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Help with updating exterior

8 years ago

Hi everyone!

We would like to update the outside of our house so it's looks a little more modern. The paving on the balcony needs to be replaced and we plan to replace the balcony rail with something more child proof. We were thinking a wooden fence. Any other ideas of what might look good?

We're struggling a bit with working out a colour scheme which would work with the existing brick as we would prefer not to render the house.

Our current ideas are to possibly have the roof painted a mid-gray and replace or paint the pinky coloured window frames with white. Any new fencing and tiling could then tie in with this.
Any help is very much appreciated! Thanks!

Featured Answer

dohraime

8 years ago

The drive looks in good condition so It's probably a straight forward job. Cost effective too I imagine. I'd get some feedback from those who have done it to find out how durable it is or if ever needs repainting etc.

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Comments (10)

georgi02
8 years ago
Your home looks really well maintained. I agree, it'd be a crime to paint or render your brickwork.

I'd think about having the roof painted a mid to dark grey and putting in either glass or wire balustrading so as to give a more open look to your front. Updating the light by the door with a more modern design will also help you update your look.

On the balcony I'd be looking for stone/stone-look-a-like tiles that will pick up the warm creamy yellows in your brick - eg Beaumont Tiles outdoor range in the colour Tuscan Sandstone (Beaumont Outdoor tiles - engineered sandstone).

To tie with your roof, I'd also replace the green and white striped awnings with grey ones in the same shade as the roof.

If your window frames are the same colour as the garage doors and front door, I'd leave it - unless you're going to paint them all.
PRO
Timandra Design & Landscaping
8 years ago
Your home looks fine. As usual with most properties, it's the garden letting the home down.
I personally don't like the amount of concrete that you have - this really dates your property. It also causes considerable run-off of rainfall that could be better utilised on-site.
I would remove all of it -using a bobcat would make it so much easier. And this includes the steps.
I would use an aggregate for the driveway and steps. When properly laid, they won't move all over the place. It's shabby workmanship that gives aggregate a bad name.
Then redo your garden, including trees in the mix, with a serpentine bordered garden around the periphery of the site.
These changes would significantly improve your resale value.
Alison
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I love this house - it's got so much potential for "wow" with a small budget, depending on the materials you use and if you're prepared to do all/part of the work yourselves. A trip to your local hardware store will help you get costings and work out what you feel able to do yourself and where you're going to employ experts. If the pergola is council approved, I'd keep it, extend a deck (eco wood is easy to use for a beginner handyperson) where the pergola is. I'd add a louvered roof over it so that you have a living space (I'd use specialists for this), and a way of keeping hot summer sun off the front of the house. As it looks like you've got a metal roof, I'd think about painting it, the house trim and the garage doors the same colour to give your home a sense of cohesiveness and keep the exterior walls white as it looks fresh, doesn't date and is in keeping with the style and period of your home. Refreshing the front garden beds will make a huge difference too.
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Thanks so much for the advice everyone! i will talk to my parents about adding a fence, trimming the greenery and doing something about that red brick! me me - they brought the house off the builder in the 90's - its like a weird light grey with the green paint trims - the inside was worse, apricot as far as the eye could eye!
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Brandi Nash Hicks
8 years ago
I would first update the railing with airplane wire for a cleaner modern loo
Brandi Nash Hicks
8 years ago
Also changing all of the interior blinds to match will help the look of your home from the outside, try bamboo roman shades
Brandi Nash Hicks
8 years ago
For your garage doors, I would also paint the fence to match the garage doors
M
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks so much for all your advice! Really helpful!

In terms of a grey for the roof, we were thinking Colourbond Basalt. Would that be dark enough or does it look much lighter once on a roof?

Thanks again :)
dohraime
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
I found these images which I thought not too dissimilar to your brick. (from jhstephenson.com)

I'm not actually detecting much of a difference between the two, lol. So I recommend going to see the colour on site somewhere.

I personally like the look of keeping the fascia board a light colour. Like in these 2 examples and as how your house has now. Painting the fascia dark gives a roof too "heavy" a look to me - but that's just down to personal taste.

I did a couple of crappy mock-ups (on MS Paint! lol) so you could get idea of the look without the current balcony fence.
M
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks for those examples! It helps to have a bit of an idea of what it might look like!

I like the Basalt example more but I think you're right that we will be best to try to see an actual roof that is that colour.

The other thought we had was (if we painted the roof) to have the concrete sprayed with a stencil effect in a light grey - to tie in with the roof. I imagine there are some fairly strong points of view as to whether stenciled concrete looks any good and we are a bit on the fence ourselves. It could date terribly or just look shocking with time but we have also seen some houses where it actually looks great!
User
8 years ago
We lived in a development where it was done in a sandstone look. That stained very quickly, I would go darker for practicality.

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