How to Repair Home Exterior

Are you thinking of repairing your home's exterior yourself and need some guidance getting started? We at Hometalk are here to help you out with step-by-step DIY video tutorials, discussion boards, and our top, best, and new home exterior projects. You can even ask us a question. Welcome to the world of do-it-yourself repairs, and good luck!

How to Remove Lichen From Roof Tiles and Outdoor Surfaces

Maintaining Your Home Exterior

Check the roof from a distance: Broken tiles falling off not only means your roof needs work, but it is unsafe. Use binoculars or a safe vantage point to spot the problem.
Inspect gutters on a rainy day: Check your gutters during rainfall, which will make any leaks or blockages easier to identify. Clear these blockages once the rain stops.
Don’t neglect the window putty: Sunlight can wear down window putty and cause leaks. If there is only small damage to putty, use all-purpose filler on any cracks.
Apply new render to exterior walls: Cracked render looks ugly but is easily solved when in small areas. Remove loose render, allow the wall to dry and then apply new render.
Repair any broken brickwork: Bricks can erode over time and need repairing. Take time to scout suppliers for bricks that closely match yours, but avoid second-hand bricks.

More repairing categories

Top Home Exterior Repair Projects

Check out our top DIY home exterior repair projects. We've got you covered.

Fixing a Walkway With Sinking Stones

Our landscape was a huge selling feature for us when we moved in—green grass, nice landscaping, minimal maintenance—we loved it all. Then somewhere along the line, we started noticing changes. Our once sturdy walkway slowly began shifting away.Although we have attempted numerous times to adjust these sinking stones, it never really stayed in place. After a season change, we were right back at square one. Those same stones became a tippy, tilted mess.

Sabrina

How to Remove Lichen From Roof Tiles and Outdoor Surfaces

There’s nothing to like about lichen. Especially when it invades on your home’s outdoor surfaces. This ugly growth spreads across roofs, walls and sidewalks with strands or “fingers” holding on with a powerful grip. Here’s the lowdown on lichen and how to kick it to the curb with Wet & Forget Outdoor.

Wet & Forget

Fix up Your Deck for Summer!

Has your deck seen better days? Before you get out the crowbar and start a full renovation, check out this tip! Those popped nails and uneven boards are soon to be a thing of the past.

Vineta @ The Handyman's Daughter

This is How We Put J Molding Around Our Metal Skirting.

First start in any corner

Les and Gina

Fix That Broken Landscape Light Stake!

I put in landscape lighting a few years back. Converted the bulbs to LED and put in a Dusk to Dawn sensor. It worked great... until....We watched the neighbors dog... much much bigger than our little dog... and it proceeded to break the lights of their respective stakes simply by trotting past them during a game of fetch.I am now faced with fixing dozens of stakes.

David McIntosh

Fixing a Broken Top Rail on a Chain Link Fence

Chain link fences are not my favorite style of fence but I dislike a broken chain link fence even more. We can only speculate on how this top rail of the chain link fence became broken and how the post ended up bent. We think that when the ground froze during the winter, the post was pushed upward but because the top rail is attached to the post, the post bent and then finally the insert connector broke.

Jan Marie

Cement Step Repair: Get Your Curb Appeal Back in One Day!

After a long cold winter we had to repair our cement steps. I'm guessing you might have to do this, too. So I decided to share how we fixed our steps in one and got our curb appeal back for the spring season!! You can totally DIY this same project and save some money for spring flowers. For a complete step-by-step video you can also visit my blog post over on Home Repair Tutor. Let me know if you've got any questions because I'd be happy to help :) Cheers, Jeff

Home Repair Tutor

How to Restore Your Neglected Deck

If you love this project, grab your quick start DIY guide & subscribe to our blog!If you need to restore a deck, this detailed tutorial will really help you out! We’re going to show you exactly how we restored a deck that had been neglected for way too long. We also cover FAQs about deck treatment like ‘what is the best deck sealer?’ and ‘what is the best way to clean decking?'.The deck was so neglected that it was back to bare wood. But it was definitely uneven and needed a good sanding.

Chelsea @ Making Manzanita

How To Make A Weed-Free Brick Driveway (That Stays That Way!)

