When the garage is attached to the house or is detached but can be clearly seen from the street, it can detract from the overall appearance of your property if it’s old or worn. It doesn’t mean tearing down and starting over. A new look for your garage – replacing the siding, resealing the driveway, or painting the trim – can increase your home’s value, improve curb appeal, and make it a more functional.
Fresh Coat of Paint
Sometimes all it takes to give your garage a new look is a fresh coat of paint in a bolder shade or a deeper earth tone. Some areas of a garage such as around the door and windows or an exterior wall that gets a lot of sun can become worn faster than other areas. Doing minor repairs and filling in holes and cracks before painting helps maintain the building’s structure and appearance in general. Painting helps seal the exterior walls, protecting the garage from the elements.
If the exterior walls are still in good shape, applying paint only to the trim and the area around the garage door can be just as effective as painting the whole garage.
Replace the Siding
A wood garage should be painted once every five to seven years to prevent splitting, cracking, and mold/wood rot. If you’re tired of painting it consider replacing the wood siding with low-maintenance options like aluminum, fiber cement, or vinyl. To maintain aluminum siding or vinyl siding all that is required is a solution of mild detergent and water, then rinsing off with a garden hose.
New Garage Door
If the garage is older than 15 years it’s probably time to replace the garage door. Especially with today’s technologies, manufacturers offer cutting edge products that improve security, address safety issues, and are insulated. Upgrading the garage door can also update your home’s exterior. Give some consideration to:
- The architectural style of your home
- What it’s made of – wood, aluminum, and vinyl are popular materials
- Features you want the door to have
- The colour – should it complement or contrast?
If the garage door is less that 15 years old but is looking a bit worn, some simple tweaks might be all that is needed. Cosmetic fixes like removing small dents or tightening hardware to stop the door from sagging are better options than total replacement.
Repair or Redo the Driveway
When the driveway has become pitted, cracked, or stained it can give the impression that your property is not being well-maintained. To see if the driveway needs to be repaired or replaced, start with a good cleaning. Depending on the extent of the damage, it might be more cost-efficient to redo the driveway rather than repair it.
Add visual interest to your home’s exterior with a driveway made of brick pavers, flagstones, or a stamped concrete textured surface.
Combine safety and curb appeal by lining the driveway with recessed LED lights that will cut through those foggy and rainy nights we experience on the West Coast.
Install New Lighting
Dated outdoor lighting fixtures can make a home exterior appear shabby or uncared for even when it isn’t. Options include:
- Traditional sconces or carriage lights on either side of the garage door
- Overhead wall mounted fixture – single or one for each door (double/multiple garage)
- LED lighting strips on the garage door to highlight a specific area
- Soffit lights
- Motion sensor lights for added security
The garage itself and the immediate area surrounding it can be greatly improved with new light fixtures that are brighter and eco-friendly.
Install Gutters
If your detached garage has no gutters, consider installing a gutter system that matches or complements the one on your house. Not only will it give the garage a new look, it will increase its functionality. When there are no gutters on a garage, the water running off of the roof can pool around the base of the exterior walls, causing damage to the wood or the foundation or both. When plants don’t do well against one side of the garage or the soil continually gets washed away, installing gutters on the garage could be a good solution.
