I like the idea of evergreen screening. You might try going to a local
nursery (not a big box store) for suggestions of large evergreen
"shrubs" that can be trained as trees. Shrubs tend to be fast growing,
usually have a natural height limit of 15-20 feet, and aren't invasive
(stay away from bamboo!). Just be sure to plant them 10-15 feet away
from the foundation (I speak from sad experience). There are also trees
called Magnolia grandiflora ‘Little Gem’ or 'Teddy Bear' that
are dwarf forms of the classic, but I don't have any personal experience
with them. I use deciduous crepe myrtles trained as trees in my own small yard.

Your ideas for improving the appearance of your house sound wonderful.

Evergreen Trees · More Info

Contemporary Landscape · More Info

you could possibly have a sort of faux gable added to the front edge...or maybe just a low pitched roof...metal...and go with the contemporary..tropical look of the house...rocks and low shrubs...easy to maintain..it could be charming..

If it can be painted, just painting it a darker color could go a long way.

Add a widow's walk around the metal. You might also see what a cupola peeping over the fence of the widow's walk might do. Either great or silly.

You can do something like this and make a Parapet roof, it will add a nice detail and you will hide everything on the roof.

i like that idea above...prob not cost much more than some of the other makeshift ideas....also the ductless system...its easy to install and directions are on youtube...mini split...my husband and a friend with some knowledge of carpentry did one in our garage...great investment,,,

Using the same idea as GN Builders, use a mental roof instead of shingles. We are currently in Florida and have passed this house many times and commented on how nice it looks! Plus you could easily add a front overhang at the same time.

I love the Mansard roof idea...and it looks good with the house style...years ago my mother and dad had a duplex built, in Florida, it looked very much like this house...cinder block construction...built like a bunker...and they wanted to add on a place for the family to vacation..so they put a small apartment on top of the house and it was made with a mansard roof type style...i dont know why that didnt dawn on me.....it was lovely...i think this would be a great solution..if u cant do it now..maybe later..I know budget determines...but that is the best idea yet...and if you have any idea to add on...I can tell you from experience this can be a great way to do it..2 birds with one stone scenario.

I'd move...sorry:(

My first house in FL had AC on the roof just like that. (Actually the house is very similar). I looked into taking it off and replacing with a regular unit on the ground; not as inexpensive as a newer more compact roof unit. House was sold; unit still on the roof many years later.

This is a modest home; some of these suggestions sound pricey. I would start off contacting some AC people for their ideas. Am unfamiliar with that low profile one, but it seems like a great solution if not exorbitant. Contact companies who have been in business for a while. (I speak from experience).

If you are in FL I planted a white bird of paradise that took off like a Beanstalk in one year so that is an inexpensive option as a possible shield, but definitely don't plant too close to the house. I love bamboo, but am leery. They say you can plant them in a bucket to contain them, but.....

Flat roofs are problematic enough. I wouldn't want anything on mine that wasn't absolutely necessary.

libradesigneye, those corrugated designs you did are really fantastic! I have an inexplicable attraction to that material. However, I would be paranoid about adding shields to the roof myself. Especially in hurricane country.

I would probably remove the system and install a duel-head ductless heat pump at a cost of approx. $4500. I think anything that you would do to the roof to hide the system you have now would cost at least that much. These are very energy-efficient units and are easily available. Fujitsu makes a really good unit.

David, are those the wall units? I have seen them installed in large spaces like arts studios or small one open room community buildings. How would one cool/heat the entire house with separate rooms if there are no ducts?

First if the duct work is older it may not be insulated. You should check the ducts from an access point.

Next, regardless as to if it is internally insulated or not - extra insulation will lower your bills and make it more efficient.

I suggest not only insulating the ducting but checking with your local electric supplier. In many areas they are offering substantial incentives to go solar. Adding solar panels at an angle will not only camouflage the ducts but offer a substantial savings in your heating bills too.

Typically, a flat roof installation of the solar panels are set up on a brace like this image.

amanda said she is moving the driveway.

I love the idea of solar myself and wish I had it in FL, but I think they overwhelm a little house like this one. (MA at one time was offering to pay 50% of the cost of solar. If this house is in FL I don't think there's anything close to that offered..which is ridiculous considering there's nothing but sunshine). Utility companies have a lot to do with that. Be interesting to find out how the owner feels about it.

So would you keep those ducts on the roof and just insulate them?

Both good and affordable ideas. Shutters on each side of the door is an inexpensive improvement. A short (presumably vinyl to avoid paint upkeep) railing would be unobtrusive and just enough to disguise the ducts. Just wonder about putting holes in a flat roof (or any roof for that matter).

