Most Cost Effective House Exterior(Helpful Guide to Save You Money)

Discover how you can remodel your house exterior at the lowest price for the best results, with resources, various materials, and price points!

2 story navy blue wood siding home with white trim and gray stone accents, white 3 single garages, steep roof lines, green grass, long and wide driveway, tall green trees all along backside of home

Everyone wants to have the house that you love to drive by and see, but not everyone has the extra funds often required to fund such an alluring exterior. Here at Love Home Designs, it’s our goal to help our readers discover the best and most cost effective ways to improve any and all aspects of their home – including the exterior design.

Your ability to achieve a cost effective house exterior depends greatly on the area in which you live and your access to materials. However, some of the cheapest siding material to consider is vinyl siding, or you can consider painting instead.

That being said, a lot more goes into exterior renovations that has nothing to do with what covers the walls of your home. Without further adieu, let’s get into the most cost effective house exterior and how you can pull it off with your own home.

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What is the Cheapest Exterior for a House?

Green grass and large green bushes, tall trees on either side of lawn, dark gray home with white trim and a red door, cloudy sky

We all deserve to be able to take pride in our home but unfortunately that isn’t always in the cards – or rather, in our budget. Love Home Design aims to make your dreams as affordable as possible while helping you find the tools you need to achieve them.

Below, you will find the five best and most cost effective ways to transform the old exterior of your home into the pride-worthy appearance you’ve been longing for. Not only that, but estimated prices and tools are listed with the hope of helping you plan the correct budget for your personal needs! Let’s make it happen together!

Washing

Sometimes all it costs to freshen up the walls of your home is a bucket of water and a scrub brush. Or, more realistically, a pressure washer. There are countless things, both natural or otherwise, that build up over time on exterior surfaces such as dirt, mud, dust, mold, paint, grease, and more. Rather than simply cover or paint over these things, the best course of action may just be to wash it all off.
The best tool for the job is, without a doubt, a pressure washer. Not only are these machines amazing multi-taskers, they come in many shapes and sizes – and prices.

Siding

Oftentimes, siding can end up taking less out of your wallet than paint might. It seems a bit unbelievable, but I promise: it’s true! The estimated average price for new siding per square foot is around $12.

This will depend highly on the area in which you live, so if you’re interested in a more accurate number for your budget planning, Home Advisor makes it easy for you! All you need to do to start browsing is enter your zip code – then you can get to work!

The amazing thing about siding is that there are so many different types of siding materials. If you’re looking for something affordable but sturdy, metal siding, aluminum siding, steel siding, and even fiber cement siding are wonderful options. If you’re wanting something that is a bit more visually pleasing – something to ramp up curb appeal – consider options like stone veneer siding and brick veneer siding certainly meet the bar!

Beautiful gray 2 story home with white trim and a gray roof, green grass and perfectly places plants in planters, tall green trees around neighborhood, blue sky, sunny day

Now, you’ll probably pay a little more for the brick siding materials or stone siding materials because they have that extra bit of elegance and appeal, but it’s a surefire way to not only improve the look of your home’s exterior, but the overall price as well. Not to mention there are options like the combinations that you see here that cost less than a full covering!

Additional options are as follows:

Natural wood siding: $3 to $9 per square foot installed.
Stucco siding: $8 to $12 per square foot installed.
Natural stone siding: $30 to $40 per square foot installed.
Engineered wood siding: $4 to $9 per square foot installed.
Vinyl siding: $3 to $11 per square foot installed.
Horizontal lap siding: $3 to $10 per square foot installed.
Cedar siding: $4 to $11 per square foot installed.

Painting

If installing new siding isn’t feasible or doesn’t meet your standards, you might consider a fresh coat of paint to liven up your home’s exterior. Lucky for you, it only costs about an average of $4 to $5 per square foot to get this done! Be advised that those numbers will change depending on the materials you use, and the optional labor costs if you intend on hiring professionals to do the job for you.

Don’t want to wedge any labor costs into your budget? No problem! Turning your exterior renovation into a DIY project is definitely an option – even when you’re wanting to paint the walls! First and foremost, you’ll want to make sure you have the right tools for the job. But don’t go out and buy a bunch of paint rollers and brushes. While they would technically work, they aren’t the easiest nor the most efficient way to go.

