Deck Up The Outdoors To Make A Lasting Impression

They say that the first impression is a lasting impression. So how do you give that impression to your guests? Simple. You let your house speak. Your house is an extension of your personality and how you deck it up says a lot about who you are. And in this regard, pay a little heed to your outdoors. This is often the most-neglected part of the house since most homeowners are too busy installing marble chips in their bathrooms and decorating the drawing room with crystal chandeliers.


Things to Take Care of In The Outdoors

Although having your house inspected professionally is a great way to detect the hidden flaws, there are some very obvious blemishes in your outdoors, which you don't need the house inspector to point out to you. And it is worthwhile to get a hang of the possible trouble spots in your outdoors so that you can be on your guard.

First and foremost, take a stroll around the house and look closely for signs or decaying or cracking. Even a slight crack has the potential to burgeon into something that could bring down the house.

Peer down the rain pipes and gutters and make sure that the outlets are absolutely unclogged and free from debris.

And talking of rains, ensure that the downspouts in your home direct the rainwater away from the foundation of the house. Constant seepage can result in the foundation weakening, and sometimes to a fatalistic extent.

The paint of your house too can have a few things to say. Especially when there is warping and chipping of the paint. These are warning signals, pointing to water leakages, which need to be tended to immediately.

Check your masonry chimneys thoroughly for signs of collapse and degeneration. In particular, keep a close lookout for loose or rotting bricks, chimney liners that are jutting out dangerously, leaking chimney flashings and the stucco covering teeming with cracks.

Still harping on the issue of chimneys, it is imperative that you be on the guard for salt deposits. Furthermore, if you happen to have a metal chimney, then undertake periodic checkups for corrosion and loose braces, which when left neglected, spell doom for the chimney.

Doors and windows that creak, moan and groan simply take the zing away from your house. Jammed doors and window panes that refuse to budge can however be patched with a slight re-adjusting, re-touching or repairing routine.

Roofs form an integral part of your outdoors an it is essential that you take good care of your roof, both the flat and the shingled varieties. See red when you discover blisters and bubbles in your flat roofs. For your shingled roof, check your electrical cables (eave protection) minutely. Other areas that demand your attention are the dormer, plumbing stack and the valley flashings and the heavy traffic areas.

Walls are another crucial area of concern when you are looking to spruce up your outdoors. In particular, the masonry walls should be inspected for decaying brick and mortar while the stucco walls should be devoid of cracks. If you possess wood walls, then you should be very watchful about rotten and cracked wooden boards, wood and soil contact and caulking. These are potent problem areas that demand immediate redress. You never know, when these tiny chips and the hairline cracks would burgeon into glaring defects that would not only spoil the whole show, but also weaken your house.

Still on the issue of walls, the all-important foundation walls of your house, and obviously the ones that are out in the open, are susceptible to brick and mortar damages and cracks. What you need to do is check your foundation walls every once in a while and for severe damages, be sure to solicit the help of a professional. Don't attempt a patch-up job yourself. You never know which fine detail you might miss out on.

The retaining walls and fences outdoors too, need your constant attention, especially for insect damages and rotting and shifting in case of the retaining walls.

An Inspector For Your Outdoors

It is all right that you know where to look out for trouble in your outdoors, but it is still a good idea to ask a home inspector to come and have a look around the outsides of your house. There are some things that will catch his eye more readily than yours. After all, he has been trained to spot defects.

So what will the inspector actually probe for when he visits your house? First and foremost, he will be checking the structure of your house, making sure that all the lines, like those of the windows, doors, the roof and the siding, are in perfect alignment, that is straight or square as the particular design of your house demands. He will also see to it that the fittings of the house are in top-notch working condition.

He will also inspect the landscaping, driveway, sidewalks and gutters along with the doors and windows.

Keep your outdoors well maintained and spanking clean, so that people enter your premises and come out feeling like being to heaven.