sapphoiseau

Street appeal- exterior chamfer board query

Sapphoiseau
4 years ago

Hi All-- We are about to paint our two story, brick bottom, chamfer board mid-70s Brisbane house, but before we do that, we want to do something about a weird section of fibro board on the front of the upstairs as it is not doing anything to enhance street appeal. The hardwood, rough sawn chamfer boards are unique and non-standard size, and the closest available standard size is softwood, a different profile, and slightly wider, so that if we used them, the symmetry would be increasingly off as they went up the wall. Symmetry is important, so we need options. Do we:

  1. use it anyway? Do you think that the eye will notice the non-symmetrical matching line across the front of the house? Do the windows break it up enough not to notice that the right side of the right window doesn't have the same boards? Will anyone notice that the new boards are not rough sawn?
  2. remove the chamfer boards on the right side of the right window as well (and the little deck?) and replace the chamfer boards from the bottom of the windows to the roofline with the same new chamfer boards? This would mean that the horizontal lines will not match up around the corners of the house where it joins the sides of the house. Would we have to replace the chamfer boards inside the little deck as well or could we get away with just doing above the garage?
  3. use vertical boards from the base of the windows above the carport up to the roofline? Our builder says water will run down the gaps in the vertical boards and promote rot/ perish in the weather. This is in the full sun most of the day, so I am inclined to agree with him on this.
  4. use another material?
  5. find someone to make matching chamfer boards? Does anyone in the Brisbane area do this?




This brings me to Puzzle #2. As you can see, we have closed in the left garage bay on the main level. The new security window is white and does not match the other 1970s aluminium windows, and it sticks out a couple centimeters from the white primed blueboard. What should we do with the blueboard? Cover it with chamfer boards and try to match the upstairs? Use another material? It's under the carport, so it's not really something I'd want to make a feature. We have no plans to render the brick, but we'd like that new section to blend in a bit better.



Finally, Puzzle #3. When we paint, do we have to match all the gutters? The main gutter is Deep Ocean, but the front deck, the back deck, and the carport are all Surf Mist. It'd be easier to leave them as they are, but do they look ok? Also, should we paint the top hand rail on the deck Deep Ocean? Will that tie it together a bit better or not? The main house is going to be Surf Mist. Replacing the front door is a future project.

Thank you in advance for any and all suggestions! :)

Comments (5)

  • oklouise
    4 years ago

    i can't see any problem with plain flat cladding where there are no original chamfer boards and all painted the same colour but keep the bricks natural for some contrast and if you must match the look of all the gutters they can be removed and powder coated much more easily than painting ...the street appeal comes from the overall impression not the fine detail that needs to be up close to see ...aim for weatherproof, well insulated easy maintenance and invest the savings in some fresh new landscaping

    Sapphoiseau thanked oklouise
  • Anne Monsour
    4 years ago

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    Sapphoiseau thanked Anne Monsour
  • Sapphoiseau
    Original Author
    4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    Thank you, @oklouise and @Anne Monsour. Yes, landscaping is on our list too! When we did the carport and driveway, the rock garden was reduced in size which left us with a dust bowl for a lawn, lol. :) We will have a look at Woodworkers.com.au, thanks!

  • siriuskey
    4 years ago

    I would consider painting the chamfer boards white and the cladding a soft grey to match aluminium frames and then add white timber frames around windows and doors


    Sapphoiseau thanked siriuskey
  • Sapphoiseau
    Original Author
    4 years ago

    Thanks @siriuskey. We had the same thought, but our builder said the frame style moulding is for interior use only and would perish in 2-5 years in the full sun on the front of the house. Perhaps there is moulding that is suitable for outdoor use... I do like the look. One of our neighbours has done it (blue-grey paint, white window frames) and it looks good. We have done the kitchen window in the back as an experiment; it is undercover and out of the sun though. I like the grey idea, but our neighbour's house is shades of grey (not like the book ;) and we didn't want to be too matchy-matchy. We might have another think about the paint... thank you for your comments. :)