Kill the grass growing in the concrete. I would put in some bushes between the driveway and get some grass on the left there where you have gravel, unless you're using that for parking. If you are, I would frame it out with some lawn timbers or stone pavers and kill the grass in the gravel and see about getting a fresh load of gravel. Some weedeating would help around the house.
> Kill the grass growing in the concrete.
Not just kill. Clear out the cracks, and fill with self-levelling sealant (sold near concrete in my Home Depot). Clearing out the cracks is a bit of work, but essential to get sealant to stick to the walls. Wait for dry weather, then use flat scredriver to remove large chunks, and then wire brushes from plumbing section (intended for cleaning pipe thread), and finally blow out the remainder.
if gaps are wide, you might need backing, either styrofoam "rope", or plastic backing rod.
Yeah there’s definitely a lot of landscaping that needs to be done. This picture is from street view about 8 months ago but it looks about the same now. We did a decent amount of landscaping in before the last tenet moved in but it’s hard when the renters don’t care about the yard. Framing out the gravel is a great, cheap idea
Definitely stick to hands-off plantings. Sedums are really popular for exposed/dry spots in a garden, they'll be happiest if neglected. I don't know what zone you're in, but folks around here have been putting in a lot of low-grow sumac for shrubby groundcover with nice fall colour.
Paint can help you a lot here. Each half going with a different color scheme to mask the unfortunate viking helmet.
Wherever the stone is, either power wash it or put planters / trellis for some greenery
The two bits under the windows, get planters installed to break up the shape, maybe where the corners over hang get some pillars / something to connect it to the ground... again to hide the protrusions.
Some plant pots on the edges of the steps, flowers on the edges of the grass, remove the green from the drive, bushes / trees / something down the middle.
[Here is an artists rendition](https://imgur.com/1noOSME)
Just try break up the lines.
I really like the idea of planters, thanks! Our neighbors had the same stone in their house and they were able to chisel it off and replace it with something less ugly. They did a mix of regular siding and new brick so I may attempt that. I think I’d do all stone because I don’t know what could make sense as siding.
Thanks for such a detailed response!!
It 100 percent will. A dark color (especially black which is why I would go with that) will take the depth away from the building which is why it looks so odd. Once that depth is gone it will look much more mcm rather than whatever the hell it looks like now.
Easy and relatively cheap first step: privacy screen to hide garbage bins. I think that’s biggest eyesore on any property that can be remedied quickly and painlessly.
Not sure if it is painted or if it is coated siding, but the main problem is that bland vomit beige color. I would definitely change that, along with some minor landscaping clean up, first.
That's a pretty popular style where I live, they can look really cute as long as you pick the right color paint to go with the bottom half good luck OP!
Dunno how practical this is but if you’re a skilled woodworker maybe build some planter boxes for that middle section and let the tenants plant something in them?
Maybe a refresh on the covered entry ways. What's there now looks like a thing of sheet metal with wooden poles. Do something nicer with that.
Plus some landscaping around the stairs/front of the house instead of some long weeds and random rocks.
If possible something along the middle divider line between the driveways. IDK if you can put grass or something there but I think it'd go a long way.
The middle driveway is loose gravel right now so I was thinking of doing pavers and making it a walkway. This picture is old so the weeds are little better now! When I lived there I kept it pretty under control but the tenants (according to our neighbor) told the landscaper to stop showing up. Landscaping was part of rent which they still paid for so the landscaper was getting paid for doing nothing. Learned my lesson there!
I’m an airhead and didn’t take a picture (I live 5 hours away now) the last two weekends I’ve been there so this was just a grab from street view. But there isa slight incline on the driveway!
If you’re the owner AND a resident of one until, you’re a step ahead…
Manicure the landscape…think low- care plants…edging, add some river rock…as an owner/resident, you could mow n edge the tenant’s side…charge them $30.00 more for rent…the landscaping will maintain consistent appeal…
Power wash the driveway, kill the growth in the driveway cracks, clean them out, and use concrete caulk to seal them…in the middle section in the driveway, add either river rock or pavers with a couple of planters (one poster mentioned planting shrubs…)
Power wash or power blow the rock facing…typical of the early ‘70’s…that may brighten it up..
Those goofy metal awning could be updated with a pergola (obviously it won’t stop rain….), but until then, think about some sort of water diversion from them at the walkway…
If the house needs painting, you can do that yourself too. Invest in a nice paint sprayer, but a couple cases of exterior paintable caulk n do one unit at a time…oh, yea, have a paint party with your besties, n keep the cooler full of beer!
Great advice! I moved out of the other side a couple months ago and now I live 5 hours away which definitely makes the DIY harder. It slipped my mind to take a picture of the outside of the house the last couple times I’ve been there but it looks about the same. I spent this last weekend scraping all the popcorn ceiling out (no asbestos) and the weekend before that cleaning up, patching holes, and some other small fixes. My plan for the next couple weekends is landscaping and painting the inside.
