When it comes to having an old farmhouse, some things need much more maintenance than others.
I was planning on kicking off this past weekend with a little landscaping and hanging some big boston ferns on the porch, but when I walked around to the front of our home, I realized that I should probably get a lot more serious about the exterior than just some pretty plants.
Our porch is in poor shape. The lattice is broken and falling off, there are floorboards that need repair, and the whole thing needs a good scrub and new paint.
Last fall, I posted about the exterior as a whole, and painting and fixing the porch was a big chunk of that to-do list. We did get a new roof and I updated our house numbers and porch light, which made me feel accomplished, but with summer looming, I can’t ignore the porch anymore. I need to get myself in gear!
Four years ago we painted the porch ourselves, but this time I am really thinking about outsourcing the work and leaving it to the professionals. Have you guys ever had your exterior painted? Did you hire out, or DIY?
I hope your Monday is off to a great start!
P.S. how about my little hostas poking out of the ground?! I’m pretty excited about them.
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we’re about to paint the outside of our entire house. i am terrified. but we looked up estimates and it was absurd what people wanted to charge. plus they use a sprayer and it gets over everything, we’re going the traditional brush and roller route.
Nicole- wow! That is ambitious, but i’m sure you guys will love having the control over the process and the extra cash you get to keep in your pockets!
Oh gosh, I love your home. That porch is so cozy….Can I come visit?!
Our house is a combination of brick and hardy plank siding. The brick and siding did not need painting but the white trim was in a need of a fresh coat. We left that job to the professionals as parts of our house are VERY high and it seemed dangerous to DIY it.
I’m excited to see what type of renovations you do! I’m sure they will be beautiful as always
i love that you have a porch! i dream of having a house with a porch one day
xx
We had our house painted last year. We used a college firm that uses students during the summer so the prices are better, but you have to stay on top of them to make sure they sand, scrape properly to start the project off. They used rollers and brushes and we were quite happy. The paint is holding up well and it makes me happy to drive up to our house with the new colour.
We mainly outsourced because of the height and comparing the time/cost estimate they gave us to our own time/cost estimate…I didn’t want the project to go on all summer, which would have happened with DIY and two little kids.
That is a really good suggestion! I always see the advertisements for the college painters, but haven’t looked into it yet. I definitely will now!
I know the feeling. The entire exterior of my home needs some patching, sanding, new paint, etc.
It is definitely going to be outsourced because i feel that i would completely mess it up AND time is limited.
I think hiring out would be a positive!
OK, so it might need a little repaint but can we just stop for a minute and appreciate how charming your little porch is?! I love it!!
We did our porches in an opague stain, doesn’t peel and we did it 6 years ago and still in good shape!
What a great suggestion! I didn’t even know that existed!