How to modernise external brick arches.
This is our house. We are looking to sink a bit of money into modernising the facade. Probably weatherboard to go back to the Queenslander look, also add a new roof and possibly change suffeats to fascias, by changing the pitch of the roof.
Any ideas to modernise the house are greatly appreciated. If going with the weatherboard/colourbond style, I understand we'd need to add some levels of depth to the place, including removing the brick arches and putting some of those little awnings on the windows. Also looking to incorporate building in underneath - so whether we have a little recessed patio underneath and keep the arches as a little entranceway, or square them off entirely and make the house front door in the middle arch then build a little portico out the front of this and square off the arches to add windows to them for two bedrooms, still tossing up ideas.
Comments (23)
Gallifrey
7 years agoRelated Discussions
Another External Bricks Painting Question
Comments (22)Thanks Tracy, that looks great. I'm confused a little. I don't quite understand the "don't paint the bricks" sentiment. I understand that there is maintenance involved, potentially needing to re-paint the house every few years. Not sure how that is different to having to repaint inside every so often or if we had weatherboard, etc. As to the shutters, more than happy to change that. We are thinking we remove them and also replace the windows as well. They are the same brown aluminium frames. Perhaps going a thicker, modern black frame, with double glazed windows as well. We like the shutters in that they provide some safety as well block out the light. But we hate the look of them. Otherwise it is painting the shutters, which seems like quite a difficult process as they are powder coated, and lots of nooks and what not to get in and paint....See More70's brick house external makeover
Comments (15)JE C, we are replacing the 2 big windows in the bedrooms in the next month or so, but the 2 smaller ones are the in bathroom. The windows are not my style, but the bathroom is ok so we won’t be remodelling as early as we will be doing the bedrooms. And it’s a good question about going modern vs retaining the existing style. I don’t want to completely lose the uniqueness of the property, but it’s just not very appealing from the roadside, so I can’t help but think we need to radically change and therefore modernise it. The brown slated area has a slab and is about 5 - 6 metres wide and currently houses the rubbish bins! We have considered building another carport there as we can’t use the garage on the other side of the house (it’s too narrow)...See MoreImprove and Modernise Existing House Plan (25 year old home)
Comments (15)your house looks like an 80's home with a sunken lounge. I live in an 80's single level house like yours and love the spacious feeling, do you have raked ceilings? If it was me I would make small changes so suggest the following, 1) If the eave is deep enough I would push your sons bedroom wall out this would give him a good sized bedroom with access to the next bedroom and bathroom for his "PAD" 2) There is a flow problem with the house with accessing the bedrooms as you have to step down into and back up from the family/rumpus/living at two points. Keeping the "fireplace" insitu I would take part of the internal bedroom to allow for a passage across from the entrance to the bedroom wing. the reduced bedroom would make a great study or guest room. you can keep both step down points or close off the wall from the fireplace to the master bedroom 3) another problem with the house is internal access to the alfresco, at the moment it would only be via the family/rumpus or master bedroom, I suggest that the alfresco decking be split level to allow for large sliding doors coming off the new open plan kitchen. The door into the existing kitchen be kept but remove the laundry which will allow for a bigger dining table. 4) The laundry could be moved into the planned office/guest.pool room which would be perfect if there was access down the L/H side of the house for hubbie coming home and needing a cleanup which would be done in the same space, which could also be his man cave!! 5) The granny flat needs to be sorted by a local designer to get the best possible result, I have heard that a studio is more readily approved over a granny flat (siriuskey)...See Moreideas for modernising house facade .
Comments (3)I don't think the carport is too bad , but agree with most of Kates ideas . It seems minor , but the letterbox being a different brick and style just gets the look off to a bad start . And again , those panels are just a bit weird -- it would be hard to get right , but maybe an apricot or a yellow would work for them ? Just one thought that would probably look good may be to keep the flyscreens ( assuming they do their job ) and the cream panel , but paint it charcoal , BUT do 2 or 3 upright poles in steel or wood , also painted charcoal , ground to gutter height , and then have 12 or so cedar battens 50mm x 50mm bolted horizontally , evenly spaced . I'm guessing $2000-2500 , it would add the timber warmth and more modern look , hide some sins but hopefully won't cut out too much light , nor too much vision . Add some rocks , some pebble gardens , I actually think 'formal' steps would spoil the look , but a series of stepping stones would look informal but structured . Maybe a big glazed pot , especially one in red or blue or green , with some imaginative plants , would all add to everthing . If your front door is brown , move out haha ( I can't see it clearly enough ) but it sort of works in black . Red or orange might be more noticable and add some brightness for the door , but I actually think the cedar 'shutter' , the lighter bricks , the light carport , and a black door in mostly light colours would suit the house and the era ....See More
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3 years agolast modified: 3 years ago
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3 years agoVanessa Baxter
3 years ago@girlguides we haven't finished the project but this is the architect's concept drawing of our abode. Note that we have already had the new louvres installed on the top floor but we went with white frames instead. And unsure if we will go to the effort of changing the current soffits from fibro to the wooden panels on this picture due to the money and time that would go into replacing something that works perfectly well. And we will now most likely have another driveway on the most left side of the house for a carport on that side, as the current carport is only wide enough for one car, and we always need parking for at least 2 cars.
We now have to figure out how to build in the underneath in terms of where to place the internal stairs, the bedrooms, and most importantly the front door. Will update with our plans once finalised!Vanessa Baxter
3 years agoWhat the house looks like currently with the new louvre windows, and we've also had our old asbestos roof and the old gutters removed so this is also the new Shale grey gutters and roof (Not visible).
As you can see the front of the house is very much a construction site/rubbish tip lol. A lot of work is needed to get the garden to where we want it to be but we'll get there.
Kate
3 years agorinnia
3 years ago
Jenna King