Let's talk about exteriors! This can make a big difference in the look and feel of your house so we spent a lot of time thinking through these decisions.
One of my most asked questions is what color our house is painted but guess what? Our house isn't painted at all! We have vinyl siding and board and batten in different parts of our home. Our siding is dutch lap style which give it a little bit of a different look and I think that's why people think it's painted. Keeping that in mind, I think we made the best decision for us because not only is vinyl siding budget friendly, but getting that questions about paint justifies our decision to opt out of expensive options when you can get a very similar look for a lot less. See the dutch lap siding pictured below!
We had originally looked at doing a Hardie board or a Hardie plank for the exterior of our house because it looks beautiful but it was not budget friendly at all and since we built our house on a budget, we had to be very conscious of every decision we made which made vinyl siding an easy decision for us.
All of our columns and decorations on our gables are wrapped wood which maintained the look of painted wood but are really durable, easy to clean and will never need stained or anything.
We did synthetic decking on our front porch (from Timber Tech) which has been amazing. It was more expensive than doing wood or concrete but it was so worth it. We won't ever have to stain it, and it's held up so well to the furniture and dog on and off the porch. When we build out our back porch, we will be using Timber Tech as well.
Questions I was asked:
How to decide where to put decorations on gables? We put them where we thought it made the most sense, which was just on the main peaks in the front of the house. Keep in mind that wherever you put them, there will be an increased cost as you add more, just like everything with building.
Lighting? Function vs. Aesthetics. This is an area that should be well though out. You can do decorative lights while adding small, discrete lights for function. We did this on our front porch and it gets really bright by being hidden.
Is white siding hard to keep clean? In our experience, it is not harder to keep clean than any other color. And we live in the middle of a working field!
Does adding a porch add to the cost of building? Short answer = Yes. You may notice that we don't have a back porch, because that was an easy spot to cut costs and we will build that out later. Of course, the cost of a porch will vary based on the size and finishes you choose (decking, columns, etc.) but the short answer is yes, it will add costs.
Be sure to check my stories on Wednesday's to check on Building 101 and ask questions!
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