Exterior Home Renovations That Feel Right For Your House
One thing I’ve learned about real estate is that very rarely do houses look outdated on the outside all at once.
Paint fades while a roof may still have many years of service life. The front entry may never have been connected to the rest of the home, or a patio that was added many years later may flow from the interior of the home. Exterior elements of a home may compete with other elements, or the property may not reflect the way you want it to look.
At Juda Builders, we like to look at the property in its entirety to assess what next steps should be for exterior home renovations.
Modifying the design of the façade is a great place to start, as are updated finishes. Sometimes we need to assess the location and design of the entry to the home. Updates and connections to the exterior of the home are also important and will refine the design of the home and property.
It is important to note that you don’t have to update everything to bring value to your home. You just have to update the right things.
Likely What That Is
More and more customers begin their exterior renovations with internet searches for houses that they like. While it is okay to have some inspirational houses as reference, it is important to focus on your own property first.
Walk around your property and look at it from the street, the side yards, and the backyard. Consider how you use and access all of these areas throughout the day.
How easy is it to locate the entrance and how accessible is it? Do the materials feel disconnected? Does an outdoor living space feel disconnected from the house? Are worn materials making the exterior feel unappealing and worn? Have there been several different repairs over the years which give a patchwork appearance?
These can be more beneficial starting points than just saying the exterior has to look “new.”
An exterior remodel can be helpful in solving a few interrelated problems such as:
- An outdated or inconsistent façade
- Exterior materials that are incompatible
- An entry with no definition
- Worn or dated finishes
- Poor connections between the house and the outdoor space
- Disconnected improvements
- Many exterior improvements that would benefit from some coordination
Once we understand your priorities, we will be able to advise if you need a more comprehensive exterior remodel project or if you can address whatever concerns you have with a more focused approach.
Look at the Whole Exterior Before Changing One Part
Making exterior decisions separately can leave a home feeling disconnected. Different finishes, pathways, entry details, and patio materials may work individually but compete when brought together. Exterior remodeling gives you the opportunity to consider how these elements work as one complete design.
The goal is not to replace everything, but to make the right improvements. Existing rooflines, windows, materials, lighting, trim, and hardscape should guide the design so new features feel natural to the home. The result is a refreshed, cohesive exterior that feels like it has always belonged.
Improving Curb Appeal Does Not Mean Adding Decorative Features Everywhere
Simplifying might be the more powerful approach.
The feel of an entryway is impacted by surrounding wall finishes and lighting, proportion of opening, steps, trim, planting, nearby design, and materials.
If an entryway gets lost in the overall design, simply enlarging the door and using more dramatic materials is not always the best answer.
At other times, an approach can be improved, surrounding finishes can be simplified, lighting can be adjusted, or areas of focus be introduced.
We put the entrance in its overall context to connect it to the architecture, as opposed to just adding it as a separate design element.
Choosing Compatible Exterior Materials
Materials are often easily assessed individually.
A sample of stone, or a sample of paint, or a sample of paver can appear to be very attractive.
But the important question is what happens with this material once it has been applied and extended over a large area and has to connect to everything else that is present.
Think about the location and extent of each material.
- What are the borders?
- What are the neighbors?
- How does it look from afar?
- Will it take center stage against other materials?
An attractive material selection does not equate to a small selection. Each material should have a designated role.
Keep Good Materials
The condition of existing materials must be assessed when creating a plan. Cosmetic work should not conceal conditions requiring an investigation or repair.
A strong renovation responds to what actually exists within the defined scope.
Go Beyond What is Attractive
Exteriors need to be both deliberate and functional.
One must consider the pathway from the street to the front door. One must consider the pathway from the driveway to the front door and the pathway from the house to the backyard. One must consider the seating and how that relates to doors, windows, shade, and the rest of the site.
An attractive exterior is frustrating from an aesthetic standpoint if circulation is awkward.
The best planning integrates both aesthetics and function.
Connect Indoor and Outdoor Areas More Naturally
Outdoor areas in Southern California Casual Style can become an important extension of everyday living.
A patio is not sufficient to create outdoor living.
