbers for homeowners. Their research shows that in a mid-range priced home, up to 67.8 percent of the cost of a roof replacement can be recouped when selling a home.
For the replacement of a entry door the cost recouped is up to 70.8 percent and homeowners can expect to regain up to a whopping 78.8 percent of the cost of replacing older windows with replacement windows. These numbers show that curb appeal improvements add value to the home overall and can be considered extremely smart investments for homeowners.
Begin by checking out the appearance and functionality of your roof, siding, windows, trim and doors. Look for products that are worn out, need repair or re-painting, or simply should be replaced. Tackling these projects in May means you’ll have more time to enjoy the results—and be ready like a boss when winter rolls around.
Here’s a checklist to help make sure your home is in top condition for National Home Improvement Month:
1. Check the roof. Using either a ladder or binoculars from across the street, look for problem areas, such as missing or broken shingles, along with roofing tiles that may be “flapping” in the wind. These are all indications that a new roof may be in your future.
2. Clean and assess the home’s siding. Environmentally-friendly detergents, scrubbing and/or pressure-washing all work well for many homes to remove dirt and algae that can grow on siding. Remember never to pressure-wash trim pieces, doors, windows or screens. The extreme high pressure could crack or destroy the caulking around the units. While cleaning the siding, make sure to check for changes in the exterior from the previous year and be alert to buckling, rotting, peeling paint or insect damage that may need to be fixed.
3. Check on the gutters. Don’t underestimate the importance of the gutter system on the home—Watch our video: How to clean gutters safely. Each year homeowners should check to make sure their gutters are clean, unclogged, securely attached to the home and remain sloped for proper drainage. Plus, make sure the water running off the roof doesn’t cause damage to the building structure, landscaping or property below the roof.
4. Evaluate the windows. If you find that the windows in your home don’t operate easily, there’s air leaking in or out of the units, or there’s condensation between the glass panes, it may be time to seriously consider replacement windows.
5. Spend time with your doors. If you can see light around a door from the inside, your door is hard to close or lock, or the door itself is warped, it’s time to consider a new door. Even if you can’t see light, air may be moving through gaps in the weather stripping at a surprising rate.
Think about the weather conditions that your home’s doors face along with your energy bills. If either run to the extreme, consider replacing an inefficient entryway with a high-performance fiberglass door. We added a Therma-Tru fiberglass door to our home with a decorative glass doorlite to update the curb appeal of our home while gaining energy-efficiency savings.
6. Look at your home’s accessory features. Spend time with your shutters, trim and louvers to see how they’re doing. Check the bottoms and tops of columns and near the joints in crown and other moldings and give them the TLC they want, because everything likes a little TLC now and again.
