Finally.. The Outside Has Begun..

I bought my house just shy of four years ago.  It was a foreclosure and needed some TLC.  It was in pretty good condition for a forclosure, mainly cosmetic touches but some actual "big" stuff was needed.  One of those things was painting the outside of the house.  It was gonna be a beast of a job and I knew I had to hire it out to get it done right.  That is the reason it took me four years to get it done.
First, let me just say that I am NOT super awesome and didn't take any full house view before pictures.  So, instead you will get some close up's of how bad it was.


This is the South side of the house next to the basement door.  AND since my house is special, see that white layer of paint?  That's oil based paint which shold not have been painted over with Latex which it was and so it did again.

This is the East side of the house, 95% of the lower exterior was in this shape, probably a random 30% on the rest of the house

Maybe this was the right thing to do, or maybe I just fell for it but I paid the extra money to have the cracks "recemented".  I don't remember the technical term.  Don't Judge!

Here is a preview after the first day of painting and the third or fourth day of work.  Just in case you can't tell, the left is the new color, the right the old color.  Also, I welcome St. Patty's day all year round except for during Halloween and Christmas.

Same view but more of the South side of the house.  Much better than the other close up above!

Back Yard view.  I Plan on painting the columns in front of the back door white for sure.  I am thinking white railings on the deck and maybe staining the floor and sides of the deck.

Street View.  Obviously the garage needs to get done next.

So, heres the questions of the day.  I am not going to replace the decks.  Unless someone wants to pay for it to get done, go to the township for approval, yadda, yadda, yadda.  Should the railings and posts on the front and back deck need to be white now?  Should I put the shutters back up?  Should I stain the floors and sides of the deck?  PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE leave me a comment and tell me what you think I should do!