Stone veneer to spruce up exposed foundation walls?

16 years ago

I'm not sure if a 1950's house qualifies as "old" but, with everything that needs to be done, it sure seems that way to me. :-)

For starters it's a ranch style house made of concrete and brick. In the front the first floor is level with the ground and in the back there is a walk out basement and garage. See attached pics to give you an idea (we're getting new garage doors soon).

Along the driveway and in the back is the exposed concrete foundation (12" thick poured concrete). It's structurally sound but not very pleasing to look at.

I was thinking of buying a natural thin stone veneer to spruce it up. Ideally I could find a stone that's used on some other houses in the area and make it look more "local". At the top, maybe use a limestone-like ledge where the concrete meets the brick. But I'm worried this is going to make it look too "hard".

I thought about wood siding on the foundation, but brick on top of wood seems backwards. Although that would soften it some.

Painting the concrete is an option too but it's not a look we're crazy about. Maybe for an inside basement room but not on the outside.

Any thoughts? Has anyone done the natural thin stone veneer? Could it be considered a DIY job for the hubby? There would be no structural component to it, just aesthetics.

Thanks in advance!

{{!gwi}}
{{!gwi}}
(To the left of the garage there is a doorway and small patio).

{{!gwi}}

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Comments (8)

bulldinkie
16 years ago
1950 is old too but I think if youre not into the old look Id go for it.You have to decide which way you want to go.Like if youre not into history and all do what you.If it improves the look go for it .You have to live there.I dont think its that hard to do.My son did it to a small section of his house looks pretty.we also saw a place in lake area someone put it o it was chilly out and some of the stone fell off.
jan9
16 years ago
I think it would really dress your place up. I especially like your idea for a sill where the stone meets the brick. I've only read about it but it seems like something you could do yourself. A good book on home masonry will probably have some directions for you.
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Squirrelheaven, you do such an awesome job when you photoshop. That's just gorgeous!! Thanks. I was thinking more in line with Benjamin Moore Bottle of Bordeaux maybe??? Catnap that's a great price on those lanterns! I couldn't find anything close to periwinkle blue on the Benjamin Moore chips. I love hydrangeas!!! Will they grow on the north side of the house? I have terrible trouble with shrubs there. This photo is from the summer of '08. We cut down the large shrubs ourselves to clean up the entire area that is why the foundation is exposed. The rhododendrons have grown back and it looks a little bit better. I would definately put hydrangeas there if they would grow. Love the bench idea!! Thanks so much and keep the ideas coming. I really appreciate it!!!
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"why don't they simply dig a bigger hole and bring in a different kind of non-clay soil that doesn't need hydration?" When you dig a hole in clay soil, you end up with a hole that holds water. We use bentonite to build earthen dams. If you put other soil in that hole, all you get is a mud hole. Such a system works better in theory than reality. "We do that all the time for septic systems up here where you have bad soil." The drain field does not have a foundation to damage. The drain field is engineered to be able to handle a specific amount of water, and can handle the occasional 1" of water at a time during the rainy season without permanent damage. If you apply this strategy to the house foundation, you need to be able to pump out all the water that comes off the roof in a hurry, before it causes damage. This can easily be 600 gallons or more. Now, where do you put that water? You can not pump it over to the neighbor's lot, and a french drain will not drain fast enough in clay soils. You could add a 1500 gallon cistern and hope you never get that 100 year rain, and that that cistern doesn't crack like the foundation you are trying to protect. Such a system of putting other soils in a clay lined hole has a lot more maintenance than just watering the foundation. If the rain gutter downspouts do not go into a splash block that extends out into the yard 6', the water will find its way back to the hole you provided. You can't begin to imagine how many houses I have had to go back to to put the splash blocks back where they belong because the owner moved them because they were in the way of mowing the lawn. Or, where they add landscape edging that blocks the water from going out into the yard instead of back to the foundation. Now, if the pump that is supposed to drain the foundation doesn't work because nobody bothered to maintain it, you end up with a bigger disaster than if you never dug a hole for the water to go into in the first place. Clay soils wreak havoc on drain tile as the very fine particles eventually filter down and clog it. Read the link below, and you will see that the best practices are to build UP, leaving the natural drainage plane intact, instead of digging down into a hole, thus the reason for that much foundation showing. http://www.foundationperformance.org/projects/fpa-sc-01-0.pdf
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"Veneer" can mean a few things. A 4" thick veneer like brick or the thicker fake stone is stacked on top of a supporting foundation and has a 1" gap between it and the wall for moisture drainage. A screed line will usually be present somewhere if the veneer goes to the ground. Everything below the screed line is typically built like a wall rather than a veneer. Building out a brick ledge below grade on a concrete foundation can be costly, impractical, or a leak into the basement waiting to happen if done wrong. [https://www.houzz.com/discussions/how-to-hide-disguise-an-ugly-screed-dsvw-vd~4734784[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/how-to-hide-disguise-an-ugly-screed-dsvw-vd~4734784) The other type of fake veneer stone is more like 1.5" thick and is adhered to the wall like stucco. This also requires a screed line at least 4" above grade. The screed is usually more "under" the veneered edge more like the stucco illustration in the above link, but it could look like the OP's dilemma in that post. Adhering a thin veneer directly to the concrete below the weep screed is fairly uncomplicated, but you still end up with the ugly line, so most people don't seem to think it is worth the extra expense for those 4 inches. There are other considerations that often bring that screed line up to 8" above grade.
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worthy
16 years ago
Personally, I kind of like the original look. If I were renoing that home, I'd clean the foundation, add some large narrow planters along the side and redo the driveway.

