There are in excess of 12,000 annual online searches for cheap home improvement projects but I think most people mean inexpensive.

Here are a few projects that are inexpensive, durable and will dress up your landscape in style. Especially in the challenging real estate market projects like these will give you a value added edge.

The one up top is a concrete bench with legs made from fence posts. The mold was made from melamine board with a Portland mix from the local Redi mix plant. I mixed in some gray colorant and polished the slab with a wet polisher with diamond pads.

There are mixes on the market which are more user friendly than the typical Portland. Sure Crete Designs and enCounter both have unique mixes that can be popped out of the mold in 4 hours and polished in 8 hours.

Prietech, a mold manufacturer, has unique molds that will enable you to pop the concrete out of the mold and avoid the polishing step. Use of the correct projects make it possible to make simple projects for outdoor use that can be poured in the morning and complete in the afternoon.

These are inexpensive but not cheap home improvement projects that will endure. I made about 10 of the benches and sold 8 of them for about $350.00 each. Other than time each bench cost about $50.00 to build. People love them. They get better with age and the legs weather nicely.

The birdbaths were a bit more effort. The molds required a bit more skill and a lot more concrete. I didn’t bother polishing them and left them natural with voids exposed. They cost about $200.00 each to make and sold 6 of them for about $1,200.00 per birdbath.

After 1 year of being exposed to the elements they look better than new. Everyone who bought one really likes them. Apparently the birds do to. Definitely inexpensive but not cheap home improvement projects.

If you own or are looking to purchase a retail center and want to add value here’s an inexpensive solution with an application of one of Stardek’s concrete coatings. The system here is a decorative concrete spray system which can be viewed by video by visting www.metrocrete.tv .

Curb appeal with any property is critical. Think about walking into a grocery store, walking down an aisle and grabbing a jar of lets say … peanut butter. Nine times out of 10 a shopper will grab the one with the nice label. An inferior quality product with an attractive eye catching label will outsell a superior quality product with an unattractive label.

The same theory holds true for real estate.Think in terms of a retail center with 10 stores. I don’t know if there is such thing as $20.00 per square foot retail anymore but lets use it for a quick analysis.

Assuming that rents are net of expenses and taxes and the center is 10,000 square feet, a 1 dollar increase in net rent will go from $200,000 to $210,000. It doesn’t seem like much at first but $200,000.00 net income captitalized at 7% equals $2,857,000.00. $210,000 of net income capitalized at 7% equals $3,000,000. Thats a $143,000.00 increase in value.

If the area to be resurfaced is 200 feet long and 8 feet deep thats a total of 1,600 square feet. If you hire a pro at $7.00 per square foot, thats a total cost of $11,200.00. The improved curb appeal should result in at least a $1.00 psf incease in value or net $130,000.00 increase in value.

I use retail as an example because I see it everywhere. There are 10,s of thousands of small retail centers with unattractive value draining concrete everywhere.

Take a look at these photos of a retail center sidewalk resurfaced by a Stardek installer. You may be wondering if there are other options. You will find there are no economically viable solutions. If you notice there is a handicap ramp leading from the street sidewalk. That creates code issues so you only have the option of thin concrete coatings. The same holds true for stairs. Anything thicker than a 1/2 inch will violate code. That eliminates stone or tile. Entrance into the retail stores will have height issues at the doorways. Concrete overlays are the solution…period!

If you are looking for an expert to resurface your concrete contact Stardek. They have over 4,000 trained applicators nationwide.

Their resume runs deep -Universal Studios, Holiday Inn, Starbucks, McDonalds, Lowes, Cypress Gardens, Best Western, Firestone, Harley Davidson …the list goes on.

This first photo is before an investment in Stardek Decorative Concrete Coatings.

The project is partway there.

Here’s the finished product with money in your pocket.

Let me know what you think about this blog post. Is this info valuable to you? What kind of information would you like to find here?

The owners had been agonizing over a solution for resurfacing the existing concrete which was an eyesore.

Problem:

1. Height – they only had 1/4 inch to work with. Any products like stone or tile added an inch, a code vilolation. They considered jack hammering the slab out, removing completely and putting in a new walkway and porch. About $15,000.00.

2. Existing Concrete – The walkway that you see is the entrance area to the house. The concrete had a 4 inch overhang and then foundation. Both needed to be resurfaced.

3. Price – since the owners were getting ready for a sale price was a significant factor.

Solution: Concrete resurfacing and precast concrete on concrete facade

1. Application of concrete overlay creating a random bluestone pattern.

2. Resurface concrete foundation with precast concrete stone.

The owners used 2 coats of a concrete overlay. They mixed a light gray first coat. Then layed out the bluestone pattern using 1/2 inch wide strapping tape. Strapping tape will not wrip or tear. There is an existing bluestone walkway leading from the driveway which they wanted to match.

The second coat was a darker gray pewter with a slight blue pigment added. They applied the second coat and resurfaced the 4 inch vertical face as well. They let dry for about 4 hours and pulled up the tape. The light gray first coat was now visible as a mortar line. The next day they sealed it.

During the first day while waiting for the first coat to dry they started to apply the stone facing. They continued and completed the second day.

The entire project ended up taking 2 days for a total cost of $1,600.00. The overlay cost was $650.00 and the stone $950.00. Total savings over removing and rebuilding was more than $13,000.00.

The simple solution is concrete overlays. Yes it does work and will last. Look at the photo below completed below by Gary Jones of Colormaker Floors.

That’s a white concrete with Ivory color mixed in the overlay. The overlay was applied over existing concrete on flat and vertical surfaces. Notice that it is exposed to intense sun, wind and salt air.

It’s amazing how these overlays transform existing ugly concrete into a elegant decorative finish. The color choices are unlimited. Nice feature.

When the overlay is complete the surface gets sealed. Non skid additives can be mixed in with the concrete sealers. They will prevent slipping on wet surfaces with bare feet .

If you do it yourself cost is under $2.00 per square foot. Great solution.