Fixing Facade (apparently this title was too short)
C P
3 years ago
Hi all
Before we extended and renovated our house I struggled with our front for a while and it's been fairly neglected.
I have an abundance of ideas, many of which are way too ambitious and in not sure how to reconcile what I want to do with the facade and landscaping ideas.
I hope you'll be patient as I want to sure a bazillion photos and thoughts. Here goes:
Problem:
Front of house is a bit bleeurgh. The left-hand side is effectively screened with lots of greenery but I'd like you open it up more without having an ugly looking facade.
Things which definitely need doing:
- Replace the 2 Left windows (We've got modern well glazed windows elsewhere in the house. These cannot be securely left open and there is no brick in the bottom part). I've had fanciful dreams of modern square bay windows but I think this will look odd because of the sloping eaves and how high up the windows up and also I think it would be as practical inside if the window went all the way to the floor).
- Replace from steps (I can simply pave but what I'd really love is to rip them out and start again. I'd love them wider and curving out to the left. Not sure how to describe but essentially getting wider at the bottom and creating a longer place to sit. I want to rip out this garden bed as I don't love how close to the house the plants are even though it's all elevated so not a damp issue. I'd transplant the decent plants and eliminate the duds including the bush turned into a tree.
Things I'd like to do:
- put in crazy paving in a curved pattern to cover the mismatched path and to be surrounded by garden beds. Essentially I want to rip out Robinia, replace most of grassed area with greasy paving and then create a beds around. I'd like to plant either. an odd number of silver birch or a couple of Japanese maples underplanted with dichondra, some wavy grasses and similar stuff.
- get rid of husbands dodgy letter box which is too low to access and very much loved by ants.
- paint if necessary the bricks were painted quite a yellow colour when we bought the house and it's been repainted Old Stone Wall but I feel that's still quite yellow or beige.
I'd love to make the facade more interesting with the choice of windows and I'm fairly adventurous with suggestions. However the crappy eave situation has got me stumped as they slope on the left and I the right there is no eave as former owners extended out that far (God knows why).
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Is there any way of updating our facade?
Comments (28)It would be good to use Dulux fine Texture Outdoor paint with a texture/spaghetti roller in a sandy (pale yellow) light to mid colour range on the all brickwork, including fence. Horizontal powder coated steel inserts to fence to finish it off in a the same blue as roof, guttering, etc. Leave the garage door colour as is (blue). I'd take out the tree you have planted in front yard as it just doesn't look right and will give you financial pain as it's roots damage your drains, and home. Just have one or two blue large round (you already have lots of straight lines) planters near or on the entrance to doorway. Large succulents like Agave in the pot would look striking and need little watering. Plant dwarf or regular Lilli Pillies on the council strip on both sides of corner in a line about 1.5 metres apart. They are a very fast growing native, that don't drop very many leaves and only need watering in the initial stages. They also are more tall than wide. This will give you more of a private, lush feel without the problems of planting trees in your extremely close front yard. Don't go with any suggestions of hedges....they are fickle and the work involved to keep them looking sharp would be horrendous. You just want to enjoy your home, not be a slave to it! Good luck:)...See MoreFloor plan and facade feedback
Comments (40)Western Sydney can be a very hot place in summer. So you've really got to try to minimise summer heat loads. What does this mean? Keeping the summer sun off your windows. Easy to do in the north, with appropriate length eaves. But much more difficult to do from the east & west. As the sun is lower in the sky & eaves become ineffective. Western sun is a particular problem, as the sun is in this direction at the hottest time of the day. So that is why quite a few people a few commenters have raise the issue of too many western windows. So how do you resolve this? It's difficult to do when the long sides of your home face east & west. But there are options to minimise western glazing. Firstly, eliminating or minimising windows. That's a very large western window in the dining area, which will get blazing hot in summer. I'd be eliminating this window (more in that later), or at least greatly reducing its size. I'd be eliminating the western wrap-around portion of the master bedroom window. Yes, it may look cool, but this will be at the expense of you comfort. You certainly don't want SW sun coming in your bedroom windows in summer evenings. Same goes for the media room. A very large western window means a very hot space. I'd this a true media room? If so, I'd think you'd want lower levels of glazing in this room. I'd actually eliminate this window, & take the following approach. Next, where possible, swap the western windows for glazing facing a different direction. You can do this in the media room, with long, thin windows. You can also do this in the upstairs living area. Again a large western window, which certainly should be swapped out for a northern window. Thirdly, locate rarely used rooms in the western side of the house. So they can bear the brunt of the western sun. Bathrooms, laundries (not in your case), & importantly, the garage. So I'd actually look at flipping the from portion of the house, so that the media room faces SE & the garage SW. Tough you won't have access from the garage to the laundry, which may be something you want. I'd then consider having the entrance