You want someone to stop and stare for the right reasons.
Whether you’re preparing to sell your house or simply want to come home to something more you—or more functional—it’s time to explore exterior remodeling. When you come to Shack Built, you can improve your home’s durability and boost your curb appeal all in one!
So, how do you ensure that your home’s “face” attracts positive attention, reflects your aesthetic, aligns with your family’s needs, and is energy efficient for years to come? Our team is here to outline everything you need to know about home exterior design in Overland Park.
What is curb appeal?
If you’ve ever watched an HGTV show, you’ve heard the term “curb appeal” thrown around a lot. Curb appeal refers to how appealing a home—and the surrounding property—looks from the street. Beyond your paint choice and how well-kept your lawn is, this includes every feature that contributes to an outsider’s first impression.
Why Curbs Appeal Matters
The rule “don’t judge a book by its cover” doesn’t tend to apply when it comes to homes—hence why almost half of potential buyers are turned off if a house’s exterior isn’t up to their standards. After all, the exterior tends to match the interior, which is why curb appeal is responsible for almost 10% of your home’s overall value.
How to Boost Your Curb Appeal
So, where do you begin? First, you’ll need to find and sit down with a team you can trust. They’ll help you hammer out your visions—and your budget and timeline—based on your goals for your home exterior design in Overland Park.
→ How to Find Certified Contractors in Overland Park
Here’s a look at everything you should consider.
Paint & Siding
One of the most impactful—and easiest—ways to give your house a facelift is a fresh coat of paint. The right color can enhance your home’s architectural features and surroundings, so remember to think about the bigger picture.
Don’t overlook your siding, either.
Damaged or rotted siding is a sign that water—from rain, condensation, or melted snow—has gotten trapped behind your siding, which can soak into your wall insulation. Saturated insulation and wall components can trigger serious structural damage and mold growth.
That’s why we, at Shack Built, incorporate a “rain screen application process” into every siding project we do. This process consists of applying vertical furring strips between the exterior plywood and the siding, creating an air gap that allows rainwater, condensation, and snow to drain and dry out before it can reach your walls or siding.
A rain screen has many benefits…
- When sunshine warms your siding, the air gap between plywood and siding works like a puffy coat, creating a warm layer of air around your house.
- As the warm air rises in the air gap, it creates a convection effect. This pulls air in from the bottom and pushes it out the top, allowing all moisture to dry out.
- Since any water that gets behind the siding will dry out, your siding lasts longer, as does the paint. This means you’ll spend less money over time repainting your house.
- You won’t need to worry about using caulking to keep water out, so your house painting bill will be cheaper because your painter won’t need to spend as much time caulking all the seams.
- We also take this opportunity to ensure your exterior walls are properly insulated both inside and outside.
Swapping out damaged siding doesn’t just make your home look better, but also improves insulation to better protect it from the elements and boost your energy efficiency. However, this all depends on the materials you choose—from cement to wood—and how well your team installs them.
Interior wall insulation is common—you’ve probably seen the cotton candy-looking pink or yellow fiberglass insulation that goes inside the wall. Exterior wall insulation is not as well-known, but we make it a staple in every siding project we do.
While interior insulation fits between the 2x4s in your wall, the 2x4s themselves don’t have a great insulating value. That’s why your wall gets colder every 16 inches in the winter.
Any room with an exterior wall could be a few degrees colder because of this lack of insulation. To keep your wall warmer from the outside, we add an extra layer of exterior insulation over your plywood before installing furring strips.
Now, you’ve got a nice warm insulation blanket wrapped around your house, with a rain screen siding application that makes your house warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. It’s more comfortable and quiet, you’ll never have rotted siding again, and exterior paint costs less and lasts longer. Plus, you’ve just upgraded the exterior of your home and added a ton of curb appeal—win-win!
Doors & Hardware
We recognize that committing to a fun color for your entire home can be intimidating, so if you’re not ready for that kind of commitment, stick to your door! Experimenting with a bold-colored door creates a visual focal point—enhancing your overall curb appeal.
You can also consider solid wood doors for a more traditional aesthetic or sleek French doors for a modern look—just to name a few. Plus, now’s a good chance to upgrade your hardware, like the locks, handles, and hinges, to reflect your new-and-improved door and boost its overall functionality.
Outdoor Lighting
After investing in home exterior design in Overland Park, why wouldn’t you want to shine a light on your hard work? Outdoor lighting doesn’t just make getting around at night easier for your family, but also shows off your home in a way you can’t achieve during the day.
Have fun with light fixtures, tones, and placements! For example, you can illuminate a pathway to your patio with warm tones for an inviting atmosphere—or opt for white LEDs to show off your landscaping (and lower your energy bills).
Entryway
Image provided by Anna Zabriskie, Owner & Founder of Rōan Interiors.
We’ve covered the front door, but your entryway—inside and out—is more than that. Beyond swapping out your rug or adding a nice new coat rack, you can rethink the entire layout however you see fit, whether that means a mudroom or moving the front door.
Remember, you’re creating an experience for everyone who walks into your home, so don’t overlook the entrance point when investing in home exterior design in Overland Park.