The connection matters.
Where is the door? Where does it lead? What is the seating and how is it placed once you step outside? Does the hardscape feel appropriate to the yard? Is the path from indoor to outdoor areas natural?
Within an exterior remodel we can focus on that when considering the backyard, rather than as an entirely separate project.
If your project is focused on creating a new outdoor patio, explore our Patio Construction service for more information about planning, materials, layout, and construction.
Design Hardscape with Movement and Ease of Use in Mind
Concrete and pavers can be a major design element, but they serve many purposes. Driveways, walkways, patios, and other hardscape heavily impact how you get around your property.
Before you think about design, you must decide what a surface needs to do.
Walkways should help navigate you to your preferred destination. The dimensions of a patio should support the placement and desired use of the intended furniture. Transitions should serve a purpose rather than being leftover spaces between your house and your yard.
For projects centered on concrete surfaces, explore our Concrete Work service. If you prefer pavers for patios, walkways, or other outdoor areas, see Paver Installation. Exterior remodeling can bring these and other improvements together to create a more functional and cohesive exterior.
Build Outdoor Areas for the Way You Can Actually Spend Time Outside
A functional outdoor space is about use, not feature-loads.
One homeowner may need a quiet coffee spot. Another homeowner may need seating for a formal garden party. Shade for your outdoor furniture may be a priority before any additional design is considered.
Your desired use should direct your plan.
One design feature may inspire you, but does that actually support your intended use?
If you want to add shade and make your outdoor space more comfortable, explore our Patio Covers and Pergolas service. The right exterior improvements can be planned around your specific needs without making the project larger than necessary.
Know When Exterior Painting Is Sufficient
Sometimes exterior remodeling isn't needed.
It's just a painting project.
If all the elements and surrounding features of the site, together with the building form and materials, come together well, then a well-defined painting project can give the home a new look.
We don't want to position every aging exterior remodeling project as a major renovation.
If your home mainly needs surface preparation and a fresh coat of paint, explore our Exterior Painting service. For projects involving several exterior changes, Exterior Remodeling can bring those improvements together into one coordinated project.
What to Include in the First Phase of the Project
Once homeowners start thinking about their home’s exterior, the project scope tends to expand. The entryway leads to walkways, driveways, and the facade, performance of which generates ideas about paint, landscape, and backyard patios. When viewed from this perspective, almost everything is connected to almost everything else, though this does not mean that everything should happen at once.
A useful planning process is to divide the project ideas into three categories:
- Projects that should be addressed in the immediate future
- Projects that should be coordinated closely with the first category
- Ideas that can be addressed at a later time
This keeps the project focused and less rigid, while still having future project goals in mind.
For instance, if a patio is planned in the future, the currently planned exterior projects can be executed without making future projects more difficult.
What Drives the Cost of an Exterior Remodel?
The range of the work needed to be done in an exterior remodel is so great that it is not even possible to come up with a general price range or average cost for such a remodel.
An exterior remodel that focuses on finish upgrades and the entry is dramatically different from a remodel that includes significant hardscape, patio work, multiple exterior surfaces, and substantial construction modifications.
The project cost can be impacted by the size and condition of the property, site constraints and impacts, demolition, the materials selected, construction complexity, and the number of exterior areas included.
Other considerations might be:
- Any work required before new finishes can be installed.
- The scope of work for the façade and entry.
- Exterior surface finish types and materials; Concrete versus paver work.
- Improvements to outdoor living space.
- Any work requiring additional structural engineering or other supplemental design systems.
- The degree of work resulting in a final or finished surface.
- Required approvals.
The approach should begin by describing project requirements as opposed to providing a generic cost per square foot.
A more precise description of project requirements yields a clearer budget articulation.
Approach to Exterior Remodeling
A completed project should maintain the contractor-client relationship while utilizing the project’s stated goals.
Exterior design project strategies will vary based on the stated goals along with unique site conditions.
The most effective strategies start from a broad site understanding and move through increasingly detailed site understanding.
- 01
Know the Site
Begin with the existing house and site conditions: the house’s materials, architecture, site connections, problem areas, and proposed improvements.
