Hoping to learn what type of house this is and advice on exterior
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
Hoping to get some design advice on the exterior of this home. First off, what style of home do you think this would be classified as?
Our biggest dilemma is the siding and the lack of any design elements. We have considered replacing the siding with stucco and are hoping to come up with some ideas to shift how the house looks so symmetrical.
We will be taking possession of this in about 4 weeks, so we can't touch it until then :-(
What we know we will be doing so far.. lots and lots and lots of landscaping, pulling out the cedar shrubs in the center (there are two more hidden windows down there) and the 'garden' along the bay window, either replacing or painting the garage doors (depending on how bad they are) and also replacing the front door.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
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PRO4 years ago
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoRelated Discussions
Novice learning more about soil, hoping for some advice.
Comments (16)New homes (like ours 22 years ago and probably yours) are generally leveled and graded with the subsoil extracted from digging out the basement hole. The topsoil is stripped and if any soil has to be added for final grading (i.e., even after spreading the basement subsoil), it is not topsoil generally. This "grading" soil is usually very rich soil but devoid of organic matter. And, as you now know, organic matter is needed to get this soil "alive". You just have to add MASSIVE amounts of organic matter to make it friable. Every year, I mulch mow a HUGE amount of autumn leaves all around the yard and garden. It is something you have to do every year (i.e, adding organic matter). Raised beds are good for veggies and flowers but you can amend strips of the existing soil by adding massive amounts of organic matter and digging it in. (You'll have to make the raised beds out of purchased topsoil, Canadian peat and compost, etc., to get them "ready to use" immediately. I'd keep the compost in the new raised beds at about 10 percent IMHO.) Now is an absolutely perfect time to do this. Go around your area and see if you can find any curbside leaf bags and dig those into flower or veggie growing areas you want in the future and/or mulch mow them EVERYWHERE. Now is the time to do this and I recommend you do this on a MASSIVE scale. You'll have to run the mower over the thick layer of leaves 3 to 4 times to get it real small. Over time you will see dramatic results IMHO. All this organic material addition/amending is alot of work but it is great exercise and very rewarding IMHO. Good luck!! Tidbit: I talked to Dr. Elaine Ingram (she's an expert on soils) a few years back asking about the typical suburban soil around new homes and she basically said: "You probably can't add enough organic matter in your lifetime to make the soil 'too organic'." What she was really saying was "have at it" and don't worry about mulching massive amounts of organic matter onto the soil. Compost, shredded leaves, mulched grass clippings, wood chips, etc. Dr. Ingram isn't big on digging stuff into the soil but she said for new suburban soils this is fine to get things "started". She also said autumn leaves are great organic material....See Morelesson learned - hope soon enough
Comments (5)NO, ENC's are just fine in Rubbermaid bins. They are not regular garden variety nightcrawlers, the name is deceiving. Bill is right that regular nightcrawlers are burrowing, deep living, but that is not the case for ENC's. They are the second most popular worm for bins. And some prefer them hands down over the redworms, especially those that want to raise them for bait. Your set-up seems fine. I am not an expert about ENC's, as I use redworms, and I know the ENC's have some different requirements then the reds. Hopefully one of the people more familiar with ENC's will chime in. What type of bedding are you using? I know you have mentioned that the are you are keeping them in has AC and the temp was set at 72. Do you know if the room is maintaining that temp? My first guess is that they are a bit on the cold side. My reds slow way down when the temps drop. Maybe try bumping up the temps a bit and see if you see a difference. Also, do you have any worm experience to compair their sluggishness too? I mean are they visably slower then when you first received them? I guess is what I am getting at is they aren't exactly the road runner when it comes to movement. You may have seen more activity when you first received them due to them being aggitated from shipping. I would guess you are just seeing more normal activity. Also, if you just put lettuce or food stocks in there, that are not already decomposed, it will be awhile until they start consuming the food. The worms show little to no intrest in the food stock until it starts to decompose. Alot of people keep food stock in a bucket or such and let it...well...rot some first, before adding to the bin. Other's collect the food stock in bags and freeze it before adding it, this is beneficial for two reasons - one it kills off any possible fruit fly eggs on the food stock, which will cut down on that possible "issue" and secondly freezing the material first helps to bvreakdown the cell walls in the veggies which helps them to decompose faster and therefore ready for the worms to eat. If you decide to freeze first, just make sure the material freezes for at least a few days and that it is fully defrosted prior to adding to the bin, you don't want to cool things off too much. Some people toss the frozen stuff in the microwave, which speeds up the decomposition even more. Me, I just leave the frozen bag out for several days, it defrosts and starts to get good and yucky, just the way they like it. Hope this helps. I wouldn't panic too much, maybe bump up the temp a little, otherwise I think they might just be settling in. Kat...See More11/2/15: New things you learn & wonder about & what you hope for?