Do you have an interlocking paver driveway? Then you understand my frustration. Do you have a brick patio? Then you can feel my pain. Weeds. The little buggers are pervasive and persistent.

FrugalFamilyTimes.com

Gorgeous DIY Stamped Concrete Tile Driveway For Less $, Much Less!

It's a good thing that I enjoy working on home improvement stuff, because the updates at Mom and Pop's place never seems to end. Recently, I took on giving their driveway a makeover using this innovative new stamped concrete technique. The system is brand new on the market and can be done by a total novice. The basic gist of the system is that instead of pouring concrete on the driveway or patio or walkway, you're laying 1/4" concrete tiles. If you've ever laid tiles, you know how easy it is. And if you haven't laid tiles, then I'm telling you how easy it is. You mix up your mortar, smear on the back of your tile, set in place, and repeat. But the best part of this system isn't how easy it is, it's how cost efficient it is. Traditionally poured stamped concrete will run ya about $10/square foot. This tile system will only run you about $3/square foot. That's a huge savings! FULL TUTORIAL HERE: http://diyfunideas.com/diy-stamped-concrete-tile-tutorial/ Here's the before picture of the driveway...

DIY Fun Ideas

Fixing a Walkway With Sinking Stones

Sabrina

How to Remove Lichen From Roof Tiles and Outdoor Surfaces

Wet & Forget

Fix up Your Deck for Summer!

Has your deck seen better days? Before you get out the crowbar and start a full renovation, check out this tip! Those popped nails and uneven boards are soon to be a thing of the past.

Vineta @ The Handyman's Daughter

This is How We Put J Molding Around Our Metal Skirting.

First start in any corner

Les and Gina

Fix That Broken Landscape Light Stake!

David McIntosh

Fixing a Broken Top Rail on a Chain Link Fence

Jan Marie

Cement Step Repair: Get Your Curb Appeal Back in One Day!

Home Repair Tutor

How to Restore Your Neglected Deck

Chelsea @ Making Manzanita

How To Make A Weed-Free Brick Driveway (That Stays That Way!)

Do you have an interlocking paver driveway? Then you understand my frustration. Do you have a brick patio? Then you can feel my pain. Weeds. The little buggers are pervasive and persistent.

FrugalFamilyTimes.com

Gorgeous DIY Stamped Concrete Tile Driveway For Less $, Much Less!

DIY Fun Ideas

Home Exterior Repair Videos

Looking for DIY videos to start your home exterior repairs? Here you go.

Learn How to Repair Cracked Concrete - HWDIY

On this episode, Kim demonstrates how to repair cracked rotting concrete, to help fix damp and dusky basements. If your basement is feeling a little bit damp, you may need to get some water proofing done. A damp basement can lead to all sorts of costly problems. Luckily, parging is a cost effective task that can save you, and your sinking basement, from going under.

The Handy Woman DIY

Roofing & Siding Repair, Bound Brook NJ Roofers 08805

We offer roofing, siding, skylight, repair and replacement service in Bound Brook NJ 08805. Get a free no obligation quote today Calling @ (973)415-1989

GCW General Contractor Roofing & Remodeling

Lifting a Settling Driveway Concrete Slab in West Omaha

The T. family residence was built in 1985 with the original 18-foot wide driveway slab still in place. Over time, the area of the driveway nearest the garage had settled 5 inches down and towards the garage. This slab settlement created trip hazards when walking in and out of the garage, and made it awkward when the homeowner entered or exited the garage with her vehicle. In addition, the slope of the driveway slab was directing water toward the home rather than away from it, promoting further slab settlement and potentially future basement water problems and foundation damage. Thrasher Basement Systems proposed a polyurethane injection system, PolyLEVEL, to provide an economical, quick and effective solution for lifting the homeowner’s driveway slab. PolyLEVEL is a two-part urethane that when combined expands into a rigid foam used to fill voids, stabilize slabs and lift concrete. Once injected through small, penny-sized drilled “ports” in a slab, a chemical process converts the urethane product into a strong, rapidly-setting foam material.

ThrasherBasementSystems

Install the Zip Hinge 60 Seconds!!!!

