Monday, October 25, 2010

Staging Diary: Highland Lake


There's a lovely Victorian house at Highland Lake in Flat Rock that will be listed next Spring, and this is the first in a series of posts about the work that is being done to get the house ready for market.

Sterling Property Services entered the picture when I was asked to do a staging consultation, and one of my first recommendations was to get a seller's home inspection to determine if there were any condition issues that needed to be addressed. Dale Hansen of Advantage Inspection did the inspection, and fortunately he found no serious problems. (His report will make an excellent marketing tool.)

However, Dale noted that some of the exterior trim does need to be repaired or replaced. I suggested that the whole exterior be repainted as the dark red siding has faded significantly, and the wrong things (like downspouts, banding boards and the lattic below the porch) have been painted in the white trim color, causing the exterior to look "choppy" instead of harmonious. In addition, the front door and porch colors aren't flattering to the red, so it's time for a new color plan. With repairs and fresh paint in dynamic colors, this Victorian lady is going to be fabulous.

Roger was chosen to do the repairs to the trim, and all the painting and other cosmetic work, inside and outside. So far he's pressure-washed the house and started caulking cracks in the siding and trim. Using a combination of epoxy wood patch and a wood consolidant, he's also begun repairing the trim, and so far he doesn't think it will be necessary to replace any boards. Exterior painting will proceed as the weather permits, and when it's rainy like today, he'll be working on interior projects. They're a whole other story, and the details follow.