Planning a full exterior renovation in Wheaton? Order of operations, bundling savings, and how one contractor handles your entire project in DuPage County.
If your Wheaton home needs more than one exterior project, the order you do them in saves money and rework. This guide covers what to do first, what homes in different parts of Wheaton tend to need, and how to plan it over one season or several years.
Wheaton homes at a glance
Wheaton is the DuPage County seat, with older homes around downtown and Wheaton College, a wide band of 1950s and 1960s ranches and split-levels, and newer subdivisions on the south side near Danada.
Heavy tree cover means Wheaton roofs collect leaf debris in the valleys and grow moss and algae on the shaded slopes. Both shorten shingle life if they are left alone.
Wheaton has a lot of well-kept older homes where the owners want new windows that still look like the originals. Wood-interior lines with the right grille pattern are a common request here.
Mature trees shade many Wheaton lots, which keeps north walls damp. Shaded wood and older hardboard siding is where we find the most rot at the bottom courses.
What Wheaton homes usually need first
Around downtown and Wheaton College, start with water. Roof, flashing and gutters come first, then rotted trim and siding, then windows. Old houses hide damage under layers of later material, so set aside part of the budget for repairs that cannot be seen until the old siding or shingles come off.
In the ranches and split-levels built through the 1950s and 1960s, the bones are simple and sound. The usual priorities are a roof if it is due, then windows and the entry door for comfort, then siding and gutters to finish the look. These homes are small enough that doing two projects in one season is realistic.
On the south side, in the 1970s and 1980s subdivisions near Danada, wood is the weak point: wood windows, wood or hardboard siding, wood fascia. Check each for rot. Often the siding and windows should be done together, because new siding is trimmed and flashed around the windows and you do not want to disturb it twice.
Where we would start in Wheaton
In Wheaton's older neighborhoods, trees set the priorities: keep water moving off the roof and out of the gutters, then deal with shaded wood trim and siding that has started to rot. In the 1970s and 1980s homes on the south side, wood windows and hardboard siding usually go together in one project.
The right order for exterior work
- Roof. Everything below it depends on it. Roofing crews also drop debris, so the roof goes before new siding and gutters.
- Windows and doors. They are flashed into the wall, and that flashing sits behind the siding.
- Siding and trim. Installed after the openings so it can be fitted and sealed around them.
- Gutters, soffit and fascia. Hung last, on the finished roof edge.
If you can only do one thing this year, do the one that is letting water in. Water damage grows; faded siding does not.
One season or several years
Doing everything at once has advantages: one crew schedule, one set of colors chosen together, flashing details done once and often a better price. Phasing spreads the cost. If you phase, tell your contractor the full plan up front so this year's work is built to accept next year's. We keep measurements and color selections on file for that reason, and 0% financing for 12 months is available on approved credit.
Choosing colors that work together
Start with what is not changing: brick, stone and, if it is staying, the roof. Pick siding to sit comfortably with those, then trim, then the front door as the accent. Our exterior designer lets you try combinations on three house styles before you commit.
Permits in Wheaton
Permit rules are set by the City of Wheaton. We check what your project needs and pull the permit when one is required. See everything we do in Wheaton, or read the guide for Naperville, or read the guide for Downers Grove.
Common questions
Call (331) 250-3726 or request a free consultation in Wheaton.