Before & After Pictures

The above photo was taken last winter & shows the old siding color.
The siding was a weird beige color with dark brown wood trim.
You can see the color better in another photo lower down.
The wood trim had deteriorated very badly.

Below: the new siding is a cream color with a hint of yellow to it.
The trim is now white. The front door has not yet been replaced,
but will be replaced in the spring with a wooden door, at which
time the door frame will be wrapped in white to match the rest.

Click on the photos to see a larger view so you can also
see the decorative trim along the top of the house &
the box window and dormer window.

Before and after photos of the side door and side porch:

Above: the old door and old porch. Notice how
the old porch goes off to the side. This photo shows
the color of the original siding better than the
top photo did. It really was an ugly color.
I've hated the color the entire time we've lived here.
Sorry about the snow blocking most of the porch & door.
However, if it weren't for the snow, I wouldn't have
taken any photos of this side of the house at all.

Below: the new door and new porch
Notice the difference in the siding colors as well.
The new siding actually appears to have
a hint of pale yellow in the sunlight,
and there is more of a contrast with the trim
than it appears in these photos.
It really turned out very lovely!

The first changes we did to the outside of our home were begun in October, after our kitchen porch unexpectedly collapsed. The wood support for the stairs had split on one side, and it came crashing down. I'd hoped to postpone that replacement, since we were going to be having the trim repaired and capped, which was going to be a bit costly and was not covered by the insurance. Also, our side door had deteriorated. The decorative window dividers had come off on the outside. The weather stripping was gone, and the seal of the window in the door was broken with moisture getting inside. What was worse, the frame of the door was also starting to break down, and I was afraid mice would be able to get in if we didn't deal with it quickly. It was beyond repair. We knew we needed to replace the door.

The porch was replaced first. Instead of bending to one side as you can sort of see in the first picture, it was changed to come straight out, which was a definite improvement. It even has a handrail for children on one side. The new door is also more secure, since there is only a half moon window at the top of the door, rather than the larger window that took up most of the upper half of the old door, and which a thief could potentially have broken out and even climbed through. While our neighborhood has not had a lot of problems with break-ins, and our side porch is in plain view with motion detector lights, it just seemed wiser to choose a door that was less vulnerable. This door is also nicer looking.

Since the old security lights had to be removed when the siding was replaced, we had them put up a new light--still motion detector style, but with three lamps instead of just two, so more area will be lit.

It was taking so long for the siding replacement to begin, that I was worried the cold weather would prevent it from being done, but they started in spite of the cold temperatures. It snowed the day after they started, so they only got in a few hours of work that day, and they didn't come do any more work the following day, but they did come again on Saturday, and finished Monday morning.

I'm betting our property taxes will go up next year, since the real estate appraisal for tax purposes will be done soon, and our house looks so much prettier now--it almost looks like new!