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exterior house update

4 years ago

I am removing my 1987 retaining wall, which is no longer needed. There is cement block foundation behind the retaining wall with a 5" cement lip on top, then cedar siding above. what could I put over the cement block foundation? there is field stone in front of house. Could I add brick, other stone, board and bat? The cedar shakes are being replaced this spring.

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Comments (5)

cat_ky
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
I wouldnt remove the retaining walls. They actually are nice looking and they add a lot of charm to the house. They certainly look nicer than most anything else you could put in front of ugly concrete block. It is a nice looking house.
DavidR
4 years ago
Ditto here. It's a little busy, but a nice house as-is. Besides, I don't think you'll get back what you spend when you sell.
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I'm not a fan of painting brick as it turns a no maintenance product into a long term maintenance issue. The brick seems to have more browns than grays in it but the roof is gray. You need to find a color that marries the two. Something in the taupe family would work. Also, a couple of other things. If you plan on keeping shutters I would switch to a wider shutter that is correctly sized for you windows. The current ones are too narrow. Also, the area without a railing in front of the door needs to have one installed. Building codes require them if the change in elevation is more than 30", which yours definitely is. If you're interested in seeing some virtual makeovers of your house check out my website, Creative Visual Concepts.
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Izzy Mn
4 years ago
There are some nice looking single story smaller offices near me with similar look. The soil is bermed up against the bottom half so essentially it's half buried on about 3/4 of the structure. It's a take on the a underground homes that takes advantage of soil/Earth as a insulator, warmer in winter, cooler in summer. Seems it started to become more popular in the 80's. Do you really want to change that?

I was really for getting a Earth insulated home back in the 80's but hasn't worked out.
shivece
4 years ago
I am stuck on how you determined the retaining wall is no longer needed. It is my understanding that something like what you have is usually engineered.
cat_ky
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
Thats my understanding too. It looks to me, like it is also holding the front yard from all ending up in the driveway which is at a much lower level.

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