Stacy Risenmay

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Sprucing up the Outside of Our House {New Roof!}

By Stacy 13 Comments

When we bought our house 13 years ago the inspector told us we would need to get a new roof in a few years. We never did. It looked… decent and there were not any leaks. A new roof  can be expensive and it’s not a very fun thing to drop a bunch of cash on so we let it slide. We had a big wind storm this spring that blew of a ton of shingles. So many shingles that I was getting texts and phone calls from neighbors saying “Have you seen your roof?!”

 

roof missing shingles

 

At some point, the previous owners had added asphalt shingles over top of the original wood shingles. That is why every time the wind blew hard shingle would fly off. They weren’t properly installed.

 

asphalt shingles installed over wood shingles

 

I hopped on Home Depot’s website to look at all the shingles available. I fell in love with the look of the GAF Timberline shingles. I scheduled a time for someone from the Home Depot Services to come to give me a quote. Since the roof still had the original shingles and it only had 2 small vents, we needed a whole new roof. Everything needed to come off!

They worked all day for 5 days and I was so impressed with how careful they were. They got creative in how they covered the flowerbeds and patio and nothing was damaged. You can read more about the process and get more details about the shingles that I chose over on The Home Depot Blog.

Doesn’t the new roof look so much better?

 

new roof with GAF Timberline shingles

 

After the new roof was installed we realized how shabby everything else looked. It was a bit like “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” except it was “If You Give a Blogger a Roof” because once I saw the gorgeous new roof I realized how much the trim paint was peeling. Once we decided to paint the trim, I decided we needed to change up the color of the gables. And if we were going to change up the color of the gables, we might as well do ALL THE THINGS. We embarked on a mission to refresh the outside of our home that took far longer than it should have.

Here are the things we did to help the house look refreshed!

*Painted the trim along eaves and the windows

*Painted the eaves and gables on the house AND garage

*Painted the porch ceiling

*Painted the steps

*Touched up paint on the foundation

*Filled in cracks in the concrete with self leveling concrete caulk

*Planted more flowers

*Built window boxes 

*Built forms & filled in the chunks missing on the porch steps with cement

*Painted the stair railings

*cleaned grease spots off driveway

*Added a new porch light

*Re-stained shutters

*Painted kitchen door

It has been so hot that I could only work in the mornings and evenings. I don’t do heights so Shane did the trim up high as well as the gables and eaves. He doesn’t have a whole lot of free time so that was a big reason this transformation took so long.

Whew! After all that our house finally looks as good as our new roof.

new roof with Timberline shingles

cottage style home with new roof

 

You can see the new turtle vents on the back of our house!

 

Turtle style roof vents

 

I realized after taking pictures that I missed painting the trim dark brown along the eaves on the back of the house. So I guess I still have one more thing to paint out there before it snows :)

 

new roof with turtle vents

 

We went from red gables to tan. I loved the red, but after 11 years, I was ready for a change and loved the idea of going more neutral.

 

side porch entrance

side porch

 

I have to say that between this curb appeal makeover, adding the paver patio, and all the canning I’ve been doing with the produce from our garden, I am almost ready for winter. Ready for a break from outside work :)

What do you think of the new roof? 

For photos of the process and more details about the shingles, head over to the The Home Depot’s blog!

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Filed Under: Favorites, Outdoor Projects & Gardening 13 Comments

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  1. Joyce Westerhold says

    November 15, 2018 at 5:12 am

    Wow!!!!

    Reply
  2. Elizabeth H says

    November 15, 2018 at 11:22 am

    Your hose looks wonderful. Beautiful house!!

    Reply
  3. Phyllis Jobe says

    November 15, 2018 at 12:33 pm

    Love how your house looks with all the improvements.

    Reply
  4. Tammara says

    November 15, 2018 at 2:33 pm

    Wow, looks great!

    Reply
  5. Laurie Couwenhoven says

    November 15, 2018 at 3:02 pm

    Love the roof! Never saw ‘turtle vents’ before. Sure look nicer than the old ones. Have to remember.
    One question . . . did you replace the gutters and downspouts on the front of the house? See them on the back but can’t find on the front.
    Just wondering.

    Reply
    • Stacy says

      November 15, 2018 at 3:10 pm

      I had never heard of turtle vents either. As far as the gutters go, there never have been gutters on the east side (front). There are some on the west and north. Maybe because of the angles of the roof? I’m not sure. I have photos of the house when it was first built. You can see in them in this post:

      https://www.notjustahousewife.net/the-history-of-our-home/

      Thanks for your comment :)

      Reply
  6. Moriah says

    November 15, 2018 at 3:36 pm

    Wow! What a great transformation! You guys worked very hard and it looks great!

    Reply
  7. Danita says

    November 15, 2018 at 5:21 pm

    You look like you have a brand spankin’ new house! I love the new roof and EVERYTHING else that you did to spruce up the place! It looks gorgeous! I hope you have all recovered from the fire scare and are doing just fine! Take good care and enjoy all those beautiful flowers before the cold winds blow! (it was 18* at my house today! our trusty wood stove cranking and our home nice and toasty!)

    Reply
  8. Laura Harrie says

    November 15, 2018 at 7:43 pm

    The outside of your house really looks great, lots of hard work, but such a nice update!

    Reply
  9. Nancy Davies says

    November 18, 2018 at 6:59 pm

    Fantastic!

    Reply
  10. Haylee says

    February 20, 2019 at 3:38 pm

    This looks beautiful!

    Reply
  11. carry says

    October 26, 2019 at 11:13 am

    Went back to these posts as my husband and I are looking to travel to Iceland soon and wondering where else you guys would recommend to stay during our visit?

    Reply
  12. lisa says

    July 18, 2020 at 8:12 am

    Hello,
    Ann Arbor Painting is a professional painting company that can get your paint project done for you in a timely and professional manner with out it breaking your wallet.
    Regards
    painters company ann arbor

    Reply
stacyWelcome! I'm sharing our adventures as we fix up our 1938 cottage. Whether it is big or small, I think everyone should love their home and I don't think it takes a lot of money to make a space your own.
 

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