Is it a diy job? It depends on your skills!

Do you have pics of the homes that have done what you're proposing?

(Interesting canine toy near your garage!)
TACHE
16 years ago
I really like the concrete. I think it is very handsome and very well done. I think you would be very foolish to cover it up but I don't live there and you do. If this house is new to you it might be better to wait and see how yow you feel about it in a year or two. Probably resurfacing the driveway should come first. It's a nice house. Do to it what will make you enjoy it the most.
premier
16 years ago
It is a large section of concrete and I can see why you would like to cover it. But I don't think it will look right. Veneer stone under brick? Not a great combination. Then on the side you have some vinyle siding so you would have three different materials. It would have been nice if they finished it with the original brick. I doubt you can find a perfect match of brick.
kim2007
16 years ago
Actually, it doesn't look nearly as bad as I thought it would from your description before the picture. I like the horizontal lines in it, and the diagonals above the garage windows. By the 50's had gained status and popularity as a 'modern' finish material in and of itself, so I think it may have been intended to be seen as it is. I'd leave it and dress up the area with the planters as suggested above, or if you really can't stand it paint it. I also wondered if you could redo the driveway. The asphalt to me detracts far more from the overall curb appeal of the house than the concrete.
calliope
16 years ago
I agree that the 50s look was all about modern and also that the concrete isn't unattractive. However, there are veneers out there with modern appearances if you want to change the look. You don't have to go with something like flagstone.

I don't suggest a natural stone, either. I live in clay/quarry country and it's a common product and there are several outlets for it in our little community. My husband and daughter have done a lot of natural stone work outside on our grounds, but when we wanted a product to use on our house, itself the salesman at the quarry suggested a manufactured veneer. It's made of concrete and has a lighter weight, but looks so natural you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference. It not only comes in stone, but brick, and very decorative concrete block styles suitable for a house in your style. You may want to check something like this out.
sacto_diane
16 years ago
An alternative to painting or a stone is to look into the options of staining the existing concrete. The form work that was done looks well done but lacks the pop to show some of the details. Staining the concrete and accenting some of the faux grout lines on the form work would give you the stone work look as one option. There are other options for color, texture that may work as well.

The first thing that popped into my head was how to deal with the transition from the brick to the new stone work (sill cap or ?) I'm not sure the transition would not look like it was added later.

Stone veneer to spruce up exposed foundation walls?

Comments (8)

bulldinkie

jan9

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