I would recommend building a simple fence with basic lumber like in this picture BUT I would recommend you tilt it back to maybe a 15 Degree angle to help soften the appearance as well as emulate the profile of a roof (which is what most people expect to see when they look at a house)

I recently completed a house like yours and found a color scheme that worked well. Also, I would recommend you consider adding an extra element to soften the appearance of the facade by adding a small 4x8 porch roof. Mine was very inexpensive and made my project look like a home instead of someone's mistake. Mine was truly a terrible little house but now is quite nice. I'm happy to share more details if you like.

One last look at a much better angle to see the sum of all the parts. I'd recommend a light body color, darker complimentary trim color and then put something natural around the house to give it some warmth - Wood elements, some well-selected plants, etc. You cannot hide the plain design but adding tasteful enhancements can take this house a LONG way. Mine was in a very desirable general area but was so ugly that the entire market ignored it. I commend you on taking this project on.

Locators, yes your house looks 100% better with paint (and probably major mold removal) but amanda's house isn't in that horrible condition. Her issue is the ducts on the roof. I think the best suggestion so far is that chippendale railing (after insulating the ducts if need be). When I owned an almost identical house with the same duct issue no one ever suggested that railing. Wish they had. BTW, the house was gray with white shutters. I put money into the interior (it was a rental) and plantings. After I sold it the new owners painted it a soft yellow with soft green trim. Colors look great, but those ducts remained obvious & ugly.

Thought I would put my 2 cents in. I like your choice of paint colours .You may want to consider framing around all of the vents just high enough to hide the vents. Depending on how handy you are,If you use the framed lattice you won't need to be a finished carpenter to do it yourself. Paint to match what you have done on the rest of the house.

I'm not familiar with warm climates, but is it reasonable to conduct an efficiency audit? I wonder if adding insulation and or other options might help with making the house more comfortable and helping the cost of ac

The other option might be to see if you could go solar with the array covering the vents.

Otherwise, I know in the Google view, the vents are very obvious, but in the other it is much less noticeable. I think paint, some plants, and distinguishing your front door might be less expensive but more effective ways to boost your curb appeal.

Looking at the photo -- you were standing at eye level and the roof AC is not that noticeable. After you add an inviting entrance and improve the cement driveway. I'd spend the rest of the budget on paint, a more modern exterior window treatment, nice plants to redirect the eye to the landscaping. Those improvements alone would give your house a warm appealing look. We've had experience with flat roofs in two custom built houses...we had leaking problems from time to time. The roof vents could be painted a deeper color or a color matching the existing facia. Good luck.

lot of nice suggestions here! And most posters very polite! Check into the solar panels first - your savings on heat/cooling might pay for the whole thing down the line. check into the louvered look railing around the rood edge. make sure it is mounted on the wall not your flat roof or next you will be asking how to deal with later leakage!

A mansard rood style would hide a lot but the solar version would be more cost effective. I like the idea of non spreading bamboo to camouflage things as well as the little porch roof to help define your entry way and draw the eye away from the roof line. later when you can afford it the ductless ac units are great! my girlfriend just had two units installed on her house. they work are quiet and the units can easily be hidden behind planters. One step at a time on these home projects. it is so easy to over spend and have things get out of hand.good luck!

Kathy, David never answered me about the ductless wall units. How does that work in a house with small rooms? I have only seen them used in open spaces like large art studios. How would the air circulate throughout small rooms? If this house is anything like the one I first owned in FL it is a warren of little rooms. I have the same issue up north: a hot second floor apartment with no good way to cool it off. Hate window units and the noise, but I have no choice. Just had the attic fan idea nixed. Was told it is now preferable to insulate the underside of the roof rather than the attic floor. Of course I have a ton of insulation on the floor in both MA and FL.

good q my friends house is inter connecting rooms and the air is on both sides of the house so it tends ro circle around. I will ask her and get back to you. I know I have the problem of circulating hot air from my pellet stove to the rest of the house. I know there are little booster fans that can be mounted in the corner of the doorway to help move the air. and I have found just running my furnace fan helps move the air as well. but that wouldn't help you. maybe install two - opposite sides of the house in the areas you use the most and use a floor fan to blow it down to your bedroom? I will ask and post her answer for you.

I totally agree this should be a simple screen that accentuates the horizontal lines. It should be ultra low maintenance (i.e. galvanized metal or corten) and set back from the main roofline of the house as much as possible. I also agree with comments above to remove the shutters.

just looked up corten. I know I wouldn't want an intentionally rusted looking steel shield up there. Don't see it as an improvement over the exposed duct work. Will be interesting to hear what ideas are appealing to amanda who hasn't weighed in yet.