Paint sprayers, also known as paint guns, are the undefeated choice for big painting projects like repainting your home’s exterior. Whether you’re painting over the last color, old siding, or even stucco, paint sprayers are going to get the new paint into every crevice and dip with much more ease than any paintbrush ever would.

You’ll likely be able to find paint sprayers at your local hardware store or superstore, such as Menards, Home Depot, or Walmart. There are also options of ordering from online websites, so be sure to compare prices on eBay, Amazon, and other websites before deciding.

When it comes to your choice of color schemes, here are some combinations that are hot on the real estate market

First and foremost, using white and cream in any color scheme is going to bring the value of your house up with the least amount of effort. The National Association of Realtors confirms that this is true in an article on their website, “The Best Paint Colors for Selling in 2022.”

The great thing about whites, off-whites, and cream colors is that they can be paired with pretty much any other colors for a satisfying combination.

Classic White and Gray

Farmhouse style home, white with black window trim and black front door, 2 gray rocking chairs on porch, green grass and plants in flowerbeds, blue sky with white clouds, sunny day

White and Gray with Stone Veneer Siding Accents

Cream Exterior Wall, White Trim and Gray Roof

Blue sky above a beige home with white trim and black roof, lots of windows, red brick paver walkway, green grass, sunny day

Cream and Beige with Green Trim

Tan 2 story home with white and green trim and a green front door, green grass and blue sky

Landscaping

Blue sky with white fluffy clounds above a light tan wood sidning home with darker brown trim, gray/brown stone as accents on lower part of home, green grass and nicely landscaped trees and bushes all throughout large front yard, sunny day

A tidy, kempt yard plays a big role in the curb appeal of your property – and that includes your house. If you’re looking to sell or are simply unhappy with the appearance of your yard, landscaping isn’t as daunting to implement as it might seem. There are a few basic things to consider when it comes to landscaping your yard, all of which you can do yourself.

Leveling

Uneven and bumpy yards aren’t very appealing, especially if you don’t have a lot of yard space to begin with. Luckily, the fix is easy. Either rake the dirt and grass until level (not recommended) or buy soil to fill in the holes. The best times of year to do this is in Autumn before the snowy season, or in early spring. You can sprinkle grass seed over the new dirt, but the grass in your yard will eventually grow over it!

Trimming

Mowing the yard, trimming your bushes, maintaining your gardens, and pruning trees may seem insignificant, but these small acts will set your house exterior apart from the rest. Keeping your bushes trimmed and gardens and flowerbeds maintained and tidy will draw admiring eyes in your direction.

Planting

Planting flowers, bushes, and trees to eventually be maintained is also a great idea. Flowers give the impression of welcoming and a homey atmosphere. Sapling bushes and trees prompt potential homebuyers to think of the future whether or not they realize it.

If you are interested in hired hands, Angi.com has prepared a list of the Best Reviewed Landscapers Near You! This is a great way to get pricing estimates and explore the possibilities and potential of your yard. All you need to do is enter your zip code and start browsing.

For other landscaping ideas, take a look at our landscaping articles, 20 Low Maintenance Front Yard Landscaping Ideas, 24 Front Yard Landscaping Ideas with Rocks, or even 27 Sloped Backyard Ideas (Landscaping on a Budget)!

Decoration

Close up of a blue gray home with large white pillars, a turquoise front door with a colorful flower wreath hanging on it, red brick pavers front walkway and front steps, small lanterns and potted plants on either side of door

Be warned: there is such a thing as over-decorating. However, when done right, decoration gives your home that extra push it needs to catch the attention of possible buyers. Decorating the exterior of your home shows them that a simple house can truly be made into a home, into a place where they can thrive and grow.

I know it seems untrue, but it is a shared tactic among home sellers and real estate agents. That’s why you’ll see home interiors that have been staged before showings! And if decorating and staging the inside works, decorating the outside could be the thing that draws them in!

So, how can you decorate the exterior of your home? Here are a few ideas to get you started: