Need some wisdom - Rendering house a bit dull?

[3anascooter]

Looking to render (or similar) the front of our house due to there being different coloured bricks (due to extensions being added before we bought). Was going to do cream or something but it all looks a bit too much of the same thing to my eyes in the slightly dodgy mock-up i created

Cant just do the middle section as the original brick colour extends towards the front door.
Would some render and some horizontal composite cladding board maybe be better, though not quite sure where to put it?

Looking for ideas really as procrastinated for 3 years and want to do something this summer.
Happy to change the front/garage doors from black to another colour if that would help .

[Juan B]

You could do a half clad half render



Planting also makes any frontage look better

[wisbech]

Anything traditional in your area?

Otherwise I would go for pink or duck egg blue.

[Mr Pointy]

You've got a perfectly durable brick finish to the house, why go to the expense of covering it with a coating which is going to require regular repair & maintenance? Why not look at other ways of improving the look of the house - for instance planting as has already been suggested.

[John D.]

Could possibly just render the bit in the middle where the brick doesn't match.

[SonicHedgeHog]

Don’t render it. Your house looks good. Render requires endless maintenance and looks grubby after the first bit of heavy rain causes your gutters to drip brown water over it. If I was in the market for a house like yours I’d be interested in it. If you render it I wouldn’t even click on the website link.

[wolfracesonic]

Leave as is, though if you are committed look into EWI whilst you’re at it.

[3anascooter]

this maybe shows the brick colour issue better, and the rather rubbish (to me at least) join that was done

When we had a real estate agent around a couple of years ago his instant reaction was "it lacks instant appeal"

[3anascooter]

Juan B said:

You could do a half clad half render



Planting also makes any frontage look better

I like the half render but worry that without a natural break (eg the roof above the front door in the above image) that it might not quite work

[paralla]

You need to add some plants to soften all the hard edges.

Pull up some of the paving stones in front of the front room on the left and in front of the bay window and put in a border garden or raised bed.

Enlarge the front step so it doesn't look so mean. Stone or some other different material to the large areas of block paving.

[Bill]

Mr Pointy said:

You've got a perfectly durable brick finish to the house, why go to the expense of covering it with a coating which is going to require regular repair & maintenance? Why not look at other ways of improving the look of the house - for instance planting as has already been suggested.

This. It's not a bad looking house and some climbers would help disguise the brick colour.

[3anascooter]

For context a bit of the street

[Crafty_]

Mr Pointy said:

You've got a perfectly durable brick finish to the house, why go to the expense of covering it with a coating which is going to require regular repair & maintenance? Why not look at other ways of improving the look of the house - for instance planting as has already been suggested.

Agree with this, render soon looks grubby.

As an alternative there are companies who will dye/tint brickwork to make it match. I'd be looking at tha route before render.

[PlywoodPascal]

honestly I think those bricks look fine, its normally for buildings to be added to and the different bricks just show the stages of the building. they look like a good match to me.
the bricks basically look after themselves, if you render or worse, render and then paint, you are creating a significant and ongoing new maintenance requirement.
What the house really needs is some planting around the base of the walls, it is all hard solid surfaces and right angles, plants around the base and perhaps even a climber will soften all the hard edges and just make it sit more gently. they will draw the eye too, and nobody would notice the bricks.


edit, ah, I see everyone else has already made the same points. when are we going round with the shovels and geraniums?

Edited by PlywoodPascal on Monday 24th March 09:58

[Simon_GH]

It’s a clean solid looking house. The front is just a bit sterile. A few tubs, perhaps a couple of climbing plants, hanging baskets, window boxes etc. and it’ll soften the appearance. There are companies who will tint bricks to help blend in new and existing brickwork.

Our house had coloured render on the front from the start so I do like it but I wouldn’t render yours now. Even trellis ready for climbing plants can soften brickwork.

[98elise]

3anascooter said:

this maybe shows the brick colour issue better, and the rather rubbish (to me at least) join that was done

When we had a real estate agent around a couple of years ago his instant reaction was "it lacks instant appeal"

That join is horrific. How did they get the bricks so far out AND the wrong colour?

When we had our extension done the builder got someone out from the suppliers to match the brick before he ordered them.

You could consider just clad/render the extension bit, so its not just a big slab. It's more in keeping with the neighbours as well.

Edited by 98elise on Monday 24th March 10:34

[dmsims]

Bin that awful canopy and plastic front door

Nice wood and pitched tile canopy

[Sporky]

PlywoodPascal said:

honestly I think those bricks look fine, its normally for buildings to be added to and the different bricks just show the stages of the building. they look like a good match to me.

I think that has a certain "honesty" - as you can say, the house shows its history.

That said, a white-ish rendering will help keep it cool in summer.

[wolfracesonic]

Maybe clad the original centre section and the small return in the corner, in a colour sympathetic to the new brickwork.

[Little Lofty]

These houses are local to me, I like the end result, it looked very much like next door before they done the work.