Before and After:  A Home’s Transformation with Siding Replacement

Everyone loves a good ‘before and after’ comparison – seeing what a person looks like after a makeover or how a yard or room in the home looks after a renovation.  The same definitely holds true for a home’s exterior, siding replacement in particular.  Some folks opt to make a drastic change, while others want more subtle changes.  It’s all up to you on how much or how little you want to change your home’s overall look and you must be comfortable with the changes.  Read on to learn about one of our customer’s siding projects and how they are thrilled with the “AFTER” from their renovation.

A Midwestern Home’s Siding Replacement Project

We were recently contacted by a local homeowner, Caryl, who wanted to update the look of her ranch home.  Overall, she liked the look of her home, but didn’t like the wide width of the boards of her current siding.  Her husband, Donald, didn’t like the routine maintenance when it came to washing, painting and staining the siding, soffit and fascia.

BEFORE

Caryl contacted us here at Feldco and we sent out one of our Product Specialists to discuss her siding replacement project. We were able to offer some great solutions that sounded appealing to both Caryl and her husband. Because they really liked the color of their siding and how it worked with their brick, roof and siding, they decided to pick a color that was virtually the same to keep the overall look pretty similar.

AFTER

Where they made a change was with the profile of the siding.  Caryl and Donald chose our Dutch Lap siding to add a little dimension to their home’s exterior.  The small decorative grooves on Dutch Lap are very appealing to many when doing a siding replacement, especially when keeping with the same color theme.  The couple was going to update the look within their comfort level and say goodbye to the dated, wider planks on their home.

Not only did they decide to replace their siding, but update the soffit around the home as well.  Replacing their soffit with our vented, vinyl option helped complete the home’s siding replacement project and achieve a brand new look for their home.

BEFORE

AFTER

When Caryl and Donald walked their home’s exterior with their Product Specialist, the conversation led to their garage door as well.  The couple decided to complete the exterior renovation with a new garage door too.  They found a color that was the same as the siding they chose and opted to mix it up a little with window inserts.  Caryl chose a window insert that came with a grid pattern that matched the grid pattern of her existing windows.

After all the decisions were made, the homeowners were excited for their garage door and siding replacement to begin.  A few weeks later, her installation team came by and in just two days, the project was complete.  Caryl could not believe this was the same home!  Even though the color was virtually the same, she said “it’s like my house got a face lift!”  Everything looked “finished” and she added “it was like getting a new home without the hassle of packing and moving.”

BEFORE

AFTER

Donald, who spends a lot of time working in their garage really enjoys the window inserts in the garage door.  He didn’t realize how dark his garage was until the light from the new garage door windows brightened up the space. He told us how excited he was to be able to get some natural light into the garage in the cold, winter months so he didn’t have to open the entire garage door when working on his projects.

BEFORE

AFTER

Other Ways to Transform Your Home’s Exterior

If replacing all of the siding on your home isn’t a priority for you or your home is made of a different material – don’t fret!  There are still many things you can do to give your house a fresh, new look.

Replace Your Windows

Replacing your windows doesn’t just improve your home’s overall energy efficient, but can really change the look of your home.  Whether you do all the windows of your home or just certain rooms or just the windows on the front of your home, you have many options to help make your transformation complete.

Different Color Window

Your home may have some old, wooden windows that have a dark wood grain of which you aren’t a fan.  Or they could have been painted a color that once was trendy and stylish, but now looks worn.  Don’t feel like you have to keep that same window color when you replace your windows.  Depending on your home color and style, you can consider picking a different color for the window itself.  Didn’t like that dark colored window?  Choose white!  Want something to better match the mortar of your brick?  Consider an almond color or earth tone.  The possibilities are endless and just this simple change can change the look of not only the outside of your home, but the interior as well!

Choose a Different Capping Color

If your windows are in good shape and you simply want to update the look of your home’s exterior, you could just replace the capping around the window. The capping surrounds the entire window and is usually made from aluminum.   A wide variety of colors are available and you can choose to have the capping match your window, complement your homes exterior or you could choose a contrasting color for a more unique look.

Swap One Style Window for Another

Sometimes swapping one style of window for another can make all the difference.  If you don’t like the sight-lines you have with your current double hung windows, consider getting casements.  As casements don’t have two operating sashes, you could have a cleaner view in and out of the windows.  On the flipside, if your current windows are more contemporary than you’d like, choose a traditional double hung window.  Swapping window styles can completely change the look of your home.  As long as you aren’t changing the size of the opening, you can swap any of our windows for another.

We had one customer with an extremely large picture window.  She didn’t care for the sterile look and wished she had more ventilation in that room.  She used some blue painters tape to lay-out what the opening would look like with two double hung windows flanking the smaller picture window.  She wanted to make sure she liked the new sight-lines.  She did and now has the windows of her dreams.

Add Grids to Your Window

If you like the color of your windows and the style of your windows, but you just need to replace them for more energy efficient ones, consider adding grids!  Grids can be designed in a variety of patterns to match your home’s architecture and design.  If you have a prairie style home (as made famous by Frank Lloyd Wright), prairie grids, also known as perimeter grids, make a nice look.

Interested in a more traditional look?  Colonial grids offer a classic look.  And, you don’t have to add grids to your entire window!  If you have a double hung window with two sashes, added grids to just the top sash creates a very unique and equally beautiful look.  Some homeowners add just a few vertical grid lines to their window’s top sash to create a more casual, and even beachy feel.  Not sure how your window would look with grids?  Take that same blue painters tape and lay out where the new gridlines would fall.  Live with it for a few days and see if you like the design.

Add Shutters to Your Windows

Sometimes just the smallest change can make a big difference.  If your windows are in good shape and you like your home’s exterior just fine, you could add shutters to the sides of your windows to transform your home’s appearance.  Shutters are available in a variety of colors and styles and can truly complement any exterior.

A New Garage Door Can Make a World of Difference

As mentioned earlier, Caryl and Donald decided to replace their garage door at the same time they replaced their siding.  This is still something you could do even if you aren’t replacing your siding, or even have siding.  As your garage door is such a large item, especially if you have a two car garage, if the door is old, faded or falling apart it can really impact the overall look of your home.

Replacing your garage door is a simple and relatively affordable way to improve your home’s aesthetics.  There are long panel and short panel designs, window inserts and even decorative glass options available to help you transform your garage door into a focal point of your home.  Decorative hardware, as often seen on carriage style garage doors, can also turn an ordinary garage door into an extraordinary one.  Regardless of which style you choose, replacing an old, beat-up or dated garage door with a new, well-insulated steel one can really give you that “new home” feel.

As you have read, there are many ways you could give your home a little makeover.  Depending on your home and your budget, there is no shortage of ways to transform your home.  Enjoy pulling into your driveway every day and enjoy the little, or big things, you did to give your home that new look.  When you do, be sure to send us your BEFORE and AFTER pictures.  We look forward to helping you achieve the “AFTER” you’re after.