Hum... Sounds like a copper fin-tube boiler. As long as the exteriors of the tubes look OK (not corroded), a copper tube boiler should easily last 20 years or more. There are quite a few companies that still make and offer copper fin-tube boilers. Virtually all boiler types are more efficient that those of 20 years ago. The one you have is probably an 80 to 85% efficient model. Does it vent through a chimney, or through a PVC pipe through the side wall of the house?

I've done some virtuals. When we were looking at siding 5 yrs ago my contractor gave me a CD from Certainteed. (He told me contractors get them free from manufacturers to help clients with choices.) It allowed me to import photos of my own home and apply Certainteed products such as roofing, siding, windows, etc. I was going to suggest your talk to your GAF roofing contractor and snag some software, but when I checked GAFs site, lo and behold you can download it for free and import your own photos. (You can also pay them to do the 'virtuals', which costs a bundle. Software isn't that hard.) See "Virtual Home Remodeler" in menu on left side of their page if you want to try it. I downloaded to try it since we'll be shopping for a new roof this spring, too. For our home, once I had siding styles and colors narrowed down to a handful via software and large real life samples (a must to obtain), I asked the contractor for job sites I could drive by that contained those siding styles, as lkplatow mentions. That was a tremendous help, I ruled out my favorite immediately because it rendered way too green in real life. I didn't hesitate to knock on doors, tell owner what I was doing, and ask questions. (I mentioned contractor's name right up front and that I was shopping, so they wouldn't think I was just someone who had randomly stopped by.) No one was rude. They were flattered and more than willing to share their experience. Now the Virtuals: Certaineed software sometimes gets glitchy, suspect it's made more for Win98 than WinXP. Did the best I could with it. I created a Primary album for you here. If you look over on the left you'll see I created two sub albums, Certainteed and GAF. I PURPOSELY included bad colors and ho-hum styles in the album just to show you how a roof can completely alter the look of a house, as SQH was getting at above. Your home is lovely and your roof has character, and no doubt it's going to cost a bundle, so a well thought out choice is good ;D The GAF software is a bit more complex, but it didn't take long to get the hang of it if you want to try it. The problem I ran into is you have to put in height and width of each section ("region") of roofing, and since I didn't have those dimensions I guessed. Large areas came out just OK, small ones are not remotely scaled to size because of incorrect dimensions. I might fiddle with that some more, to see if I can tweak it. Just like virtual paint, it's best to use it as a tool out what does NOT work (too dark, too bland, etc.) Here are a couple samples: Your Camelot Sheffield Camelot Williamsburg Slate Certainteed Ambassador Shake, "Shenandoah" Certaineed Shangle "Colonial" More at your album, see link below... Here is a link that might be useful: n2bach1 Primary Album. See Sub Albums link on left

@gracie01 brick veneer (not structural), if old and moisture gets in, can falter and fall. It's not the brick that fails, it's the wall ties holding the brick to the backing material, either wood or metal framing or another brick or stone wythe that fails.Failed wire brick tie. In some cases, through negligence or ignorance there may not even be ties! Edinburgh Oxgangs Primary School veneer wall collapse. No ties used at all, according to a BBC investigation. Brick veneer is largely a 20th C. phenomena, with the first documented use occurring in 1899. As the metal ties rust away, support is lost and the veneer moves. In only one municipality I've built in, were longer-lived stainless ties required. Otherwise there were no requirements re ties. If the mason were supplying ties, count on the cheapest and flimsiest available. In the house we're currently living in, the masons used nails to tie the brick to the structural block. Where the back of the block is visible in the garage, around the end of each nail a quarter sized section of block has fallen off as the nail rusted. The house will be demolished by the next buyer, so there's no concern.

When a poster asks about interior or exterior finishes it's always a help to know and understand all of the other finish choices, since they all have to be harmonious with each other. We still don't know what your exterior wall material and finish will be, and that will have a major effect on the color of gutters and downspouts. If your exterior siding and finish will be some sort of "natural" color, then I think the suggestion above to paint both gutters and downspouts a copper color is a good solution. Ron's suggestion of one color for the gutter, matching the natural stain finish, and a second color for the downspouts, matching the siding finish, is also a good possibility. Good luck on your project.