Need suggestion on potential exterior upgrades

Your driveway looks like plain (uncoloured) concrete which stays that pale colour for ages.
You can get a concrete colour-sealant product - like a paint but it soaks into the concrete rather than just sitting on the top.
It comes in many colours. I had one of the greyish colours put on a very stained driveway of an IP and it came up really well. The company that makes/distributes it is in Melbourne and they say you can do it yourself but it's time consuming and a fair bit of messing around...... pressure clean, dry, etch, dry, first coat, dry, second coat.
I can't remember the details right now but if you're interested, I'll go through my files and post product and company contact details here. .

 

Don't have any suggestions but every time I look at your username I see "cherrybum"

 

Hi again cherubym,
Here is the info I said I'd post for you............. the name of the product for colouring concrete is called Nu Tech Pave Coat. The brochure says it's a coating manufactured from "tough acrylic resins and fade resistant pigments" and can be used to seal and protect new and old concrete, including concrete roof tiles. It comes in many colours.
Contact details are NuTech Paint, 4 Keppler Cct., Seaford (03) 9770 3000, www.nutech.com.au
There are distributors in other states too.
The people at head office are very helpful.

 

Having had a good look at your photos - there are a few things I would do ...

Don't render - costs a fortune - the brick and cement are in great condition - I would simply paint the brick a lighter grey, with some warm undertones.

Don't touch the roof or windows - they would look great with the painted brick.

Put a roller door on your carport - although - check the structure is strong enough to support a roller door as it looks a bit flimsy, and also check with council that you can do this as you are converting a carport to an enclosed garage.

Get rid of that little shed thing at the front - I assume it's for the bins but it looks goddam awful. Have the bins stored out of site behind a side gate (behind the shed thing).

Pressure wash the concrete.

If budget stretches - I'd put a raised deck at the entry instead of that little step. Run the deck the length of the garage towards the front of the house - dress it with a bench seat and cushions, or a couple of cane chairs, or a classy couple of pot plants ...

Try and get your grass growing better - nothing like a lush lawn to up the appearance of a property.

The garden in front of the house looks a mess ... think about turning that whole side of the driveway to garden, but move the plants away from the house and mass plant in only 3-4 species with a good layer of "not red" mulch. My favourite mulch is forest floor - it's cheap, looks good and put nutrients into the soil ... or perhaps garden both sides of the drive and bugger off the lawn altogether (except the council strip).

-

 

I'd paint the timber sections of the fence that have weathered.

To me weathered timber pine fences that have gone grey look really run down. Cheap also if you DIY with spray gun or woolly roller.

 

Thanks, @fantail I'll be visiting them this week and see how it goes.

 

Thanks, @kitdoctor Noted and will see which color it should be painted, once the house is rendered (starting some time this week).

 

After 3 long months of a semi-disaster with getting our house rendered, I'd like to share some Pre- and Post- Rendered of our PPOR. The first renderer ditched the project and ran away after the second cement coat. Found a very good renderer afterwards. Altogether, total cost was $5,500. Hopefully, it adds $11,000 to the property when valuation happens.




The next step is to paint the paling fence and colour-sealed the driveway.

For the driveway, I've decided to give it a go with NuTech PaveCoat. Will start doing it, as soon as Spring comes in.

Thanks to many input here. It looks like our carport posts are a bit small to bear a roller door. Any suggestion is welcome. Please.

One other thing is that we are also thinking about putting up a 1-m high brick fence along the front boundary with piers. What do you think about value that could be added to the property by adding a brick fence to a house like this.

 

If its with CBA get a broker to do an AVM now (desktop valuation) as these often come in higher than a physical valuation.

They are good to 80% LVR so not sure if it suits your situation but worth a try either way as the val may surprise you and save you doing the reno at all?

 

@cherubym didnt realise the OP was dated so my reply no longer applies to you. Will leave it up as it may help others.

Looks like a nice improvement though

 

The render looks great!
As for the wall - I don't know. Is it necessary? I think big walls at the front are not in vogue.

 

Thanks! What kind of fence would you recommend? As many others suggested before, it really needs a fence to avoid the openness of a corner block like this. Perhaps, just put a few plants along the boundary?

 

Carport - cam you or larger posts up against the existing for extra strength?

Wall- bricks are expensive. Consider modern picket style. Cherie barbs has some good tips in this department

 

Just thought of something else while you're cherie barbering
If you put a roller door on it will close in the front and as your front door is hidden around the corner perhaps putting in a small deck from the front door out to inline with the front of the carport. Looks like you would have one step up and it might make it more nicer create more of an entry instead of the hidden front door.

 

With carport, I called up the council and they wanted me to submit for a building permit, as putting up a roller door or modification to load bearing posts is considered an alteration to the plan. We didn't want to deal with council or do paperworks. So sorta giving up with the car port modification at the moment.

I got a quote of $9,000 for the brick fence of 24m long, 1m high with 2m piers 2 to 3 metre apart (No gate/metal works). If that $9,000 gives me extra $18,000 in valuation, I am more than happy to invest the amount. So I don't know. What's your experience so far?

 

Good one! I like this idea. Another person above suggested the same too.

 

I think that $9,000 sounds like a waste of money, really.

What area of Melbourne is the house in?

 

A suburb next to Glen Waverley.

 

I just reread the posts and realise this is a popr.

So, I guess you are doing things that make your living experience there better, rather than what you would do for an IP?

Though, you could end up spending quite a lot just to get a few thousand back.

From the popr perspective, I would get the permits to enclose the carport, if your setback allows it.

 

My main goal here is just to extract equity after adding value. The interior is pretty much done with nothing left to add value. So I am looking to add value to anything I can outside the house.