Exterior design on a ex council home

6 years ago

Hi all,

I got the house in the picture attached. I'm on the process of changing windows - which will be either grey aluminium on the front or grey upvc. That brought a range or questions that I'm struggling with... truly, it's ugly and it needs work, but I don't know how / what to do?

Ideas would be very welcome... some of my dilemmas are:

- do I keep the original bricks or plaster and paint on top?

- windows will look modern - hence should I take out the original tile spill under the windows or put the new modern one?

- if I keep the original bricks, how can I make them look better?

- The porch is super ugly... ideas on what I can do to transform it or just get rid of it?

The same style house on my street has been re-done and went super modern - painted grey, aluminium windows, bamboo garden, etc... not sure I want to go this far, but got to change something!

The garden will be totally re-done (not sure how yet), so this is more a question about the house exterior.

We also did a lot of work on the interior and back garden already, so it's just this bit that's bothering me now...

Thank you for your clever ideas! :-)

Featured Answer

PRO

Croydon Window Company Ltd

6 years ago

Hi Depends on your budget, but should you render perhaps go modern with aluminium windows and modern composite door, or what we find our clients tend to go for traditional but changing the windows from the timber verticals sliders to PVCu vertical sliders in foil finishes for an authentic traditional look.

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Comments (36)

G Arnold
6 years ago
I would definitely render over the bricks, paint render white (or a pale grey), rip the porch away and fit a new composite door, a wider one if you can get away with increasing the opening width, change windows to slimline aluminium (Velfac are good, so are Smart Systems) with minimal panes (ideally top hung, single opening if you can get away with it) in a shade of grey (perhaps not anthracite, but a paler shade)...
G Arnold
6 years ago
or if you are feeling VERY brave... redo the porch and make it flat roofed and a "statement"
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G Arnold
6 years ago
Also...we updated ours with a paint job, new guttering, fascias, new aluminium windows and new composite door. Looks a bit better although I now wish I had gone for paler grey as opposed the anthracite... would stand out less as other than our neighbours (who have pale grey crittal steel windows) the rest are white UPVC.
Grazi Baia
Original Author
6 years ago
Great ideas Gary, thank you. Very good tip on the window colour as that's what I'm doing first - would they have a pale grey on the upvc too? As it'll be aluminium in the front and upvc at the side and back (cannot afford aluminium on both!)... I don't think I would go for the statement porch - once we do our rear extension, I'll be very happy to get rid of it!

I was thinking of a way of keeping the original bricks, but the more I search and see pictures like yours the more I think it'd be very hard to get a good look with them. I'll brainstorm.

I love what you've done - looks great!

Thanks again :-)
G Arnold
6 years ago
No problem. Yep, you should be able to get the same RAL colour across UPVC and Aluminium, lots of choice these days. I think getting rid of the porch is good, the first photo I posted is a good example of how a simple frontage with high quality finish can look v.good. we still have to do our back garden and hopefully get a drive put in... then relax. solid buildings though ex-council.
Jonathan
6 years ago
Personally I think a better porch would make the biggest difference- I would keep the current structure, replace the door and window with double doors and rework the roof.
I think you should be careful to not overspend for the house. Only spend money on expensive windows and render if this is your forever home otherwise I would put in UPVC windows in white and then a rendered porch.
PRO
User
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
I'd think long and hard before rendering lovely brickwork, not least of which because it's stood the test of time and looks really wonderful, but secondly because rendering can cause problems.

I know that it's on trend to render currently but why??? I personally feel that it's a fad, just like Grey, grey and bit more grey. Grey is a trend, and it will end, then you'll be stuck with a big ticket item ( windows,) in grey.

I'd change the porch to match the original 'London stock' style brick. I'd put in new windows, but I would match them to the mortar of the original brickwork, it's an attractive putty colour. It will never, 'not suit' the house as it matches it perfectly.

I'd get rid of the wall at the front and put in some nice planting.

By all means have a coloured front door to set off the brickwork. Black would work well, as would grey, however, at least you've kept the 'on trend' colour palette to just the front door.

( excuse the awful mock up )

I would probably be most inclined toward putting the windows back to their original style which judging from the age of the house may well have been sash.

I like to restore back -
It's not an ugly house, it has beautiful brickwork, a lovely slate roof, a horrid porch and nasty windows. Rendering a great turn of the century house like that is a sin. I'd also remove the silly upvc boards that have been put up on top of what is probably a great 'soldier' course of brickwork above the windows. I'd try to get those back too if possible.

Here's a porch that was built as an add on, but as you see, great lengths were gone to trying to match the original brickwork.

