we were offering our honest opinions..so glad that you weren't offended..I don't have any suggestions about paint..I predict that years from now someone will be asking "how do I remove this flaky paint from my brick?"..

"assuming the brick was ALREADY painted"... would sandblast the paint off.

Doubt any of us meant to be funny.

well I already gave my 2 cents on the trim color around the windows. you can leave the trim around the roof in the white if you think it's too heavy. And I did give you input on the arbor, the posts, the trim work on the porch , etc.

getting a different garage door, or getting one where the upper panels are windows, would help

I'm with the others, painting the brick white doesn't fit the style of the house because of the roof line. But if you're going to do it anyway, don't use regular exterior paint. Everything Current Resident said about it is true. Lookup Romabio Domus II. Supposedly they're launching into select paint/big box stores but I don't know when.

All things considered if you're going to make that house white, then the garage door will have to be white too.

You have to make sure that you can paint the windows. Painting exterior elements a darker color than the original factory finish is not always possible because the material isn't made to withstand the heat accume that comes with a darker color. They will literally warp and melt. And it doesn't take much, I've seen white windows painted a "light putty" shrink, sag and twist because they were made to be white, not a color. The window manufacturer should have color specifications and you want to look for the LRV rating. If you're lucky, you can paint them with a color with an LRV of 55 or higher.

I know the prospect of transforming a home's exterior is fun and exciting but there's a lot more to it than many expect. It's not like painting interior where pretty much anything goes.

The cottage-ish pictures above all have dormers to break up the expanse of the roof. I can understand that you want to paint your brick, but I don't see how paint, regardless of the color, is going to give you the English Cottage look you're after. Sorry I can't offer suggestions for colors, but I'd love to see it when you are done painting, so I hope you post an "after" picture.

The roof is just too dominate the house would not look good at all painted white. Would leave the brick let everyone else paint their brick but I'd keep it in this case

you guys, Alix said she is painting the brick house. I don't think she is changing her mind, regardless what everyone says!

Alix, Are there any houses in your neighborhood, with the same color roof, that are painted white? maybe post a pic of that so we can get an idea of the look you like.

She apparently wants her house to look like all the other houses. Maybe she likes the cookie cutter look. If you must paint I would not do white. White house, white trim, white door and a white garage door. Your house will look like it seen a evil spirit.

Cookie cutter yes, just because everyone else does it doesn't make it appropriate. Just watch a little of that gawd awful HGTV, I rest my case.

Beth..that's a good thought..it's not unusual to see similar homes in a neighborhood..even identical ones..if it's "super common" to paint brick in Atlanta there should be one in the neighborhood..I'd like to see a pic too..

Alix..did you see a home like yours with a paint job that you liked?..then decided to paint?..

I agree with the others. Now with it white, all you see is the overbearing roof. Your choice though. Frankly with it painted white, it loses all its charm.

cpartist..your post is enlightening (lol)..a pic is worth 1000 words..

cpartist,,she wants a wood arbor over the garage door. can you add that too??

Oh what a beautiful brick home you have!

Cpartist, that rendering is just plain ugly. I couldn't hit the Like button - where's the Dislike button?

Painted looks like a cheap rental in a bad neighborhood. Sadly, people throw good money after bad doing silly things that create ugly houses all the time. Horses. Water.

FWIW, we purchased an older ranch home in 2004 with "used brick". We wanted to remodel and expand and could not match the brick so we painted it. Looks better than having a hodge-podge of brick work.

Thanks everyone for your feedback! I appreciate you all taking the time to weigh in.

FWIW I am an architect and practiced for 8 years before getting my real estate license. I have sold hundreds of homes in the Atlanta area over the last 10 years, and I can honestly say I have never had a single client who decided against a home because it was painted brick. I have, on the other hand, had clients choose homes because they loved the painted brick. I think perhaps some of this is just a regional difference. Many of the high-end luxury homes going up today have painted brick here. If you are familiar with Atlanta, you know that neighborhoods like Garden Hills, Buckhead, Morningside, Lenox Park, etc. are full of painted brick homes that sell for upwards of $1M for a basic 4 bedroom - that is what is kind of cool about this area, there is a great mix of both!

