Renovation questions on siding mainly for house in Chicago 'Burbs
We are doing a bit of work on our house and I was wondering about some ideas people might have for siding layout. We are going with Hardie siding, adding a 8ft deep front porch, and adding a master suite on the back of the house as an addition with a bump out window seat. I am curious about layouts for siding though. We really like the board and batten style, but I'm not quite sure how to break it all up. I loaded the plans into the hover app and am able to do some basic things to mess around with it, but I don't quite have a designers eye or understanding of what and how your eyes are drawn to different areas etc... I can't for instance add the boards that run through the middle of the siding to break up the floors and things like that. Does anyone have any tips or pointers? Any design ideas or cues I should be paying attention to? We havent decided on what color we are after yet either. The odd thing about Hardie is that you can only order like 16 colors or something. It appears they can be painted for a large additional cost and time, but I'd like to avoid it if I can only because I feel that would compromise the longevity of it though I have no idea.
TIA
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Comments (21)Chitown, I'm new to the forum and I don't know how to get photos posted. I'll try to see if I can figure it out and post them. I strung the small X-Mas lights around the bottom and continued all the way up the tree. Then I wrapped the entire tree from top to bottom with black breathable landscape fabric. I then purchased some home insululation and wrapped the tree with the insulation. Finally I bought some clear plastic painters drop cloth and with some glue created a "sleeve" which I slipped over the insulation. I poked some small holes in the plastic for air. I used bungy cords to hold everything in place. At the base of the tree I put a heavy layer of mulch and then a heavy layer of leaves which is held in place by some plastic netting. It might sound labor intensive but once I figured out what I wanted to do, it only took about 30 minutes to put it together. If I can figure out the photo posting I'll get a pictue of that up as well. I can't say that the whole thing looks normal but hopefully in the long run it will be worth it. If not I'll just get another one. I was suprised on how much heat those little lights generated under the insulation. The other night it got down to 20 and under the insulation with the lights on it didn't go below 43....See MoreSiding questions for 1870's farmhouse. WWYD?
Comments (18)Sarah, Have you considered doing it one or two sides at a time? That way perhaps you could afford having it replaced with wood. Although you said you didn't want to DIY on a repaint, I would reconsider that, too. You guys are intrepid and I assume you already know how to paint, right? LOL! Since a repaint now (as a holding action while you save up for a removal and replace with wood) would not have the huge, worrying issues of lead paint, then repainting is just basically standing up there and having at it. Is it the ladder work that's stalling you? Then I would consider buying some scaffolding to make it easier, and feel safer while you're doing it. After you've done with the paint job, you could resell the scaffolding, though I predict you'll find it handy to have and want to keep it. There's still some ladders involved even when working with scaffolding, but it does make it much easier to work on. Your house is the same height as mine and I can assure you it looks far scarier from the ground than when working up on good (at least Type II) ladder equipped with a stand-off bracket. I started work on the slate roofs of my house last fall and even though I feel pretty comfy on ladders (being a former volunteer firefighter), roof work required some getting used to. But it's surprising how quickly I adjusted. One thing, though, I find moving and raising ladders sturdy enough for all-day work and long enough to reach gable peaks, requires two people. In a pinch I can do it by myself, but it's by far the hardest thing of the day's work, and always dicey as it's at the extreme edge of my strength. HTH, Molly~...See MoreWhich would be better for home sale - Siding Question
Comments (31)We have cedar siding. We live on the CT shore. I wish we had vinyl because it's easier to powerwash. We have to wash every other year. Off the coast two miles we might not have to do it but every 5-6 years. Brick is not common in New England. It was reserved for public buildings & not many of those. Most were hand-chiseled granite block which we have lots of. New England had/has lots of trees for siding. We do not have clay for brick building. Clay had to be shipped up from the Manhattan area in the colonial days where there was a thriving pottery industry as early as 1st Q 18th century. It was easier to get bricks in Vermont than Connecticut or Massachuesetts because they brought it up the Hudson to Vermont hence the pottery industries in Bennington. End of history lesson. Today's vinyl is very nice & virtually maintenance free. Quirky, if you lived in New England you'd have a tough time with your vinyl phobia. Depending on exact size & age it costs $15-$40K+ to repaint a colonial-style home in New England & it has to be done every 5 years, or so. The older the home the more expensive the paint job. Old wood & paint are like oil/water. Paint just doesn't stick on old wood no matter what the prep. We have lots of experience with old wood siding in New England. New homes are vinyl. There are five $2.5M homes being built near me. They are vinyl wrapped. We can be crusty on occassion here; but we are not stupid. Also, a New England Cape Cod, Saltbox, or Colonial home would look just plain silly with brick, rock, or some other hard-looking material. It would be like having Cape Cod weathered shingles on a sprawling ranch in New Mexico. Tricia...See MoreLayout Question: Would you buy a house with this kitchen?
Comments (26)pillog, I think you're right. If this location were spot-on for me, or the rest of the house were 100% perfect, I'd probably make it work. But I think to have an "urban" sized kitchen, you need to live in an urban--or at least "villlage"--area. In the burbs, people want to nest, and it's hard to nest when you can't roll out your pasta and hang it on broomsticks, or comfortably entertain the family at Christmas, or try your own hand at a "Julie & Julia Project." And I'm very aware that a problem when I buy will be a problem when I sell. As I said, that's why we sold our condo with the miniscule kitchen at the peak, because we saw the bust was coming and knew we'd never get a decent price in a soft market with that kitchen. What I'm going to do is try to stop out there and walk to the town center, and see how long it is. Of course, it's 76 and gorgeous today, so I have to picture July downpours and February ice storms. If it passes that test, I might try to ask a design-build firm to give me some ideas and very rough prices. I've done that before with architects and contractors, and it only cost a few hundred bucks if I'm clear that I'm only asking for minimal work on their part....See MoreRelated Professionals
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PROlast monthYour current home is Garrison Colonial and adding the porch will make the interior quite dark if that is of any concern.
Here is a home similar to your with a full porch on the front.
You can use board and batten on the gable over the door.
PROlast monthlast modified: last monthDan McGoldrick thanked Patricia Colwell Consulting- last monthlast modified: last month
Yes @Patricia Colwell Consulting we had a farmhouse style in mind. Maybe not initially by name, but that ended up being the pictures and style that my wife and I always gravitated towards. And the wife has ALWAYS wanted a front porch and we are going to be in this home for at least the next 10 years if not longer.
I met with my architect this am and he gave us a few more sketches to look at for the front porch.
One was a pitched shed style metal roof. No gable. Like this:
Tiger Oak · More Info
One was styled like this, gable w/ curved ceiling:
Front Elevation · More Info
And one like this for the gabled section:
Seven Gables · More Info
The other issue that they brought up was that the garrison overhang eats up 20" worth of that open area under the gable. That part I hadn't considered.
EDIT: I actually just found this one on here that I think looks nice:
Traditional Front Porch · More Info - last month
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Kendrah