 Focusing On Outdoor Staircase Design Can Bring Curb Appeal To Your Home
The front of your home is the best selling feature. Raise your curb appeal by making sure your outdoor staircase leading to your entry is welcoming and in synch with the rest of the design of the home.
Realtors know that a home’s curb appeal is it’s greatest selling feature. If they pull up to a home that looks great, but the outdoor stair case leading to the entry is dilapidated or not in synch with the rest of the home design, it can detract from the home’s beauty.
Make sure to maintain the outdoor stairs and replace the railings, if necessary, or update your home’s look by adding a completely different style if it makes more sense for your home.
Add Some Distinguishing Touches
You can easily remodel the outside staircase by simply redoing the railings. You can make them wider or more ornate to add a little weight to the stairs. You can change out the railings, and choose wrought iron railing if you want to make it more distinctive. You can anchor the railing with large stone end posts where flowering pots can sit and welcome your guests.
Staircases are great places to hang garden window boxes or add nicely spaced potted plants too. Use the staircase as an architectural feature and bring the outdoor garden into the entry way or up to the porch.
It can add a natural beauty to the entry way for very little cost other than a green thumb.
Safety
Outdoor railings do have to comply with building codes. You can’t just decide to create some stairs and railings for your deck without checking to see if they pass the local building codes. These building codes are put in place to keep small children from hurting themselves by getting trapped between the railings. There are also height requirements in some instances too. Even if you are good at carpentry, you want to make sure that your creations are safe and they will pass an inspection.
Stair Railings Maintenance
Outdoor wood railings have a tendency to need periodic maintenance. If they are painted, they can start to chip or blister, giving a potential buyer the impression that your home was not well maintained. The posts can also rot out from adverse weather conditions or break. If they weren’t made of pressure-treated wood, you can also have insect damage.
Make sure to inspect the railing of your outside stair cases at the beginning of spring and replace whatever railings are damaged. Fix any loose railings. Sand and repaint any wood that may be showing signs of wear.
For low maintenance rails, choose wrought iron railings over outdoor wood railings. They are much more expensive than wood, but they weather nicely. Some outdoor staircases also make use of stone or brick.
Remember to try to match the design of the stair case to your home’s overall look. You don’t want a massive masonry staircase on a modern-looking bungalow.
Lighting
No matter why you’ve chosen to add a new staircase, to update an old entry way or to give a guest room outside access, you will need to make sure your entry is well lighted. If you are using an outdoor spiral staircase, have a light that illuminates the entire length of the staircase to make it safer. An outdoor spiral staircase is harder to balance for people climbing stairs than a regular stair case and so caution must be taken to warn guests to use the banister at all times.
You can get a little playful with stairs that are straight and shallow that lead to your entry way. You can add some colored lights to illuminate not just the stairs but the plants as well. Many people make use of the railings during holidays to string lights along the stairs and brighten up the season.
Shapes And Sizes
You have a great range of choices available for an outdoor staircase. Don’t limit yourself to wood, if your house is begging for a brick staircase. As always, try to fit the design of the staircase to the home’s own decorating theme. You may find that a cottage does well with a cement staircase with iron wrought railing. Or you may want an outdoor spiral staircase for an entry into the second floor room of the garage to save space. What you use is totally up to you.
Don’t forget that paint is a great way to spruce up an old staircase. Make sure to use outdoor paint and be creative in your color choices. You can paint the stairs one color and choose a different color for the railings. You can even paint faux stonework on cement stair cases or marbleize them for a very European look.
Final Tips to Making Your Choice
Check out some home magazines and take a look at how other people have used their outdoor stairs to complement the design of their homes. Try to find homes that you’re your own home’s style. Get several options for remodeling your outdoor entry way.
Don’t forget that paint or flowers are an inexpensive way to spruce up old stair cases. Keep safety and maintenance in mind and have a set schedule for inspecting and repairing your outside stairs. If you have small children, make sure that the home inspector has checked the railings to see if they are up to code. Ask to have them replaced if that is a concern before you buy a home.
Giving your home more curb appeal is not as difficult as it sounds. If you have a beautiful or old staircase in the front, you have a great architectural feature that can be highlighted and renovated. A great entry way can make great impression with homebuyers. Well-maintained stairs also speak well of how the owners have cared for their home. An outside staircase to a separate guest bedroom can be a great selling feature.
It can be used for the occasional relative visit or rented out to make some extra money on the side. Just make sure that whatever outside staircases you choose, they are properly lighted and safe. It provides privacy and security and still allows you to use your home’s space to the maximum.
Get more information about indoor stairways and railings here...
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