Please help!! Old brick house

brandi_lea

Thanks for all the suggestions! What could I use to clean the brick that may help to lighten it? Its such a dark brown that it almost looks black. Any suggestions on shutter color? The roof has 2 layers with the center sitting higher though I'm not sure what thats called. If I add a gable to the front of the house should I run it from one side of the tall center roof to the other or just center it a bit? Should I go with a different color on the roof? If so what color? Any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Roofmaster417

Wow, when you said " Old Brick House" I was expecting something turn of the century.This property has MASSIVE POTENTIAL. I respect the reply for stucco and I feel any other home that lacks potential might be a little more deserving.Clean the bricks,add a gabled entry,either spruce the shutters or replace with a more modern style, I am squinting and I do not see any gutters or downspouts?,Update the windows with some energy stars,pull the iron style porch supports and update with columns,pull the double window to the right of the door put in a triple bay, to the left of the entry put in a double and switch the single windows with doubles on the front.A new storm door and entry door, it may sound silly but I love the brass style handles on a white storm door and on the entry door brass handles,peep hole and a nice thick kick plate.It is too far away to see the condition of the roof.With the color of the brick I feel that the color of the shingle clash, If the roof is bad a different color along with a nice 30yr shingle would do wonders.Pull the shrubs,plant new and install a new walkway from the front porch to the garage area.Start planning an approach to spruce up your lawn issues.

__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.



To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

DrHicks

You won't change the roof color by doing anything but replacing the shingles, and that's going to cost several thousand dollars.

Work with various light-colored shutters, door, etc. White is so stark that it makes the dark seem darker. A full-view storm door in front of a brightly-colored entry door would make quite a difference.

Do some nice landscaping. Bright flowers, colored shrubs, etc. Do things that don't cost a lot of money or require major work.

You'll be surprised by how differently your house can look. Good luck!

brandi_lea

Thats a lot of information, thank you!! This is only our second remodel and the first time we have had to work on the curb appeal. How far should I run the gable over the porch? What color would you suggest for the roof? The roof is only 6 months old, but I 2 feel like it clashes. The brick is the darkest shade of brown I have seen and the roof is a medium brown. I love all the advice though Im confused on your suggestion about how to change up the windows. Also what do you think about a door with the side glass? Thanks!

fabricator

Could stucco over it, or skim coat a colored mortar mix.

brandi_lea

I'm curious to see how that might turn out. I considered staining the brick so that I could improve the appearance without taking away from the look of the brick, but it's so dark of a color I don't think a stain would even show up. I have even considered whitewashing he brick and then staining it to achieve the look I want (I would stain each individual brick to keep the mortar look) but I know it's frowned upon and I do want to be able to sale the house eventually.

WillK

Sorry, I don't tend to think small. The roof is an easy target, relative to more complicated roofs. Reshingling is the least you could do, and it would be a relatively easy DIY roof. Low slope, first floor, no valleys or hips - just straightforward roof. And you might be able to pick energy star shingles that reflect heat and get a tax credit, not sure if that was one of the credits that got extended.

I'd think about going further and making the roof less boring. But that's just me being on this crazy thing about changing my 1.5 story bungalow into a full 2 story house with the second floor torn off and rebuilt with Victorian style elements, which includes an octagonal turret and a 12/12 roof and extra gables to accent asymetry.

Sorry, got a little carried away.

The windows look dated too. If there's energy savings credits to be had, you might get it on that too.

And as the Knights who say Ni! migh say, a SHRUBBERY!

WillK

Let me also add.. if there's other similar houses around, drive around and look at them and when you see ones you like, it might give you ideas. That's kind of how I got on this Victorian idea I'm after, although the house that inspired me is about 3x the size of mine.

DrHicks

Bring me a Shrubbery!

brandi_lea

I agree the roof makes this house look really blah! We are definitely replacing the windows, columns and front door. What color shingles do you suggest? The shingles are new but I just don't know that I can get past the color. If I add a gabled roof at the entry where should it start and stop? Thanks

WillK

Let me suggest that if you're new to DIY projects, and you want to add a gabled roof over the entrance, this is definitely something to have done professionally, and as such your professional will be a better person to make recommendations than I. I'm an engineer and I'm very much a form follows function type of guy, sometimes I can do something that looks great when its obvious or easy or I have a good example to look at, but visuallizing like this is not my strong suit. I've taken a roof over dormers and rebuilt the framing to put a gable roof over them, and in spite of being a moderately experienced DIY, I had trouble with it.

Just a little digging around, here's a link with a pic on it that shows what a little color can do, and the brick and roof are similar to your colors - it seems to suggest more white trim, colorful landscape, healthy grass and a nice white gable roof over a porch.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/attac...s-im000314.jpg

brandi_lea

Thanks for the advice....if you think of anything else let me know! I'm going to apply the simple things you all have suggested first and once I clean it up I will take some more pictures and post em. Thanks again

AndyGump

Oh what the heck.

I was thinking something along this way.

Andy.

Attached Thumbnails

 

brandi_lea

WOW...thats AWESOME!! Thanks for taking the time to do that...Looks great! Is their a website that does this? Thanks

AndyGump

Thanks Brandi, no web site just me, this is what I do.

I hope this helps you.

Andy.