The Vanderveen House

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Home » Fix and Flip Houses » Third House » Exterior Upgrades: Increasing the Curb Appeal of An Outdated 90’s Split-level

Third House

Exterior Upgrades: Increasing the Curb Appeal of An Outdated 90’s Split-level

Our third house was a 1990s outdated split-level. It had great bones and lots of potential, but required a fair bit of elbow grease to increase the curb appeal. There wasn’t a lot of work that needed to be done on the outside of our third house, but I think the few changes we did made a huge difference for curb appeal. One of the first things I did was paint the front door and shutters using dark blue outdoor paint.

1990s split level

I think they used to be red, but they were very faded and were looking more pink.


At the back of the house there is a very large two-tiered deck. All that needed to be done to that was a new coat of stain.

Outdoor patio

Most of the outside work we did was around the pool area.  We replaced part of the chain link fence with a wood fence so there would be more privacy from the road. This is the fence from the road…

Wood fence around a pool

…and this is the fence from inside the pool area. We stained it the same color as the deck.

Wood fence around a pool

There used to be lawn inside the pool area, but we replaced all the grass with gardens. Now instead of Tony having to mow the grass, I have more gardens to weed. I think he got the better end of that decision.

Tony also fixed up the storage shed. He replaced the old shingles with tin and added soffit and fascia. I don’t have a before picture, but you can believe me that this looks so much better!

Inground pool with updated pool shed

The biggest job back here was adding stamped concrete. I mentioned to Tony at one point that stamped concrete would look really nice, and I think that got his wheels turning. Everything we read said not to try this yourself because it’s quite difficult to get right. But that never stops Tony. He bought the concrete stamps online, and spent a lot of time researching how to do it (you can find just about anything on YouTube!) He got help from friends and family, and they finished pouring the concrete and stamping it within an afternoon. I think it looks amazing!

DIY stamped concrete around an inground pool

Another thing we wanted for our house was a hot tub. However, a new one was out of our price range, so we got this one off kijiji for $200. The price was so low because it wasn’t working.  But Tony was able to fix it and now it works perfectly! He also built a bench beside the hot tub and a handy gate right beside the kitchen patio door. This makes it very convenient to go in during the winter.

Fix up your own hot tub

So I guess this post turned into a “brag about my husband” post. Tony did most of the work outside to increase the curb appeal, and he is very good at what he does. He’s not afraid to try to fix anything, and loves the challenge of learning new skills.

 

 


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Comments

  1. atkokosplace says

    April 21, 2016 at 10:01 am

    You both are awesome! Way to go Tony for being so handy. The stamped concrete looks amazing and a hot tub for 200! Awesome to be able to fix it and now you both have something wonderful to relax in! Enjoy soaking and enjoy your day! Take care, Koko

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Week 16: Stamped Concrete Front Step and Garage Floor | The Vanderveen House says:
    August 15, 2016 at 8:16 am

    […] used the stamping pads that we bought when we did stamped concrete for our back patio. First we dusted the whole step with the release agent powder, then started […]

    Reply
  2. Moving Day! | The Vanderveen House says:
    August 20, 2016 at 2:58 pm

    […] then there was the backyard and the pool area.  The kids just loved jumping in and out of the pool and playing in the backyard with the […]

    Reply
  3. Week 16: Stamped Concrete Front Step, and Garage Floor – The Vanderveen House says:
    January 13, 2017 at 2:19 am

    […] used the stamping pads that we bought when we did stamped concrete for our back patio. First we dusted the whole step with the release agent powder, then started […]

    Reply

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Welcome! We are Tony and Jessica Vanderveen, and are accidental real estate investors in Ontario. Find out how you too can create long term wealth, while maintaining your work life balance. Find out more...

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