It is as easy as 1, 2, 3! No skills required! Get your Zip Hinge today at Amazon! Free 2 Day Shipping For Prime Customers. Follow the link below products projects care ing

The Gutter Ninja

Hometalkers' Favorite Home Exterior Repair DIY Projects

Visit our best DIY home exterior repair projects. Let us inspire you!

Chicken Claws and Kitty Paws

The hazards of pouring concrete with animals running about! See the whole story at The Rehomesteaders' Blog: http://therehomesteaders.blogspot.com/2012/06/chicken-claws-and-kitty-paws.html

Rachael

Cedar Lake Sidewalk Restoration

The Client had an existing flagstone sidewalk that had mortar in the joints between the flagstone pieces. It was cracking and chipping away. Not only was it not holding up well, it didn't look good either, the flagstone is dark and the mortar is more white. We removed the mortar and installed a product called Gator Dust. It is meant for larger joints. We used a grey color to complement the flagstone pieces.

South County Landscaping

7 Tips for Your Next Outdoor Caulk Project

Tackling home maintenance is necessary, although not very glamorous undertaking. Often there is nothing to "see" once you are finished so it's not quite as satisfying as painting a piece of furniture or creating some kind of really cool upcycle decor piece. But taking care of small problems around your home means you are preventing larger, perhaps more costly problems in the future. Steph and I recently did walkabouts of our homes to check for some of those cracks and leaks. We actually found quite a few. I was dismayed to find that when my house was remodeled six years ago, the outside of the garage was NEVER caulked! Here's a few tips we learned along the way!

Mother Daughter Projects

Driveway & Sidewalk Deicer

I have been wanting to make a deicer for my sidewalk and driveway and put it to the test. I did some research, came up with a recipe I wanted to try, and put it to the test. Here are the ingredients and results... You can see more of my crazy creations here

Chas' Crazy Creations

Installing Drip Edge

I'm really trying to wrap up the work on the front of the house. All that's left is replacing the drip edge that was removed when our predecessors built the dreaded tunnel of doom. I'd also torn off a good amount when I replaced the rotted facia boards. Drip edge is a sheet metal flashing strip that slides under the roofing and over the top edge of the facia. It has a slight kick at the tip that kicks water off, away from the wood to keep water from ruining it. Check out the full story on my blog. It has the full dose of humor and rain.

John @ AZ DIY Guy

5 Key Tips to Avoid a Water Damage Disaster in Your Home

It’s every homeowner’s nightmare. Ryan S. was relaxing in his favorite chair one evening with a bag of chips and his favorite TV show, waiting to put a load of laundry in the dryer. He suddenly heard water splashing and ran into the bathroom to find filthy water flowing out of the bathtub drain and pouring out of the toilet, rushing towards the lovingly-refinished hardwood floor in the hallway. A clog in a drain pipe buried in Ryan’s yard had caused a disgusting and costly backup into his beloved home when his washing machine started to drain. Before he knew it, Ryan had huge repair costs on his hands. Don’t let this happen to you! Read on to learn about preventing budget-busting water damage and protecting your home.

Wet & Forget

Chicken Claws and Kitty Paws

The hazards of pouring concrete with animals running about! See the whole story at The Rehomesteaders' Blog: http://therehomesteaders.blogspot.com/2012/06/chicken-claws-and-kitty-paws.html

Rachael

Cedar Lake Sidewalk Restoration

South County Landscaping

7 Tips for Your Next Outdoor Caulk Project

Mother Daughter Projects

Driveway & Sidewalk Deicer

Chas' Crazy Creations

Installing Drip Edge

John @ AZ DIY Guy

5 Key Tips to Avoid a Water Damage Disaster in Your Home

Wet & Forget

Popular Repairing Home Exterior Discussions

Join our popular discussion board on how to repair your home exterior yourself.

How to fix cracks in the concrete by the steps (pic)?

/> Bea

There’s a separation crack that I need fixed

How to fix cracks in the concrete by the steps (pic)?

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Filling nail holes on outside vinyl?

/> Den33852182

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How do I seal my basement?

/> Barbara Jewell-Hallblade

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Concrete sidewalk is peeling; how can I fix it?

/> Chris

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New Home Exterior Repair Projects

Looking for new ideas in the world of DIY home exterior repair? Look no more.