→ How to Nail Your Entryway Design in Overland Park
Front Porch
Whether you’re the go-to host for your friends or want a comfortable spot to catch up with your spouse while keeping an eye on your kids—or both—a front porch is a stunning addition. As we’ve mentioned, making the entry point of your home inviting is key, and nothing is more inviting than comfortable seating right outside the door!
Plus, this space gives you the chance to infuse more of your home’s interior style into the details of your home exterior design in Overland Park, from hanging plants to artwork and decorative throws.
→ Weighing Your Design Options for a Deck Renovation in Overland Park
How Shack Built Does Exterior Remodels Differently
Shack Built takes pride in doing things differently because we do them better. You deserve to work with a team that’s honest, respectful, and has truly mastered their craft—nothing less.
Our Consultation Process
Whether it be for a kitchen remodel, a room addition, or home exterior design in Overland Park (just to name a few), your journey always starts with a consultation. Here, we’ll take the time to get to know you and your family’s goals, needs, and vision, so we can provide a general budget range and start hammering out the details.
→ Learn More About How to Prepare for a Deck Remodel in Overland Park
As part of our commitment to transparency, detailed estimates are only provided after the design and pre-construction phase.
Design-Build Services
Uniquely, we offer design-build services, which means that our designers and contractors work under the same roof. This eliminates the stress of having to be the middleman between an outside designer and contractor, simplifying the process—which means staying on track, on budget, and on par with your vision.
Masters in Building Science
Trust us, you don’t want to attempt to do it yourself (DIY) or bargain shop when it comes to altering your home exterior design. In Overland Park, there are a lot of contractors out there, but it’s crucial that they understand building science.
Building science refers to how well your home operates as a whole. Every piece is a part of the machine, so one small and seemingly unrelated change can have big effects—good or bad.
Exterior renovations have the potential to greatly boost your energy efficiency by improving insulation, adding rain screens, and much more. However, if done improperly, a remodel can worsen your home’s efficiency (and raise your energy bills).
Our Promise to You
We’re committed to your long-term satisfaction, so much so that we offer every client a 1-year warranty that starts after our final walkthrough. We’ll even reach out twice before it expires to check if there’s anything we can improve—for free.
Don’t just take our word for how devoted we are to providing exceptional service; our impressive collection of 5-star reviews speaks for itself! Here’s what some of our recent clients have said about working with us.
Andrew S.
“I engaged Derick to replace our aging deck with a new version of the same footprint. Being new to working with contractors and major house projects, I had several meetings with Derick to discuss all the details of the project and plan out the specifics. My goal was to avoid costly changes/issues later in the project.
As all good plans go, there were issues that came up. Derick responded quickly and professionally to ALL of my concerns as they came up. His attitude was one of ‘let’s work this out’ rather than ‘that will be an expensive change, do you really want it.’ Derick’s calm demeanor helped reduce the stress for us and kept his team moving in the right direction.
All of my punch list items were taken care of and the deck looks beautiful. After a year of living with the deck, it still meets my expectations. Derick has even followed up a couple of times to make sure things were good and no touch-ups were required. Overall, a great experience with Derick and his team.”
John B.
“Our first project w/ Shack Built was a deck remodel. We met with Derick and he listened to our ideas and our price range and shared some ideas of his own and together with his team put together a great outdoor living space for our family.
Now two years later we reached out to him again on a bathroom remodel and a few other updates. Looking forward to working with the guys at Shack Built again. The people who work at Shack Built are top-notch, trustworthy, responsive, and do terrific work.”
Aubrey U.
“The Shack Built team was incredible! Our expectations were continually managed throughout the process and everything was done in a timely manner. Our designer, Cara, was by and far amazing! She listened and really got to know our style and we couldn’t be happier with her design and the execution.
All who worked on the project were kind, professional, and very personable. We were able to go about our daily routines without feeling major imposition (there’s always some unavoidable imposition, of course). Marty was a hoot and one of the best project managers we’ve ever encountered.
The whole project was beyond our expectations, from start to finish. We would recommend Shack Built to anyone considering a home improvement project.”
Marcus Z.
“We had a major remodel done on our house that included a small addition, full kitchen remodel and expansion, half bath as well as a patio and sun porch, and Derick and his team did an amazing job. The job was fairly complex and presented some unique challenges, including material shortages, weather, as well as the normal difficulties of tying an addition into an older house; Marty, James, and Cara, as well as the subs, rolled with the punches and delivered a series of spaces that we not only love but look like they had always been there.
Like any major remodel, some problems cropped up along the way—they were dealt with quickly with lots of communication and always to our satisfaction. I am in the trades and know many contractors in the metro either by reputation or I have personally worked with them. When it came time to select a contractor to work on our own home, Shack Built was our only choice… period.”
Let’s Get Started
Ready to revamp your home exterior design in Overland Park? You’ve come to the right place!
Shack Built didn’t become one of the most well-known renovation companies overnight—it took years of hard work. Our team isn’t just dedicated to building beautiful homes, but also to building lasting relationships with our clients.
