Outside / Yard / Deck
Front Stoop Refresh: Paint, Planters and a Menards Wireless Doorbell
Split-levels have a signature look: the front door floats between two floors, halfway up a few concrete steps. Ours also had a doorbell that hadn't rung since roughly 1994. This weekend the stoop got a glow-up.
The punch list
- Paint the door (exterior enamel, two coats, one very nervous afternoon)
- New modern house numbers mounted vertically next to the door
- Two big planters with mums for fall
- Replace the dead doorbell
Why a wireless doorbell
The old wired doorbell had a broken transformer buried somewhere in a wall we'd rather not open. A wireless doorbell from Menards was the fix: a battery-powered button outside and a plug-in chime inside. Install time was about ten minutes.
- Remove the old button and cap the old wires with wire nuts.
- Mount the new button with the included screws (or the adhesive strip on siding).
- Plug the chime into an outlet on the middle level so it's heard upstairs and down.
- Pair them and pick a chime that isn't "Westminster quarters." Please.
It's amazing how much a painted door and a working doorbell change the way you feel walking up to your own house. Curb appeal: 1. Beige: 0.