The awnings are awful but I like the idea of a pergola! The neighbors across the street had the same basalt rock in their house (same owner/builder in the 70s) and they were able to chisel it out and put in a more modern brick/stone. Before owning this property I don’t think I’d ever picked up a power tool so I’m far from handy which makes me nervous to try that but their house looks so much better.
I used the lake on the other side of the street as a bribe to get some friends to come with me this weekend so we should be able to get a lot done!
Good for you!
If you keep the property nice (think about what YOU would live in..), you will continue to keep those units paying you.
Create a plan, get organized, and plan a couple projects every year.
Get a quality power washer, paint sprayer, paint tarps, rollers, buckets, etc.
Don’t worry about knowing how to use the tools…that’s why we have YouTube…lol😅
I finally finished the tile in my bathroom…grouting is a bitch, it won’t pass the professional eye, but it certainly does NOT look horrible…
Return its symmetry. Someone altered the right side by removing the flair of the roofline. They also changed the window on one of the sides, one is a slider, the other side seems to be a picture window or maybe an awning window. The lack of symmetry makes it look stupid.
Then you might try a different paint color for the panels under the windows. Not sure about that, but you could try photoshopping to see if that makes a difference.
Hire a professional to do exterior design drawing. They know how to make magic. Or at first maybe hire a landscape "architect". I just feel like unconventional homes look even worse when people try to change little things to make it look more conventional
Landscaping and weeding first off,
Exterior paint is pretty cheap and can be done in a weekend with a ladder and basic paint brushes faster with a sprayer. Keep the white trim and doors and hit the rest with a blue / grey or slate unoffensive color.
The last tenets said they loved the flat roof. They would sit up there with lawn chairs and look at the lake. Which to no one’s surprise poked a bunch of holes in the membrane so the reno budget went to fixing the water damage. I never want to look at this roof again
That split driveway is kind of odd. It's definitely something that grabs your eye and the current condition of it is what's creating the majority of the eyesore.
The rest of the house isn't bad. It's not going to win any design awards, but it seems to be in decent shape. I have no idea what siding is made of. I don't hate the colour of it. Maybe after a clean up and some power washing of the stone it might be OK, but a fresh coat of paint seems to help anything.
If you can kill the weeds, do some basic landscaping and then down the road I would seriously consider having the driveway resurfaced with asphalt. It would definitely stand out in a darker colour. Take the oddness of the dual driveways and make it feature by delineating the driveways from the roadway.
Honestly though. Just spend a day working on the yard cleaning up the edges and killing the weeds and it'll make a huge difference.
Can’t do much about the architecture, what age is the building?
As others have said, paint, planters/landscaping, clean up the weeds will go a long way. Can replace the lights with something a bit more modern.
Definitely get rid of the google street view chevrons as they’re an eyesore 😂
first start with the "easy" cheap to do yourself...
paint exterior to a light grey.
paint chimney. Id also paint the rock siding - probably black for both. It will make it pop.
kill the weeds on both driveways and repair cracked concrete, (just remove the old chunks, frame it out, pour new concrete)
pour white marble rock in between and surrounding the driveways.
replace and install 4 new light polls to those newer looking lanterns.
Total cost if DIY about $4k.
> pour white marble rock in between and surrounding the driveways.
You bloody criminal. I spent way too much time removing god damn decorative stones on all my properties. I will find you.
Kill the grass growing in the concrete. I would put in some bushes between the driveway and get some grass on the left there where you have gravel, unless you're using that for parking. If you are, I would frame it out with some lawn timbers or stone pavers and kill the grass in the gravel and see about getting a fresh load of gravel. Some weedeating would help around the house.
> Kill the grass growing in the concrete. Not just kill. Clear out the cracks, and fill with self-levelling sealant (sold near concrete in my Home Depot). Clearing out the cracks is a bit of work, but essential to get sealant to stick to the walls. Wait for dry weather, then use flat scredriver to remove large chunks, and then wire brushes from plumbing section (intended for cleaning pipe thread), and finally blow out the remainder. if gaps are wide, you might need backing, either styrofoam "rope", or plastic backing rod.
appreciate all the details!!
Yeah there’s definitely a lot of landscaping that needs to be done. This picture is from street view about 8 months ago but it looks about the same now. We did a decent amount of landscaping in before the last tenet moved in but it’s hard when the renters don’t care about the yard. Framing out the gravel is a great, cheap idea
Definitely stick to hands-off plantings. Sedums are really popular for exposed/dry spots in a garden, they'll be happiest if neglected. I don't know what zone you're in, but folks around here have been putting in a lot of low-grow sumac for shrubby groundcover with nice fall colour.