BEFORE

DURING

AFTER
G Arnold
6 years ago
Jonathan has a good point re: overspending if it isn't your forever home as the buyers may not care about the same things you do. However I think you appreciate that given your approach to getting aluminium windows for the front... with the rest UPVC (what we did, well... we just didnt change the windows on the back.

I also think Man About The House has a point with grey and trends, it's even harder with semi-detached or terraces because there is a balance with not standing out too much.

However, please don't default with white UPVC, if any trend should end it's that one... fat frames and very unimaginative, albeit perhaps what a buyer expects? the putty colour is a nice idea and one that as said above would save you the cost of rendering as it would tie in the brickwork... that's if you can get to like the brickwork for what it is.
Dundrum 16
6 years ago
MATH thank goodness for someone standing up against the ubiquitous grey and asking for a bit of respect for the architecture of the house and the rest of the street.
Grazi Baia
Original Author
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Thank you all. Lots of ideas / things to consider here that I never thought of…

My current thinking after reading it all many times is:
- Keep original brickwork - you’re right @Man About The House, it’s nice and it’ll survive time!
- Porch - do what @Man About The House suggested, I like the sketches with it changed, thanks for doing those! If it costs too much, I might just remove it and put the top as the original ones had it (just a sort of roof with some plants) -
- Windows - I agree with Gary... plus I want to be practical and have light coming without grids… so will stick to aluminium in the front, upvc at the back - grey or dark grey matching the front door (sorry will keep this grey!)
- Also like the idea of maybe removing the front wall and replace with plants - I keep thinking on what to do with that wall as it’s awful as well. But that one I need to check with the council, all houses even the ones made modern in the street have the wall so it might not be an option
Questions:
- The white above windows - I don’t think that’s just a pvc cover, but concrete…can I remove and tile with something that would look like the brick work? Is there a way to remove it? We’ll try tomorrow and I’m hoping you’re right about finding the brickwork, but I’m not sure we will!
- The window spills - keep the original ones and re-paint - in red? or another colour to not stand out too much from the grey windows and the top (whatever I can do with it)?
For the style of the street and its style - honestly, I think there is mine and another 2 with the original brickwork. The ones that are still council has a thick pvc cladding placed on top and then rendered / painted. Lots of pebbledash ones and lots have been rendered over the pebbledash and done super ultra modern style - will try to post pictures tomorrow (google maps have them ‘before’ their transformation!

Any ideas, comments, criticism on the above would be very welcome! :-)

Thank you so much all, I’m so happy to start seeing that it ‘can’ look good eventually!

Grazi
PRO
User
6 years ago
I think black sills with a black front door, or grey door to match the windows, but still with black sills.

Delighted that you're considering not rendering.

I think the black sills will make the windows stand out.

Can't wait to see what you find under the concrete!
Grazi Baia
Original Author
6 years ago
Thank you! :-) Do you mean keep the original sills and just paint them black? Also paint the red bits around the windows to match it?

Or you mean putting a new sill altogether that's black - it's an old tiled style...

Thank you again! :-)
Grazi Baia
Original Author
6 years ago
Thank you @Croydon Window - what about a mix? aluminium window and keeping the original bricks? That's what I'm thinking at the moment... Thanks you!
PRO
Croydon Window Company Ltd
6 years ago
yes that can work too @grazii here ares some we did with aluminium and original bricks...
PRO
User
6 years ago
I really like the sound of the original brick and the dark windows, I imagine it will look very smart.
Grazi Baia
Original Author
6 years ago
Hi all, thanks for your comments so far.

The white on the top of the windows is a bit concrete block, unfortunately no bricks under there for sure... in this case, what colour you think I should paint it considering I'll be putting grey wiindows? I think white might clash a bit?

I'm super confused as did hope for bricks underneath... any help is extremely welcome!

Thank you!

Grazi
Sonia
6 years ago
I've come into this a bit late but the bricks are a beautiful honey colour which adds character and warmth to the house. The porch is ugly and I love Man About the House's ideas. My neighbour has just had dark grey bifold doors and windows put in and it looks rather dull to be honest. I've seen black aluminium windows used (thin frames) and they look pretty good. Hope you come to a decision soon!
G Arnold
6 years ago
grazi, how about colour matching the brick or the mortar and painting the concrete lintels that colour? alternatively, chip it back, find some "brick slips" the same colour as your existing brick work and try to tie them in... I imagine that will be a nightmare to do, so personally I would try painting then the same colour as the mortar.
Lisa Burdett
6 years ago
This is my previous house, it had an ugly lean too over the front door and my partner built me this porch. It transformed the house.
Grazi Baia
Original Author
6 years ago
Final decisions - with couple of questions. Wonderful ideas, thank you everyone, you made me see things very differently!