How to Replace Wood Expansion Joints in Sidewalk

If you have sidewalks or driveways of a certain age you have these--wood expansion joints! These are important as they allow the concrete to expand and contract without cracking. Unfortunately, time and the elements take their toll on them. Eventually they rot and break and should be replaced.

Mother Daughter Projects

Putting Your Home Back Together After an Accident

Three weeks after we moved into our new "forever" home, downsizing by half to 1700 square feet, we got a frantic phone call from our oldest daughter that there had been an accident at our new house. She was at work at the restaurant "The Slurp Shop" she and her husband own. One of the neighbors had tracked her down (our daughter lives across the street) by phone to try and reach us. We were attending a parade about 40 miles away, watching our granddaughter march with her soccer team. The only information we had, was that a car had hit our house, after losing control in the parking lot next door. Since the weather was mild, the parking lot is a church parking lot, and the police didn't think there wasn't any serious damage, we waited to see our granddaughter march past before hurrying home. It was dark when we pulled into our street, but, the street was full of emergency vehicles! Much to our relief, they were there because of a gas line leak at the house across the street, next to my daughter's house, and the area was being deemed safe and clear. We were allowed to walk to our house from where the street was blocked, while everyone finished their jobs. We walked along the side of the house that had been hit, and could see a large dent in one window frame, a couple of loose pieces of siding, and the demolished section of fence she had gone through. The driver was backing into the spot in an SUV, hit the gas instead of the brake, ran over the concrete parking curb, went through the chain link fence, over our sidewalk and hit the side of the house, according to the police report.

Cynthia H

Rotten Fence Post Cap? Cheap and Easy Repair!

Are you looking at your rotten deck or fence post cap and dreading the time and expense it takes to repair it? Luckily, I found a no-paint 5 minute fix that you can install yourself!

Porch Daydreamer

Rain Gutters Out of 3″ PVC Pipe, DIY How To!

This is a post on how I created gutters for my house using PVC pipe! So, quite awhile ago, I stumbled on to the coolest thing online: Rain gutters made out of 3" PVC pipe. Since then I cannot find it online ANYWHERE! The only thing I can find online about it is forums of people like me who want to try it and other people telling them to just hire a crew to put up seamless gutters because apparently: we're all rich. Not that I wouldn't love to be able to afford seamless gutters! Grandma's House DIY Its been a hell of a ride since I started this blog and renovated and moved into Grandma's house back in 2015. I got married, divorced, lost my doggo soul mate, spent two years as a single gal, remodeled everything, threw my back out countless times and found a man who wanted to get on board with me! Come check out what we're up to these days by clicking the link!

GrandmasHouseDIY

Keep Concrete Crack Resistant

There's nothing worse than a cracked, heaved, or sunken concrete pad. Chances are you've experienced one of these 3 things if you're a homeowner (i'm in this club myself, and unfortunately it doesn't involve a cool jacket). Fortunately you can avoid issues of this nature by making your concrete's expansion joints watertight. With spring coming there's no better time to do this project and it's certainly a weekend DIY task. Here's a short description +Remove old sealant or felt from between expansion joints +Use an angle grinder to detach stubborn sealant or felt +Wear goggles and gloves to protect your self from the sparks or debris from the grinder +Vacuum or blow out any dust, dirt, or debris from the joint +Add closed cell foam backer rod between expansion joints +Ensure the backer rod is 1/8 inch wider in diameter than the joint +Place the backer rod 1/4 beneath the surface of the concrete pad +Apply self-leveling sealant onto of the backer rod (I used Sikaflex SL) +Don't walk or drive on the sealant for 3-5 days You can buy the self-leveling sealant at Home Depot or your local hardware store. For more tips, pictures, and two short videos check out my post at http://www.homerepairtutor.com/concrete-expansion-joints/

Home Repair Tutor

How to Clean Moldy Gutters and Bricks

One of my fall maintenance chores that must get done is cleaning off the lovely mold that accumulates throughout the summer on our bricks and gutters. It's not the look we are going for at our house so once a year I scrub it off. This year I decided to work smarter and not harder and save my arms and shoulders days of being sore.