1979 contemporary home update advice needed

2 years ago

Our cedar contemporary home needs a facelift! We have always loved the open floor plan and flow of our home but never loved the look of the exterior. I’d like to preserve the natural look and design, but maybe change some of the siding texture, color, or add some design elements to bring it up to date. I love the look of cedar but ours is dry as toast and no longer looks good. Also, after years of patching animal holes and and now due to water infiltration/rot in places, we’ve started replacing the cedar siding with Hardie siding on the back and are in process of replacing decking

. We are do it yourselfers for most part, but I need advice on how to bring home to life! Would love to know what you think!

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pds290

2 years ago

I love the look of steel cable railings but couldn’t afford it and was also concerned about safety for the upper level deck I have. Instead, I used 1” pipes. It was significantly less expensive, very sturdy, and I’ve received many compliments.

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Comments (16)

PRO
Mae Day Organizing and Interior Design
2 years ago
Hello Catherine,

Wow that is a lot of work. Especially since most of your house is covered in siding. Have you ever tried to power wash the cedar? Best done when it is warm or hot outside. When was the last time you painted?

It would be so nice to be able to see your front door from the front of the house. Is this a picture from the street or from an open front yard?

There are many products that help you with dry rot as well as weather proofing. Some can be found in retail stores that do boat repairs since they are always in need of protection and repair from the water.

What about pulling the cedar off of the back of the house where the chimney is and replacing the shiplap with stone that would match what you have out front. Then taking the good pieces of cedar from that demo and using it to replace the wood that is damaged or has dry rot?

Just some thoughts for your consideration. My husband and I rebuilt our little house by pulling all of the siding off, cleaning up the wood, removed the nails, cut away any bad wood and then we turned it over to the other side (was the unpainted side) and rehung it. We saved ourselves a ton of money and the siding looks great. We did a stain on ours but it was a LOT smaller than your house.

Just some thoughts for your consideration. Then paint the remaining wood a lighter color that would compliment the stone?
Catherine Chaviano thanked Mae Day Organizing and Interior Design
houssaon
2 years ago
So you are committed to lap siding and the current color?
Catherine Chaviano thanked houssaon
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PRO
HALLETT & Co.
2 years ago
I love your house! I think the front door is too traditional- a full light wood door with a large glass panel would be my first choice with really great hardware. I could also see redoing the chimney with stone as long as you could match the stone on the front pretty closely. I like your current paint color but it’s a bit safe, what if you went darker- Sherwin Williams black fox is great.

My experience with cedar siding is much like yours- it gets to the point where it’s very brittle and pests love it. Hardi is a great substitute.

Finally when you want an upgrade the deck railing in the back would look great in stainless steel cable.
Catherine Chaviano thanked HALLETT & Co.
PRO
Mae Day Organizing and Interior Design
2 years ago
Mixing siding styles does update and add interest to your curb appeal. Here are a couple of pictures with examples.
Catherine Chaviano thanked Mae Day Organizing and Interior Design
Catherine Chaviano
Original Author
2 years ago
Wow! I've never tried this discussion feature and am blown away by the time you all have already given to lend advice! Thank you all!

Mae Day- Stone on chimney would be lovely but expensive and would rather spend elsewhere. We are on trying to update frugally! I love natural cedar, but much of ours is beyond repair, and as you noted.. there is A LOT of it! Too much for us to try to salvage. Do you have other ideas what we could do to reuse what is good? I hate to dump it! We have already replaced the chimney in the back (which looked like swiss cheese every spring and we needed to keep the bats out! Do we have stories to tell!! Love wildlife, but...) and are currently working on left section on the back where we have replaced and painted, getting getting ready to replace upper deck and rail. You can see that this is still in progress.

(Hallet & Co- Yes! Love the look of stainless cable rail, but is it to code for upper deck? We were planning on vertical square iron balusters- not my favorite, but better than what we had.) We added the trim on the windows in that area and will add trim to the lower level doors as well. Currently our siding goes right up to windows/doors and there has been no trim, which looks lackluster/cheap to me. We like the look of other homes that have it, so we decided to experiment with adding. Now I'm struggling with what color to paint it. Also, I agree with door replacement and love look of black fox color you suggested. What color would you suggest for trip and deck? I go back and forth between going darker and lighter, which is why I have stuck with the "safe" color that we currently have!