If you want neat plants, do a parapet planter, if no plants, a parapet of a couple design styles could work very well. Probably @kmbilson shows one that could be most fitting with the linear style home. Would add great character. The proportion of the height of parapet should be considered highly with regard to house height. the approx. 70/30 shown works.
Maybe a touch less roof height.

haidamay, if there is only one compressor how do the 3 wall units connect to it without ducts...with pipes outside the building leading to the units? I saw a Sunshine Renewal Energy photo online and it looks fairly industrial with all those pipes up the outside walls of the house. Not sure if that is an improvement aesthetically over the roof arrangement. I assume it would be more efficient however?

flipping, you did a fantastic job on that house! Not sure the screen on the roof is all that effective though.

The comment on the screen is open to taste, however, Ive done framing and used louvered vent walls to hide such items.
I like the house screen and they do tie together, just not much hiding of mechanical.

Interesting that some people are recommending hideous solar panels to cover ugly ductwork.

Paint the exposed metal a darker color so it recedes and build a gorgeous and eye catching front entry; the ductwork will become insignificant in the total look of the house.

And do embrace the mid-century modern horizontal lines of this house; goo-gawing it up with mansards and lattice-work may make it look like a design disaster.

the mansard roof is not necessarily a bad idea..as i said..my parents did it years ago to a little duplex built very similar to this one...if done properly it can be cute...these houses dont have a lot of "style"..mid-century or not..having said that....I would like to add..my husband and a friend installed one of the ductless minisplit air conditioning systems..according to them..not difficult...the friend however has some experience in carpentry ...this was not terribly expensive when the labor was deducted...less than $2000 I believe...and if this is out of the budget..and it certainly has been for us at times in our lives..esp as younger couple....then some of these ideas with the simple screen..maybe decorative...might be the way to go....we love the ductless system tho..and there are videos on youtube that show u step by step how to install...still prob less expensive than the mansard roof idea....and they are supposedly energy efficient and may save $ in the long run...I would prob be somewhat concerned about anything sitting on the roof, ductwork or anything else..in tornado ridden Florida..we have similar situation here in the area of Texas that we live...best of luck..you have so many good suggestions..it has been fun reading them!!

Guess I'm continuing to miss something. I looked at a diagram of a ductless system that shows an outdoor compressor/condenser that attaches (via PCB pipe?) to a unit mounted high on an outdoor wall or an outdoor compressor/condenser attached to a unit in an attic. Copper tubing is also required that runs through the walls. Looks like they would service the one room that the wall or attic unit is in. How do you cool a house with 5+ rooms?

http://www.fujitsugeneral.com/how_ms_works.htm

No doubt the older roof a/c amanda has now has a duct system that cools each room ( central air).

Hi capeanner,

Usually the ductless have different heads, at one point I saw some ceiling heads, but I seem to recall they had ductwork with them. So, figuring out how many heads you'd need for your five rooms is where getting a quote from a professional comes in super handy. The single or even double head sYstems aren't crazy expensive prior to labor, but when you get to 3-5 they do get awfully pricey.

I'm pretty sure they work by rethinking the Cooper tubing with refrigerant to and from the heads. You might have a few extra small holes in the wall, but you'd get rid of the ugly ductwork.

Allison Hardy: Yes, some of the photoshopped ideas (solar panels and cement blocks) are truly horrid--like the house is wearing a toupee.

BUT: Why would you (and at least two other people) suggest painting the ducts black or a darker color? You know why that's a horrid idea? Because those are air conditioning ducts! And it's Florida! Did you never study physics in high school? Sun+black=HEAT, lots of heat. Common sense says that's a bad idea.

Even if it's not Florida, it looks like some place similar. I'd plant some trees in the front yard. it's so barren and forlorn. The trees would soon mask the roof of the house and improve the yard immensely.

Capeanner: Corten steel develops a beautiful dark, dark brown color over time--not rusty looking at all. And once it does, it protects the steel permanently. On the other hand, it is orangey at first, runoff from rain will stain concrete, stucco, etc., with a rusty color, and I don't think it looks good in flat sheet panels; it needs something to make it not look like a sheet metal screen. It's been around over 50 years, and used correctly, looks great.

If you were to build something like this tilted roof across the front of the house, it would serve two purposes--hiding the AC units from the street and giving a welcoming shelter from the sun for the front of the house. It could be built for not too much money and add value to the property.

Well , what do you have for a budget and what would you really REALLY like? You're probably going to drop a couple grand on something that looks even reasonably decent taking wind damage into concern. New decorations are as new as the gap between hurricane seasons.

I tell ya this; You want a second story with a crawl space between the floors. Enough of a crawl space that the vents are concealed. In the end, whats going to make the home worth more, an itsy bitsy thin facade or a second floor? That place looks small, you owe it to yourself to give yourself more space. and perhaps consider it a flip opportunity and use the profit for something bigger still.

Hi Hope the new year is going good. I had a second idea about this vent situation. While a second floor might be an expensive option , how about a sun deck above the house to conceal the vents? Much less framing and then you have usage of the entire space of the rooftop for entertaining. I might caution enough space for repairs/maintenance.