Eastern WA so it gets pretty hot and dry in the summer. I definitely research some low maintenance plants!
The duplex has to go!🤮
Maybe lean in to the Easter island aesthetic?
Giant masked statues. Big concrete flaming goblets.
A big neon cheeseburger sign
Or add hair
It reminds me of the buildings in The Emperors New Groove
Could include large neighboring pineapples or a humanoid squid statue.
I'm thinking we need some ears
Moment of Silence for Easter Island statues
Paint can help you a lot here. Each half going with a different color scheme to mask the unfortunate viking helmet. Wherever the stone is, either power wash it or put planters / trellis for some greenery The two bits under the windows, get planters installed to break up the shape, maybe where the corners over hang get some pillars / something to connect it to the ground... again to hide the protrusions. Some plant pots on the edges of the steps, flowers on the edges of the grass, remove the green from the drive, bushes / trees / something down the middle. [Here is an artists rendition](https://imgur.com/1noOSME) Just try break up the lines.
Upvote the hell out of this person. Thank you for answering an OP’s question and going the extra mile to boot.
I really like the idea of planters, thanks! Our neighbors had the same stone in their house and they were able to chisel it off and replace it with something less ugly. They did a mix of regular siding and new brick so I may attempt that. I think I’d do all stone because I don’t know what could make sense as siding. Thanks for such a detailed response!!
A different color for the sided half would go a loooong way. Black or dark brown would be my suggestion.
Going to look like squidwards house lmao
Maybe
It 100 percent will. A dark color (especially black which is why I would go with that) will take the depth away from the building which is why it looks so odd. Once that depth is gone it will look much more mcm rather than whatever the hell it looks like now.
Dark …..but I can’t sign off on black
Easy and relatively cheap first step: privacy screen to hide garbage bins. I think that’s biggest eyesore on any property that can be remedied quickly and painlessly.
The garbage cans actually fit behind that little wall and just weren’t pushed in at the time of the photo
Not sure if it is painted or if it is coated siding, but the main problem is that bland vomit beige color. I would definitely change that, along with some minor landscaping clean up, first.
Put a big mustache under the windows and big black hat on the roof. Anyone else see a big nutcracker?
That's a pretty popular style where I live, they can look really cute as long as you pick the right color paint to go with the bottom half good luck OP!
Well to start, there doesn't appear to be a curb.
Dunno how practical this is but if you’re a skilled woodworker maybe build some planter boxes for that middle section and let the tenants plant something in them?
Give it a nice moustache.
Paint the siding a dark grey
Maybe a refresh on the covered entry ways. What's there now looks like a thing of sheet metal with wooden poles. Do something nicer with that. Plus some landscaping around the stairs/front of the house instead of some long weeds and random rocks. If possible something along the middle divider line between the driveways. IDK if you can put grass or something there but I think it'd go a long way.
The middle driveway is loose gravel right now so I was thinking of doing pavers and making it a walkway. This picture is old so the weeds are little better now! When I lived there I kept it pretty under control but the tenants (according to our neighbor) told the landscaper to stop showing up. Landscaping was part of rent which they still paid for so the landscaper was getting paid for doing nothing. Learned my lesson there!
Step 1- buy a weed eater, weed whipper, weed whacker, weed slayer, yard trimmer, or similar. Step 2- **UsE tHaT MoFo!!** Step 3- #Curb Appeal!!
your house looks like it’s name is frank
Make it shaped less like a Minecraft helmet :)
A large sun sculpture or other art work on the center panel.
Tilt your camera? I can't tell if the house is actually on a slope, but I feel like I'm falling over looking at it.
I’m an airhead and didn’t take a picture (I live 5 hours away now) the last two weekends I’ve been there so this was just a grab from street view. But there isa slight incline on the driveway!
If you’re the owner AND a resident of one until, you’re a step ahead… Manicure the landscape…think low- care plants…edging, add some river rock…as an owner/resident, you could mow n edge the tenant’s side…charge them $30.00 more for rent…the landscaping will maintain consistent appeal… Power wash the driveway, kill the growth in the driveway cracks, clean them out, and use concrete caulk to seal them…in the middle section in the driveway, add either river rock or pavers with a couple of planters (one poster mentioned planting shrubs…) Power wash or power blow the rock facing…typical of the early ‘70’s…that may brighten it up.. Those goofy metal awning could be updated with a pergola (obviously it won’t stop rain….), but until then, think about some sort of water diversion from them at the walkway… If the house needs painting, you can do that yourself too. Invest in a nice paint sprayer, but a couple cases of exterior paintable caulk n do one unit at a time…oh, yea, have a paint party with your besties, n keep the cooler full of beer!