Houssaon- No, I'm not married to current lap siding for whole house or the color. We are keeping the color consistent until we have all of siding replaced (as this may take us quite some time), then will have whole house repainted if I can ever decide on a color! I'd love to add some shingle or vertical siding on front to add interest, but not sure what or where. Don't want to overdo it either. Also would love to add some type of pergola and extend small deck/platform on front entry maybe?

Sorry- I'm very wordy.. So here are my questions.

What siding texture changes would you make and where?

What colors would you recommend for primary siding, trim around windows, doors, etc.

What color would you re-stain deck?

Would you add pergola or something to front entry? Extend front steps to create small deck?

Again, Thank you so much for all your time and consideration! I love your ideas!!
PRO
Mae Day Organizing and Interior Design
2 years ago
It would be great to extent the front door awning the full length of the wall that is next to the entrance and change the siding on that wall to a vertical board and batten. Best wishes on your remodel. Marcie
Catherine Chaviano thanked Mae Day Organizing and Interior Design
Catherine Chaviano
Original Author
2 years ago
Oooh. I love this idea! And what a gorgeous setting and ultra cool house!! Thanks! I'll look into this option!

Marcie- Thank you! I was thinking the same for entry! It helps to have your agreement! You've been so helpful!! Thank you for your time!!
PRO
BeverlyFLADeziner
2 years ago
Perhaps a warmer stain to complement the stone would help.

The terracotta tiles are not the right complement to this home. Should be a limestone path
Catherine Chaviano thanked BeverlyFLADeziner
Catherine Chaviano
Original Author
2 years ago
Yep! Totally agree on path! That's on the to do list also!!

Like the color! Is this just with photoshop, or is there some kind of app/program I could get cheap to try different looks out?
houssaon
2 years ago
I think your house would look good in a combination of board and batten and lap siding.

Have you thought of going with a very light color?

I like the color Moon Shadow.

Or an off white, like French Canvas.
houssaon
2 years ago
If you have a Microsoft operating system, there is an app called Paint. Very basic, not as robust as Adobe Photoshop, but it is good for cut and paste and color flooding.
Catherine Chaviano thanked houssaon
PRO
HALLETT & Co.
2 years ago
Sorry but your house doesn’t need wide traditional trim- the forms are what this house is about. If you do add trims stick with the monochromatic scheme (making adding additional trim moot) Cable rail is legal some places not others, i think the vertical metal will look good too.
Catherine Chaviano thanked HALLETT & Co.
PRO
Mae Day Organizing and Interior Design
2 years ago
Hello Catherine,

Hope your day is going well. What an impressive endeavor. Believe me you will feel a sense of satisfaction when you are done as well as be happy that you are done. But for years to come you will know that your hearts and love for the house made a difference, kudos to you and anyone who is doing this with you.

Left over cedar? What to do? = sheds, tree house, play house, studio anything tiny and fun.

Best wishes,

Marcie :-)
Catherine Chaviano thanked Mae Day Organizing and Interior Design
houssaon
2 years ago
The colors in the stone and the roof color reminded me of your house. Love this rich brown and the trim color.
Modern Home Exterior with Modern Front Door · More Info
Catherine Chaviano thanked houssaon
Catherine Chaviano
Original Author
2 years ago
Again!! THANK YOU ALL!

Your comments have given me some direction and helped me rethink some things...

I think I AM going to try to keep the cedar siding on the sides and front of the house where it is in better shape. Much of what we removed was not salvageable, but I'm going to take what is good and re-purpose for a feature wood wall in basement! Also thinking maybe I could create my own shingles from it. Anyway, I have ideas to look into and I'll feel so much better putting it to use!

I LOVE the look of this photo, houssaon! This is the look I am shooting for, so thank you for finding and sharing!!

I'm so grateful to all of you! Not sure how to thank you properly! Positive review for your business? Clearly you all have a love for this stuff and are very giving of your time with no expectations! You are the people I would hire if I could!!