- 02
Define Scope
Identify needs and options, what stays, and what other services must be coordinated.
- 03
Make Major Decisions
Large decisions regarding site organization, connections, materials, circulation, and the construction need to be resolved before small decisions dominate the project.
- 04
Handle Connected Work
A planned series of site improvements must address the potential impacts that one improvement may have on another improvement.
- 05
Complete the Work Around the Agreed Scope
Construction should follow a clear project scope with agreed upon materials and finishes.
Following this process provides homeowners with a defined path from “we want to improve the exterior” to the development of a project that can be discussed and planned.
Exterior Remodeling or Full Home Remodeling?
The answer lies in the location of the work.
Where the work is located on the façade as well as other consideration of the exterior materials, hardscape, and relationships to the outdoor connections determine if the work is considered Exterior Remodeling.
If the work encompasses a large portion of the interior through the transformation of the kitchen, bathrooms, living areas, flooring, and the layout, then the work may be a Full Home Remodeling project.
Choose a Remodeling Company Based on More Than a Sales Pitch
Exterior work is the most visible, but some of the most important decisions happen long before the work is finished.
Determine how the other companies introduce their services so that you can define your project scope accordingly. Also, see how services are integrated. Find out what is included or excluded. Learn how they manage changes during the project.
Exterior Remodels can include the following:
- The treatment of existing building fronts (including the treatment of building/house entrances)
- Changes in building materials
- Connections between buildings and their related outdoor spaces
- Hardscape coordination
- Improvements to patio connections
- Other related exterior building construction
Items that may be treated as part of the Exterior Remodel can include exterior roofing and painting, as long as they are part of an integrated scope of work.
Not every exterior element needs to be treated as part of your project. Often, it’s best to focus on treating the elements that serve a prominent functional or aesthetic need.
When the issues that need addressing include a variety of materials, architectural elements, the entry and/or outdoor connections, then the likely scope of work will involve an exterior remodel.
When treatment of outdoor painted surfaces is needed, but the other elements of the exterior are adequate, then an Exterior Painting service may be a more appropriate starting point.
Roofing will need to be addressed as a standalone item.
Exterior Remodeling FAQs
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Potentially. This depends on the reason you think the entrance is outdated. In some cases, updating the entryway can be done with a few adjustments to the rest of the exterior, whereas in other cases, extensive updating may be needed.
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There are many different options for combinations of exterior materials. You should consider the style of your home and the materials that currently exist. You should also think about the cost and how the materials you want to use will affect the appearance and how much upkeep the materials will require.
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It is difficult to estimate a cost for this without first considering the size of your property and the condition it is in now, as well as the kind of work that you want done. The complexity of the work, the materials you choose, the kind of site work required, and the length and overall difficulty of the work will affect the final cost.
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This depends on the work you intend to do as well as the current condition of your property. In addition, the work you want done, the kind and sequence of work you intend to do, the availability of materials, and whether the work you want to do requires permits will all affect the total length of time your exterior remodel takes.
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Coordinating some things may be better, but it is possible to do some improvements at later times.
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Yes. How you connect the house to the backyard can be achieved through the position of doors and paths, patios, and hardscapes and how you provide adequate shade and good circulation.
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Yes. Juda Builders serves homeowners in Van Nuys with remodeling and construction services. Contact our team to discuss your project, the work you need, and the next steps for your property.
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Call Juda Builders and tell them what you'd like to change. Adding photos showing the current state, listing your concerns, project order of importance, and favorite examples of exterior styles or materials you like can assist in having a productive first meeting.
Are you Ready to Improve Your Home’s Exterior?
Feel free to come to us without all the materials chosen.
Show us your property and tell us what you think is wrong with the current situation.
Describe what you think is important to address and what you think is essential to preserve. Describe how you use your outdoor spaces and what other outdoor projects you have planned for the future.
Getting the conversation started about how to design your outdoor property to fulfill your goals and address the issues you identified is more important than coming with a bunch of random ideas.
Ready for a stunning exterior? Let’s get started.