I'm lost - what color should I paint the brick and trim on my 1 story 60's tx ranch? All brick no siding?

Question

Help! we've been slowly renovating, mostly by ourselves, out 60's ranch. Until recently we've neglected the exterior. Previous owners were older, and for decades it appears, left the home in it's mostly natural state.

I'm doing the landscaping, pro's are going to prune the trees, and we're about to hire painters for the job. I generally don't like the idea of painting brick, but I can't come up with anything interim we could do that we wouldn't have to completely redo should we decide to paint in the future. It's a rough textured, pale brown/yellow to brown, to lighter yellow, to white, but the overall look is yellow.

Link is a pic of the front. Gutters are going too, and are thinking to match the gutter color to the trim.

The houses in our neighborhood with our brick are all original condition or painted. The painted ones are all white, with dark blue or black trim. Most are 2 story. Most 1 stories do not have painted brick, but are either red or white brick, not dirty yellow.

We could stick with the neighborhood, or branch out -- we were thinking grey tones. light smoke on the brick with dark grey for the trim, and perhaps color on the door.

Here's a pic of an angle of the front, you see the green and brick. Very low hanging roof, very dark. It's not visible in the picture, but the front of the lot is a circular drive, with a privacy hedge, fotenia's, surrounding the front section of grass. Hedge must stay because of busy street. The most prominent feature of the house from the street is the roof, basically, and the top of the trim, and bbrick chimney going up.

The house is a horseshoe, with a very large covered (but not screened) patio in the middle. All original and not converted to a family room. The covered part of the patio - about 3/4 of the total - is all under shingle and part of the original roofline. Half of that is actually under the attic. There's a pony wall framing the patio in line with the slab, also brick, to match the pony walls on the front of the house. All sides of the house are brick, and in almost all places the roofline comes all the way down, so there's no exposed wood.

I'm also going to try to post a link to an album with more pics...

http://i882.photobucket.com/albums/ac24/keller2323/exterior%20brick/da68e1cb.jpg


http://s882.photobucket.com/albums/ac24/keller2323/exterior%20brick/

Answer 1

If you were my client I would ask and advise you the following:



Where in the world is this. What climate zone. What are you trying to accomplish.



Do not paint the brick. You will be a slave to the painted brick from here till the end of time. Get it power washed and sealed. (In fact purchase a good power washer yourself - it will be invaluable) Have a mason take care of any cracks re point and add drainage for the beds. Add horizontal bricking to the edges of the driveway.



Add shutters. Paint the soffit in a light tone from the brick.



Consider using a copper paint for the shutters and possibly the front door and look into copper gutters. Have your installer bring a run of copper to show you against the house. http://media.merchantcircle.com/1449822/copper-gutters_full.gif There are 2 tones of copper for the gutters you would want the darker.



Alter the lighting at the entry. http://www.amazon.com/Maritime-Collection-quot-Outdoor-Light/dp/B0018K3RMO/ref=sr_1_19?s=lamps-light&ie=UTF8&qid=1285748150&sr=1-19 Also add spots in the beds and interest to break the solid line across the front. This could be something simple like a small iron trellis between the 2 far windows. http://www.simplyarbors.com/trellises/iron/italianirontrellis.cfm

http://www.signaturelandscapes.info/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/outdoor-entry-lighting.jpg



Consider having the driveway and entry stamped in a grey tone. http://barnesstampedconcrete.com/attachments/Image/stamped_concrete_driveway_4.jpg



Here is a front door mock up of your house. http://www.flickr.com/photos/44515431@N06/5035922492/

Adding a varied metal object to the door will give it a less massive pressence. Consider talavera planters at the entry under the lights.



At the point you wish to replace the roof go with a green or terracotta metal.



Different areas will follow suit with similar styles....be a trend setter. I remember when one neighbor landscaped with huge rocks at the bottom of the driveway. Withen a year the neighborhood all had big bad rocks.



**As you mentioned the roof and gutter line are the most visable from the street, copper gutters will give it an impressive and brighter look. 8A is a fantastic zone! Feel free to contact me for clarification. And no...do not paint the brick. A proper sealer will give it a bit of a gloss and is your least expensive maintenance after the initial blow from the mason. Changing the door would be on my list of future renos, at which point, I would consider a double door in your area.

Answer 2

I have to agree; don't paint the brick! You will be in a constant state of upkeep. Have the brick professionally pressure washed; that will brighten it up considerably. And have that area with the crack checked out; you could have a moisture problem going on there and that could lead to structural damage.



I'd do the main part of the trim a light color (cream or a tan that's in the brick after it's washed?) but that piece that lies flat against the edge of the brick a richer color to give you some pop. Maybe pick up the door color along there? You have a dark roof and going too dark will make the house look unwelcoming. You could use a gray that has a brown/tan cast to it and leave the front door do the "talking". I love doors painted a warm, brighter color! You could go with more of a rust or a pumpkin color, the current color is a bit blue to go with the brick properly.



And adding some color in the landscaping will help a lot too. You have a lot of evergreens that are all the same shape in the hedge. You need some variety in heights, shapes and colors in there. While they are easy care, they are all one color and don't bring much variety to the party. Think some pretty planters at the door, a bit of metallic bling in the light fixture and so forth.

Answer 3

Hi K,

I reviewed your photos and strongly agree with you that painting the brick is not truly a good idea. The life long work is enough to make me find another course. You do have a gem of a home, I love the house shape, structure and exterior brick as it is! I wanted to suggest or reinforce that you consider keeping the house brick unpainted as it is currently. ( Now that you saved money )

Consider hiring a power wash cleaning company, which will brighten things up abit making it all new and fresh again.

I would also suggest that as you had stated with regards to the color Grey with the trim and door areas being repainted. Absolutely! I would encourage that you view the color mady by Benjamin Moore Paints known as Ashley Grey. The color can be found within their Historical Collection Pamphlet. Or just ask the rep at the Paint Store.



This color Ashley Grey (visually pleasing to the eye and) will work very well with your homes brick exterior. As for the Front Door itself, I would opt to use either a Deep Burgundy, Dark Green or perhaps Dark Navy Blue.



Good Luck and Happy Painting. Too bad we don't get to see your beautifully finished Home!!!

Answer 4

Cream Painted Brick House

Answer 5

im a retro freak, so id go with white bricks trimmed in black. and probably paint the wood between the window panes something like bright green or red. but black would match the house

Answer 6

go to myperfecthouse dot com and find out