Potential buyers make judgments about their next home at the walkway. Why not roll out the red carpet upon their first visit? Your home’s walkway sets the tone for what’s to come. Give every buyer an invitation to purchase your home by designing a pathway that welcomes, eases and excites them to fall in love with all your home has to offer.
Creating paved pathways add an extra touch of panache to your curb appeal, but takes planning and research. Considering the function, established landscape, and safety factors will help solidify your vision. Will this walkway serve multiple transportation routes? Are there young trees that need more room to grow? Will children or elderly frequently walk this path? Once these and similar questions are answered, begin researching the best materials for your walkway. You should also research which types of materials best match your needs. There are many options, such as concrete – stamped, engraved, or stained; wood including wood chips, planks, low boardwalks, and rollouts; mulch; stones, such as flagstone, polished rocks, and paving stones; and repurposed materials, such as broken ceramic, tile, brick, glass, and breeze. Generally, you’ll look at materials used both on top of the surface and beneath. Optimize materials that allow for water run-off to prevent poor drainage that could lead to pooling. Sloping your walkway is a good idea as well as using sand or crushed rock.
After you excavate, allow your creativity to shine. Lightly lay your chosen material on the path to see how the design plays out. If you’re using pavers, flagstone or some other stone, once you’ve settled on a good design, add a top layer of sand to keep the stones in place. Your local home-improvement store employs handfuls of trustworthy, competent people to help you out in this process.
If you have an existing cement sidewalk, consider spicing it up. You could line it with potted plants or flowers, midsized rocks, plastic edging, or garden lights. Remember, this is your welcome matt for the new buyers of your home. Think about how you might like to be greeted, and then have some with dressing us your walkway.
Phil Tatro
Four Seasons Property Inspections
P.O. Box 27345
Denver, CO 80227
(303) 838-5175
phil@fspiinc.com
http://www.fourseasonspropertyinspectionsinc.com/about.html