to the home on the western side, beside the garage. This means you'll have a shorter hallway from the entrance to you living areas. Changes to the location of the garage to the western side may not be allowed, of the road is busier, or if the driveway is too close to the corner. So that would need to be looked at, if you were considering this change. As for your remaining western (& eastern) windows, you've got to try to minimise the amount of heat that comes through these windows. There's a few approaches. Louvred vertical sun shades or timber battens are an option. These will reduce the amount of sun striking the window, & increase privacy, but decrease the views out the window. Shutters or awnings are an option, but probably don't look as nice. Window treatments, such as low-e glass, are a good idea too - just note reviews for some single glazed low-e glass products aren't great. Western (& eastern) glazing should certainly be low SHGC (solar heat gain coefficient). As has been mentioned, windows should also be designed for cross-ventilation. A free was way too cool your home, especially effective at night. Winter in western Sydney can be pretty cold too. In winter it's all about letting the sun in, particularly the northern sun, as the sun is in the northern portion of the sky. As has been mentioned above, northern covered alfrescos aren't a great idea. Robbing north facing living areas of daylight, & winter sunshine. At the very least add a vergola to let some sun in here. you should also consider zoning your main living area. that is, having a door that can separate it from the rest of the house. Then you can just heat this room, instead of the entire house. Otherwise the staircase will act like a giant chimney, losing heat upstairs. You'd need to reverse the direction of the staircase, to add a door between it & the kitchen/laundry area. May not be ideal, but worth considering....See Morehelp to improve front facade
Comments (21)This will be an exciting challenge! How about starting with which style you would like. Hop onto google and search around before and after pictures that might help you decide on a particular look you wish to achieve. Pinterest has ideas too, and just type in “house facades before and after”. Do you want modern, or beach or Hamptons? Etc. The style should reflect your internal decor style for flow and a bit of harmony. Once you have decided on style, examine which aspects of the current facade you would like to enhance and that definitely don’t work. I would enrol an architect or exterior design consultant to discuss these aspects and perhaps get ideas. Start by considering a focal point - you lack this in your current facade. Could be an entrance, a large window, veranda etc and something that provides depth to the facade. Consider balance and symmetry: you have large garage doors that would benefit from something that balances that. First impressions from me are that the windows are small and shuttered: these might be within budget to change. The house facade is very flat: perhaps features such as a porch addition might break that up. There is no entrance that invites you in and as such it looks shut up. Could you work in a welcoming entrance here? Paint would work wonders and if rendering is too expensive, a good paint job could transform the look. Timber cladding adds interest, a little warmth to a cold brick facade, and charm. Would that fit with the style you are aiming for? It’s a big job but simple tweaks could transform this. Best of luck...See MoreIdeas for house in flood area
Comments (47)Yeah I will have to set some time aside to go measure all the rooms, so bear with me. I think I'll need to re-draw the original layout too, so it makes more sense what I'm doing long term. A previous owner opened up the current dining room and kitchen but it means the lounge has 5 doorways and is an awkward thoroughfare with nowhere to put furniture. The kitchen then ends up too visible. I keep hoping the drawing will turn up but it's not so far! My parents are compulsive renovators, so I grew up checking out salvage yards and open houses and worst house in best streets and talking over "what would you do with this space?" We ended up moving like every second year! It means I know I can turn this house around. I don't however intend to do all the hard graft for someone else to enjoy. Its really more of a creek than a river so it's not super wide, so the tree line shades the waterway a bit, but its all gorgeous and green year round. At the moment the windows aren't quite in the right spots. when we reclad I'll open the up more. The bath has a great view....See MoreC P
3 years agoSo this is part of me design inspiration from recent years. I'm interesting in playing around with textures and shapes. I realise I'm probably over thinking it a lot given how nice the back of our house now is. I've include the black pergola as often thought something like that could help frame things. But unlikely to work given the elevation and the fact I'm trying to lower the interest. Maybe some sort of stone on the bottom of left side?
Maybe too busy and fussy.
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julie herbert
3 years agoLove this for your steps, if you could some how incorporate decking and stone crazy paving it would look fabulous, trim up the Robina and the viburnum hedge
julie herbert
3 years agoC P
3 years agoC P
3 years agoHi again I've finally found this old post of mine. So I've had a landscape designer in and I'll sharethe plan although it might be hard to see the detail.
I'll lso have a few questions about some plant alternatives.
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3 years agoso new windows are in and we've put cedar panelling underneath. I think it highlights the need to paint the brickwork a dark colour. The cedar is a bit lairier than I had hoped (being just a small bit). I had thought we'd extend it right across between the windows.
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C POriginal Author