To answer some of your questions.....

- My actual neighborhood is quite small, only 14 homes, and they are all brick, none painted. This is part of the reason I want to paint mine, so that it doesn't look like all the others.

- There are several homes in surrounding neighborhoods that have a paint scheme I like, I am just trying to figure out which one is best for my specific home. I will try to go by and take pictures to post.

Cpartist - thanks so much for the rendering! I was planning to pop into Photoshop later today to do one up myself. I always find it helpful to have something visual to refer back to.

Thanks again for the feedback - I appreciate your passion. =)

Also, one more thing....

I appreciate the info about the type of paint to use (and not use). My painter had indicated that Sherwin Williams has a special type of paint specifically for brick exteriors. Is that ok to use, or are you saying that there is something different I need to look into?

Thanks!

I'd be researching this from Romabio, Lori A. Sawaya already mentioned it. https://romabio.com/masonry/

The guy that painted our brick sprayed on some type of thin plaster like substance a couple of days before painting it. That was back in 2005. We haven't had any flaking off of the paint yet.

It must be a regional thing. Up here in the north I or most people I know would not buy a painted brick house. First of all the winter is hard on paint and we don't want to be repainting every couple of year. The biggest turn off on painted brick is bad foundations. %99 of homes have basements. If the foundation goes bad it form a zig zag break in the mortar of the brick. People re-point the mortar in the brick, but you never can match it to the original brick. So instead of spending $20,000 to fix the foundation, people re-point and and spend a few hundred dollars on paint and paint the brick so you can't see the flaw. A house is worthless with a bad foundation, after all it holds up the house. Unless the basement isn't finished (which most are finished) and you can see the foundation there is no way of knowing if it is bad.

That's so interesting! There is definitely no assumption of a foundation issue here if the brick is painted. We actually don't see a lot of foundation problems, likely because we don't get very cold and we are built on clay....I can think of only 3 or 4 that I have come across in hundreds of inspections.

Thanks for the insight!

How bout some thatch on that?

Just being partially facetious here - I guess Im not seeing how white latex painted brick makes a ranch house more English or cottagey? I do see some similarities in rooflines though! I agree with above poster that you do have a very prominent roof that should be integrated into design and color choices.... and landscaping and minor architectural tweakings would have more impact.

My recollection of UK is a lot of limewashed stucco (a lot of white, but also a rainbow of pastel colors, often next to ea other) and plenty of raw brick and stone of various colors/types. I loved how entire towns would often be built of the same rock from same quarry, or bricks from same local source.

A mineral paint or limewash is going to have a more authentic feel and look - it uses earth pigments so colors have a unique vibrance to them. No I dont work for them!- just been researching for my 100 yr old concrete house and have tested some samples. Keim USA and Limeworks are two other US sources in addition to the above mentioned Romabio - all the above have great customer service - will answer questions.

Yeah your climate may be milder but if you have any freeze-thaw going on at all then over time water trapped behind paint film WILL cause damage - it may take longer than in north, it may take several decades.... but still! Actually, I wonder if trapped moisture would present different problems in warmer climates - eg mold & mildew - have not researched that angle myself but might be worth looking into.

Long term should always be considered - I think the hippocratic oath should be taken by all homeowners: "first, do no harm."

I agree current resident, but she is determined that painting that house white is going to miraculously turn it into and English cottage. Someday her rose color glasses will fall off and she will see she just has a white painted brick ranch house with a large roof. The roof line, the dental molding, the windows, the garage, (English cottages do not have garages), the front porch (they rarely have porches either), the front door and the landscaping isn't even close to English cottage

Yeah, I know.... and ultimately of course this is the US where we all have property rights and ultimately Im not losing any sleep over it!

But such is the beauty of a public forum that we get to express our opinions and yeah, they can be passionate

I cant go back 20-30 yrs and yell at the PO who painted the beautiful variegated 100 yr old brick lining my basement interior, which is now spalling and disintegrating and which I now have to repair. But I can attempt to persuade others from making what I think is a mistake.