1. Black door as suggested by @Man about the house

2.. Top of windows: Putty colour idea, matching brick mortar as suggested by @Gary.

Q1: if I put the mortar colour, should I put the sills black or have the putty colour on them too?

3. Window colour: Q2: would grey work with the above? I'm getting a quote for them in the mortar colour too.

When i can afford, clean and repoint bricks - keeping original.

4. Porch: new roof, new window, maybe render just the porch. Or remove it altogether eventually and have just the nice black door. Thoughts?

Thank you all!

Grazi
Grazi Baia
Original Author
5 years ago
Here is the result so far... now I'm having to choose the colour of the front door / wooden frame left... thank you all for your ideas! :-)

After the front door is finished, we'll be tidying up the front garden and cleaning / trying to improve the garden wall / painting the gate, etc... I'll surely be asking more questions! :-)
E D
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
That looks fanastic already. The windows work very well with the brickwork and I'm glad to see you didn't go for rendering of the main wall.

Do you perhaps have a photo showing the (front of the) house in its entirety?
Grazi Baia thanked E D
mehdiadeco
5 years ago
Hi Grazi,

Just wanted to point out, I'm not a UK native and one thing I love about houses in the UK is the very very colourful doors that I always see around. Yellow, hot pink, deep blue, dark purple... Have you considered going with a strong colour for your front door? :D

Mehdia
Grazi Baia
Original Author
5 years ago
Definitely want a colourful door! But I think it needs to be darker? I'll get a picture of the full house with gate / wall, etc to post... Thank you! :-)
mehdiadeco
5 years ago
Try to get a full picture than use an online program to change the color and play around with it a little :)
Grazi Baia thanked mehdiadeco
Grazi Baia
Original Author
5 years ago
Good idea, do you reccommend any online program that can do that? I'm familiar with PS, but don't want to pay so much just for this! Thank you!
mehdiadeco
5 years ago
Try this one? SW visualizer I've used it only once but I found it helpful
PRO
Andrea Sartori Ltd
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
White and brick is a classic and you really can't go wrong with it. But it does look a bit old and faded. Try looking up companies that do brick cleaning and sand blasting and perhaps reponting in a colour. (they mix the colour to match the bricks or another colour. The thin lines, when viewed from far, can alter the perceived colour of the bricks.- For example if you wanted a ';yellow brick house' but you 're stuck with brown, repointing in yellow will pick up the yellow tones in the brown brick and it will be yellow. Same goes for the other colours found in the brick. examine which colours are present in your current brick closely. Use a magnifying glass if you have to! You will be amazed and all the colours present in there. Then sandblast and have fun. Do this before you change the windows, as sand blasting can be damaging to the upvc, and then repoint after replacing windows. Depending on the colour the walls come out- Ask for samples on a north and south walls- then choose a black frame (for example with black poinitng) or white with the lighter colours. After a decade or two, then I would look at rendering, but for the moment, try the conservative route since the rendered look can't easily be reversed
Grazi Baia thanked Andrea Sartori Ltd
Grazi Baia
Original Author
5 years ago
Thank you @Andrea - I've got few quotes to clean and repoint the bricks, super expensive, but definitely want to do it sometime in the future... Good point that this might change the way I see colours for the door now...
Grazi Baia
Original Author
5 years ago
Hi @Grace, it sounds cool. I'll take a closer look tomorrow... Thanks!
PRO
Andrea Sartori Ltd
5 years ago
Concerning the garden- off road parking is a possibility if that councilo pole was not in the way. It is possible to apply to move it and you would improve the value of your home by being able to get in to your yard with a car (left hand side). Bereaucracy takes forever, so even if you don't want to do it now, start the process and in a few years you will have uninterrupted access to your property.
Grazi Baia
Original Author
5 years ago
Hi all, I'm going ahead with the idea of grey porch and yellow door... the question is - what about the window that is on the porch? The frame / trim of the door? Should I paint all that grey and just the door yellow?

Also the grey of the porch - I'm thinking of the same grey as the window sills...

What do you think please? Just choosing shades of yellow now! :-)

Thank you ever so much! Pictures of finished product will follow!
Grazi Baia
Original Author
5 years ago
Sonia
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
I would paint the porch window grey too (I know, groan!) and the door frame the same grey. It will tie it all in together nicely. I like the white porch walls.
Grazi Baia
Original Author
5 years ago
white porch walls to become grey too!! and top of the windows :-)