A unique combination of exterior products can give your home’s exterior a major refresh! In this project, the client really wanted to modernize the look of the home, as well as improve its performance and provide some coverage over the entry area from rain and snow. We transformed this home with Hardie panel and board and batten. From the new porch to the improved drainage system, to the efficient windows to its stylish new look, this home now stands out in a good way!
Transform Your Home Exterior With Hardie Panel + Board and Batten
Check out the full reveal of this home exterior transformation below, or read on to learn more:
What an exterior refresh!
This home now has a nice large roof structure protecting the entryway. The new exterior now has Hardie panel on the one side, and the board and batten siding on the other, creating a really nice modern finish. The windows and doors have all been upgraded. The windows previously were very small and did not meet egress requirements, so now we have a great new product there, which looks great, performs really well, and meets code.
There were some budgetary constrictions for this project, so we found some creative ways to get a very visually pleasing end result without having to break the bank. Some little tips and tricks would be: along the sides of the rear of the home, we left the existing stucco and painted it to match the new design at the front. We incorporated the existing soffit colour into the design at the front of the home as well.
So these are small things you can do to help make your curb appeal increase. The overall look of the home is improved without having to renovate all sides of the home and spend a ton of money.
Adding a Covered Porch
There’s a couple things you should consider if you want to add a covered porch to your home.
First off, is you absolutely will need a permit, both a development permit and a building permit. So be prepared for that process!
Second, because we have a new roof overhang, we had to have new posts, and a point load transfer onto some piles. This means you need to locate all utilities in your yard so you don’t hit them when you dig. In Alberta, we call Alberta One Call, and you probably also should pay for a secondary locating company to identify where all the underground utilities are.
In this particular project, there are utilities all over the place in this front yard. There are some abandoned gas lines, current new gas lines, drainage lines, water lines, and power lines. So we were limited to some very specific locations where we could insert screw piles. These piles are about 8 to 10 feet deep, so we had to make sure we didn’t hit a utility underground.
If you know where those are first, then when you’re beginning to design you can reverse engineer your roof structure to accommodate the required post layout. Initially, this design had four posts, two at the front, and two at the rear. But we decided to make it far more minimalist, and embed the rear posts in the exterior walls.
There is more work involved in doing that, but it’s a very nice, slick way to finish it off.
Other things to consider for a covered porch includes things like lighting and specialized number details for your address. There are a variety of things to consider. But I would say structural considerations, permitting, and overall aesthetics are key things to consider.
Minimizing Visible Downspouts
Keeping the exterior of this home looking clean was important to the overall look of this home, but it was a challenge to do that and also provide proper drainage. We did not compromise, and here’s how we made it work.
We all need to drain water off of our roofs, and too often, you end up with a downspout in a high profile location.
What we did on this project is to run the downspout in the matching color of the siding to a custom-made water collection tank. It can be used to collect water to water plants. Or it can be used as kind of a self-watering planter. But ultimately it removes the need to run the downspout across the front of the home to drain to the side yard.
Overall, it’s a creative way to solve this problem. It creates a nice new little feature for them to be able to have a water collection, and it looks pretty slick.
The other options we had were to run the downspout across the front of the home which would be quite an eyesore. Or we could have broken up some of the concrete and run a French drain to drain out to the street, but that would incur a significant cost for concrete replacement and removal. The other option was to run drainage down one of these front posts, but then we would’ve created a slipping hazard in the winter when the water freezes. So this became ultimately the best solution for the client. It’s something to consider when planning your downspout locations and your exterior design of your home renovation.
Removing vs. Covering Stucco
Stucco containing asbestos can be another challenge. Here’s how we handled that.
If your home has stucco on the exterior and you want to change it, there are a few things to consider. One option is to demolish it, and there’s some pros and cons to that.
First off, you need to test the stucco for asbestos. If you have asbestos content, the cost of removal just skyrocketed, so you need to test it first. The benefit of removing your stucco, however, is that you get to take a close look at the condition of the house wrap on the home and you can see whether there has been any leaking or water damage so you can address those issue.
Alternatively, you can strap an inside siding product over top of the stucco. It would not be considered best practice, but it’s typically done if you do have asbestos content. The downside of course is now you’re basically just covering up what might be an existing condition behind the stucco, and as you nail the strapping onto the home, you’re punching a whole bunch of holes in the stucco. While it is considered acceptable, that option I wouldn’t recommend unless there’s an extreme circumstance that requires it. Anyway, if you have a stucco home, you want to make it look more modern, you can reach out. We can talk to you about your options.
Overall, this project has successfully merged the client’s needs without compromising on this exterior’s aesthetics, resulting in a home that looks fresh and modern. Hardie panel and board and batten was a great choice, combined with a new porch and new windows! You can see the project portfolio for this project here.
Looking for more tips like this that maybe you haven’t thought of yourself? Talk to your contractor to see what they suggest! They might have great ideas to solve issues you’re facing in your home exterior. Reach out to us here at Contact Renovations at (780)455-4446 or info@contactrenovations.ca for all your questions about your renovation project.
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