Comments (46)Thanks so much for the info on these amazing beneficial herbs Strawberry Hill, I will definitely plant all of them for my cat friends. I will cover the catnip with a small cage contraption so that they'll only be able to get to the new growth... :-) That is such great news - that after so much rain still no BS on your potted roses. We also had mega liters of constant rain for 2 days and I decided not to use the corn flour dusting, and there is not one BS leaf on any rose....just as you said, the soil is the key....I also gave the BS prone roses an extra teaspoon of Gypsum as you advised (along with the Potassium Sulfate) ...just before the rain started falling. I watered in in very quickly with alkaline tap water, the rain did the rest. I think that's another great idea - to keep feeding them Gypsum and Potassium Sulfate to keep them BS-free during winter - until our next spring. many thanks :-) I won't give any Nitrogen either, seeing that they stop blooming anyway during winter. Carol, maybe you can try wrapping just a tiny piece of any citrus fruit peel around the area where the aphids are worst? I did that over here and the aphids jumped of like flies... but the Hydrogen Peroxide sounds like a great treatment for the aphids plus it adds oxygen, I think that is the best solution, as advised by Strawberry Hill...I will also try that...I think clay can do with some oxygen.... thanks for liking the Nguni cows, yes they are so beautiful...and quite docile... we have another breed here called 'Afrikaner'-cattle...they are quite strong as well but not so docile...used in the beef industry. They are also much bigger than Nguni's. I hope you enjoy your snowy winter wonderlands, I hope you, Jim, and Strawberry Hill will post winter photo's. Today it is 96.8 F and a strong warm berg (mountain)- wind is blowing. really magical. I decided to look up the definition of a berg wind: Berg wind (from Afrikaans berg "mountain" + wind "wind", i.e. a mountain wind) is the South African name for a katabatic wind: a hot dry wind blowing down the Great Escarpment from the high central plateau to the coast. When the air that has been heated on the extensive central plateau flows down the escarpment to the coast it undergoes further warming by adiabatic processes. This accounts for the hot and dry properties of these off-shore winds, wherever they occur along South Africa's coastline.[1][2] Although berg winds are often called a Föhn winds, this is probably a misnomer, as Föhn winds are rain shadow winds that result from air moving over a mountain range, resulting in precipitation on the windward side. This releases latent heat into the atmosphere which is then warmed still further as the air descends on the leeward side (e.g., the Chinook or the original Föhn).[2][3] Berg winds do not originate in precipitation, but in the mostly dry, often arid central plateau of Southern Africa. On the other hand, katabatic winds are technically drainage winds, that carry high density, usually cold air from a high elevation down a slope under the force of gravity.[3] These are thus "fall winds", which occur most typically down the coastal ice slopes of Antarctica and Greenland. Berg winds blow off the African escarpment in response to large scale weather systems in the South Atlantic Ocean, the African interior, and the Southern Indian Ocean....See MoreAdvice requested - Exterior paint for modern meditteranean stucco home
Comments (4)Thanks for the comments. goluscombe - You are right - it is something else for sure. Not really this, and not really that. It is a fully custom home in every respect, for better or worse, but it does have some Mediterranean influence I think - but it is surely modern/contemporary. Inside it is clean lines and similar to an art gallery with very large rooms and large walls suited for big pieces of art. Perhaps I should have titled my post differently but I didn't know what to say. We don't want to try and replicate the traditional Spanish style with red tiled roof look as that is not this house and it does have a dimensional asphalt shingle roof in a pewter color. To be fair, I really don't know what we are after but we do want a light color that will go with the dark bronze of the windows and look fresher and more up to date. The existing color is dull and just too "brown" for us. It looks dated and tired to us....See More
4 years ago- 4 years ago
- 4 years ago
My husband said it’s called “airplane hangar.”
What if if you opened up that gable? Kind of like these:
This looks cool:
4 years ago
4 years ago- 4 years agolast modified: 4 years ago
- 4 years ago
4 years ago- 4 years ago
- 4 years ago
4 years agoI would paint the airplane section of the house a color closer in tone to the stone.
I think lighter windows and fascia would be less oppressive
Paint the door a color that draws attention.
I have some garden ideas but I think it is better if you post a new thread on the Landscape Design forum. .A wider path to the door would be much better looking.
What is your USDA growing zone?
4 years ago
I love it! I would try a subtle monochromatic colour scheme, and suggest painting the windows, eaves and trim black. The siding and garage doors should be the same value as the stonework. Use colour for a brilliant new front door (modern lighting and hardware), add some simple landscaping and the entry will look more inviting. The front door appears to be ‘floating’ so a small deck at the entry, with river stone and tall grass or bamboo for a soft yet clean look. Avoid anything fussy. This is a sweet mid-century modern, so be true to it’s spirit and think mod. Have fun! Please post after photos.
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