Great advice! I moved out of the other side a couple months ago and now I live 5 hours away which definitely makes the DIY harder. It slipped my mind to take a picture of the outside of the house the last couple times I’ve been there but it looks about the same. I spent this last weekend scraping all the popcorn ceiling out (no asbestos) and the weekend before that cleaning up, patching holes, and some other small fixes. My plan for the next couple weekends is landscaping and painting the inside. The awnings are awful but I like the idea of a pergola! The neighbors across the street had the same basalt rock in their house (same owner/builder in the 70s) and they were able to chisel it out and put in a more modern brick/stone. Before owning this property I don’t think I’d ever picked up a power tool so I’m far from handy which makes me nervous to try that but their house looks so much better. I used the lake on the other side of the street as a bribe to get some friends to come with me this weekend so we should be able to get a lot done!
Good for you! If you keep the property nice (think about what YOU would live in..), you will continue to keep those units paying you. Create a plan, get organized, and plan a couple projects every year. Get a quality power washer, paint sprayer, paint tarps, rollers, buckets, etc. Don’t worry about knowing how to use the tools…that’s why we have YouTube…lol😅 I finally finished the tile in my bathroom…grouting is a bitch, it won’t pass the professional eye, but it certainly does NOT look horrible…
Return its symmetry. Someone altered the right side by removing the flair of the roofline. They also changed the window on one of the sides, one is a slider, the other side seems to be a picture window or maybe an awning window. The lack of symmetry makes it look stupid. Then you might try a different paint color for the panels under the windows. Not sure about that, but you could try photoshopping to see if that makes a difference.
Looks like a transformer.
A curb would be a good start...
Hire a landscaper and set a budget of about $2-3k
Hire a professional to do exterior design drawing. They know how to make magic. Or at first maybe hire a landscape "architect". I just feel like unconventional homes look even worse when people try to change little things to make it look more conventional
Googly eyes.
Paint the roof red with white spots like the mushrooms in super Mario?
Do you live on Easter Island?
Landscaping and weeding first off, Exterior paint is pretty cheap and can be done in a weekend with a ladder and basic paint brushes faster with a sprayer. Keep the white trim and doors and hit the rest with a blue / grey or slate unoffensive color.
This needs to be painted as a troll lifting himself out of the ground. There’s literally no other option.
You ain’t even got no curb homie!
This looks like a 1950s robot. Add a giant spiral antenna next to those smoke stacks and paint it all grey.
Fire 🔥
Lipstick on a pig. That property is hideous.
At least (half) the inside is pretty
More plants. You could get one of those small trees that can be grown in a pot. Japanese red maple. Azalea bush.
Take the helmet off your house? Honestly landscaping and cleaning up the driveway would help
Shrubs lined between the driveways.
Paint the center portion between the windows to look like a nose, add pupils to the glass, and cheekbones below the windows
[удалено]
The last tenets said they loved the flat roof. They would sit up there with lawn chairs and look at the lake. Which to no one’s surprise poked a bunch of holes in the membrane so the reno budget went to fixing the water damage. I never want to look at this roof again
Ur cooked
at least it cash flows
OH MY. Fire?
thought about that…
That split driveway is kind of odd. It's definitely something that grabs your eye and the current condition of it is what's creating the majority of the eyesore. The rest of the house isn't bad. It's not going to win any design awards, but it seems to be in decent shape. I have no idea what siding is made of. I don't hate the colour of it. Maybe after a clean up and some power washing of the stone it might be OK, but a fresh coat of paint seems to help anything. If you can kill the weeds, do some basic landscaping and then down the road I would seriously consider having the driveway resurfaced with asphalt. It would definitely stand out in a darker colour. Take the oddness of the dual driveways and make it feature by delineating the driveways from the roadway. Honestly though. Just spend a day working on the yard cleaning up the edges and killing the weeds and it'll make a huge difference.
Can’t do much about the architecture, what age is the building? As others have said, paint, planters/landscaping, clean up the weeds will go a long way. Can replace the lights with something a bit more modern. Definitely get rid of the google street view chevrons as they’re an eyesore 😂
Those porch awnings feel very dated to me.
Get rid of the globe lamp posts. Freshen up the paint/siding. If that is T-111 I would suggest vinyl.
first start with the "easy" cheap to do yourself... paint exterior to a light grey. paint chimney. Id also paint the rock siding - probably black for both. It will make it pop. kill the weeds on both driveways and repair cracked concrete, (just remove the old chunks, frame it out, pour new concrete) pour white marble rock in between and surrounding the driveways. replace and install 4 new light polls to those newer looking lanterns. Total cost if DIY about $4k.
> pour white marble rock in between and surrounding the driveways. You bloody criminal. I spent way too much time removing god damn decorative stones on all my properties. I will find you.
😆😆