I think there may be some generational gap going on too.... we boomers tend to value authenticity, other later generations not so much - they grew up with fake wood and stuff so maybe authenticity is just not so important. Im old enough to remember 70s/80s when ]most old historic houses were painted white which soon looked dingy and worn and interiors painted what we called "landlord white." So from my POV, its hard to grasp why white-everything is a thing now. Probably a reaction from the dirt colors of the 90s-00s.

I wasn't sure if I comment or not.. but I am all for a painted brick exterior ( german smear, limewash, romabio) and I am equally for natural brick and stone work. For me it all starts architecturally. Asides from a full on reno, like changing roof style/pitches in the porch area.

My first thought of your house is not paint, I first would like to clean up the details. Maybe remove the arched board across top the columns, choose taller columns (fiberglass columns aren't that expensive for the size needed). then is it possible to remove the Dental trim on the house? it seems to be overbearing. especially above the arched window.

My thing is when you paint it then add the pergola across top of garage is going to basically create a straight line right across your house with a awkward white pyramid on top. Illuminati confirmed :)

I really do like the idea of using a darker trim if it possible to paint the windows that color as well. Darker trim, windows and porch columns would be a nice "pop" and would still stand out in a good way.

Limewash would probably be a better option its less harsh. if keeping white windows and trim

Thanks so much, Dover! I really appreciate the suggestions. The more I have been thinking about it and driving around looking at examples, the more I have been leaning that way as well. I think the darker accent color will help it all pop.

Also, WRT the English cottage thing, I retract that statement. I was trying to think of a good descriptive of the style I was looking for and that popped out but you are correct it isn't the right one.

No problem! and the dark color would pick up the dark color in your brick. Just pressure wash it. and once you paint don't be afraid to re landscape.

Look at it this way. You have waited five years already, so If you just fix the architectural aesthetics and paint the trim dark. If you aren't absolutely loving it a year or so from now, then at least you can limewash or paint it again.

I've tried to do a mock up

You're going to end up with a low, beetle-browed house because that huge, dark roof will overwhelm the light lower section. Big mistake.

I agree on not painting the brick. However, since you are going to paint it I think white is a good color but I would use a softer white and not a stark white.

The landscaping is not ideal and I would open up the porch area by removing the scallop board on top and the railing.

white trim will be easiest to deal with down the road. Less trendy than other colors, and easier to match if you make any changes.

note- It will be difficult, if not impossible, to paint the mullions (currently white) in your windows, if you decide to change the trim color.

*Your home should be pressure washed before any painting is done, to clean the surface and prepare for painting. You should insist upon it. While you're at it have your painters spray your gutters for mildew.

Even without painting the window mutins the casing around the windows are still paintable wood i assume?

Sure am curious if this house got painted!!

Holy cow, people can be brutally honest on here haha! I say it’s your house, you should do what you want! I’m also curious to know if you ended up painting the brick?

Lol I had forgotten all about this thread. Yes, we did end up painting it, and once we were done two of our neighbors also painted their homes with very similar schemes because they liked it so much. I’ve actually gotten three notes in my mailbox with people asking for the paint colors because it turned out so great. Again, I think a lot of this drama is just due to regional differences. I will see if I can post a picture for you!

I never commented on this, but I would be interested seeing your results. So glad it worked out the way you wanted it to.

Very nice, no wonder your neighbors followed your example.

Hey Alix , it looks wonderful and Im sure it was like a breathe of fresh air! Im not sure if it was my suggestion or if you already considered it but i love that you added the pergola over the garage.

The attention to detail made all the difference! Well done.

Thanks all! Yes, we used special masonry paint. It was actually not SW brand, I forget the name of it, but it is specifically made to paint brick. I just had them match a SW color.

I think it will look beautiful in a creamy white. I’d do charcoal (BM Charcoal Slate or FB Downpipe) garage doors u less you can replace and then 100% they should be a warm medium wood. I’d replace that section of diff materials in The garage gable with natural shakes and replace All the ornamental stuff with beams. Then do your landscaping like an English garden. It will be so gorgeous.

Denise, she already painted.

@Alix Nadi I will have our brick home painted as well. What sheen did you use? Flat or Satin? Thanks!