National Curb Appeal Month: Tips to Upgrade Your Homes Exterior

(StatePoint) Curb appeal is important in setting a welcoming tone. And if your home is for sale, an attractive exterior becomes crucial.

"Realtors tell us that potential home buyers make a 'street decision' in less than 12 seconds on whether or not to view a home," says Niki Decker of Fypon, a leader in the synthetic millwork industry. "That's a very short time to make a good impression.

August marks the first National Curb Appeal Month, a great time to focus on ways to add value and design appeal to your homes exterior, whether or not you have plans to sell.

The experts at Fypon are offering their top exterior upgrade tips:

Swap a rotting wooden porch system with a new structural synthetic balustrade system that includes porch posts, top and bottom rails, balusters and all the other pieces essential to create a weather-resistant porch.

Trim out exterior windows. Use crossheads for over a window and top with a solid, decorative or recessed panel keystone accent piece. On the sides and below the window, use moulding pieces with plinth blocks in the corners to eliminate miter cuts.

Replace older, rotting wooden louvers with low-maintenance polyurethane louvers. Such functional louvers should have a noncorrosive fiberglass screen backing to keep insects out while allowing maximum airflow and ventilation to enter an attic.

A conventional older wooden door may be inefficient, worn out or plain ugly. Consider replacing your old wooden door with a solid fiberglass door, which is up to four times more energy efficient and resistant to rot, rust, dings and weather. Constructed as a complete system of components, Therma-Tru fiberglass doors, for example, are engineered to work together for lasting performance, security and energy efficiency.

Throughout August, homeowners can enter the online Door Do-Over Sweepstakes for the chance to win a new Therma-Tru fiberglass entry door. To enter the sweepstakes, visit http://www.TodaysHomeowner.com/DoorDoOver.

Make smart upgrades with a proven return on investment. For example, adding energy-efficient vinyl windows, like those from Simonton Windows, as a mid-range project to a home can have a cost recoup value of 78.7 percent, while adding vinyl siding can have a 78.2 percent recoup rate, according to the 2014 Cost Versus Value Study conducted by Remodeling magazine.

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National Curb Appeal Month: Tips to Upgrade Your Homes Exterior