improving appearance of this house
4 years ago
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Drainage trough - how to improve appearance?
Comments (11)While technically I don't disagree with GG that adding ROCK to it will work and allow water to continue. It will slow the water and it won't prevent things from eventually sifting down toward the bottom of the trough and silting up the rocks. Cleaning it out then will be a royal pain. Given that when drainage apparati clog or stop working for unknown reasons, it can cause a lot of havoc. I would discourage doing anything that would diminish the water carrying capacity of the trough ... though I think it is not a well thought out solution. One thing we don't seem to know: Is this trough the SOURCE of water that runs through the pipe? Is it the COLLECTION POINT? If it is you could convert it to a normal yard drain which would be smaller and more easily maintained. It would require grading the watershed area that feeds it (which could be extremely small) to the drain. Again, since we're working with something that is not well thought out, we need to know what it is supposed to be doing before making changes. If it is so badly thought out that it is not really serving a genuine purpose, it could be removed. But we don't know that yet. Where is all the water that's going to enter this thing going to come from and how will it get in there? This must be SHOWN and explained, not just explained. I will add that this structure looks potentially dangerous to anyone who might not expect it....See MoreUgly Roof Line - need suggestions :)
Comments (4)Some people convert these to garrison colonial style and build a new roof on the top. Or they disguise the overhang with a pent eave: This was discussed a few years back, and this example was posted: I think this still tends to look like a disguise. I think houses like yours look better with nicer roofs, like certain kinds of metal roofs....See MoreHow to improve appearance of the side yard's graveled, planter area?
Comments (5)Hadn't thought about making the area deeper. That would look much better. Thinking of doing that now & possibly topping the rocks with some type of mulch and maybe putting in a small yard statue or two. Am not really picky about what to do, just want it to look pretty and not be an eyesore. Won't be able to power wash or paint until after this project is done and paid for. But, that's a future goal for possibly next year....See MoreI have no taste! Need help to improve house's exterior appearance!
Comments (17)Thanks so much for all the comments! They have been great at helping me think of options I had not considered at all. You all are great to share your thoughts and ideas! I've been trying to get more pictures in better light, which has been challenging. I am also posting a few pics of the side and back of the house. There are shadows in the pics, but they seem unavoidable. The brick is interesting - depending on the light, it can look quite different Sometimes it takes on a pinkish hue, while other times it is more terra cotta and other times more brownish in color. And the brick is darker closer to the ground and lighter higher up. Based on your great ideas, I am now leaning towards a conservative approach and considering changing the paint colors only for now and see how that works (and still replace the roof, which is a necessity). I realize that if painting and making other changes doesn't turn out the way I would like, I can always go back and reconsider more major approaches like painting the brick and/or enlarging windows. I had been riding around town, looking for houses with painted brick, trying to get ideas. I'm including here a picture of a house I saw and liked. While it is a far different (and more attractive!) style than mine, I noticed that its' color isn't too different from our brick. That has lead me to consider the possibility of painting the area between the windows to be almond, matching the windows, and also to use the almond color in all areas that are currently painted the color that was trying to match the brick. And then use black for the trim where I currently have teal If I were to just change paint colors (and not paint brick or change windows), I am thinking of something like the picture below. I would really like to have more of the accent color on the front of the house. I originally felt I couldn't have shutters because of the window placement, but now I am wondering if it is a possibility after all. I would love to hear your thoughts on possibly adding some shutters after all. Sorry that the colors aren't great, but I was trying to best be able to try on some various Sherwin William colors. I'm including one more picture - this one before we took down the foundation shrubs a few days ago. We anticipate having a new substantial foundation planting, just not as straight across as this was and not as overgrown. We will have a variety of different plant types and different plant heights also. I realize that the plants will make a big difference. We do plan to remove the vines currently growing on trellises on the house, once we get the new planting done. Left them up just for now. I really appreciate the suggestion to move the planters down (getting rid of all our big shrubs makes things look very different!) And I like the idea of adding a flower box on the areas to the side of the entrance, but they would only look good here for about half the year, I'm afraid. That did get me thinking about the possibility of having a rectangular accent piece of scrollwork in those areas instead. I would appreciate any thoughts you have about these possible paint colors (without painting the brick, at least for now) as well as possibly adding shutters. Also possibly adding scrollwork pieces on the two sides of the entrance. Again, thanks so much for all of your great input! It is so much help to me!...See MoreRelated Professionals
Clinton Township Interior Designers & Decorators · The Crossings General Contractors · Clarksville General Contractors · Mililani Town General Contractors · Sterling General Contractors · River Forest Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Washington Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Fort Worth Landscape Contractors · Paso Robles Landscape Contractors · Fresno Decks, Patios & Outdoor Enclosures · Methuen Decks, Patios & Outdoor Enclosures · Southampton Decks, Patios & Outdoor Enclosures · Shady Hills Design-Build Firms · Commerce City Home Builders · Brownsville General Contractors- 4 years ago
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