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Paint Design Dilemma Exterior

Ugly, dated house needs a facelift.

3 years ago

last modified: 3 years ago

I need to give my investment house some street appeal (with the intention to sell). I'm hoping to give it a modern cottagey / beach vibe. Planning to paint the roof, try to add a false gable into the upper veranda roof at the front and paint everything in some modern colours like greys and whites (possibly surfmist for roof and dove grey walls with white trims, but open to suggestions. Not sure what to do about the window frames). My question is - do I need to clad the exterior walls to cover the timber feature strips? Maybe a weatherboard look? Or colourbond? How about the verandah railing- just paint or do a different style? Give me your ideas and photos please! I'm also going to improve the landscaping and maybe add a picket fence too. At the moment all the timber work is Mission Brown.

Comments (4)

Kate
3 years ago
Pending on $$ I’d say even just painting over the wood would help make them less obvious. Otherwise I love the colorbond cladding
bigreader
3 years ago
The roof is ok. I’d paint everything other than the roof white. Then stand back and have a look. I think with just the white paint and some investment in landscaping you’ll have a very nice property.
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Thanks for the replies! My wife suggested we talk to a local real estate agent, so i think that is a good idea... just that Im not sure how helpful they are likely to be if we arent selling yet :) As for saving for our dream house, I dont disagree, however if doing this up nicely over the next ~5 years or so while we live here nets us some extra in the eventual sale, then that of course will help us as well. Interesting thing happened today actually. I got a knock on the door and one of the older neighbours asked if he could take some lemons from the tree. I of course said yes. Anyway he was telling me he had lived in the street for 40 years. I asked him if the house had always looked like this, and he said no that ~30 years ago the old old owner did a massive renovation and pulled off the timber and put up the bricks and gutted the inside of the house. Interesting stuff!
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PRO
Dr Retro House Calls
3 years ago
Investement property? How much do you think the false gable over the upper verandah roof is going to cost? Probably low five figures by the time you have had it designed, engineered, permit approvals and construction. How much extra will a potential tenant pay for a nice new gable that improves the proportions of the elevation? Probably zero.

Think about bang for your buck. Painting the walls and timber strapping should be enough to improve it, anything extra will be a waste of your money with little financial return.

Best of luck

Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls and Dr Retro Virtual Visits
Lin B thanked Dr Retro House Calls
pottsy99
3 years ago
100% agree with Dr Retro -- I'd go slightly further too .

The house was designed to have those fake 'Tudor' beams -- embrace them . The roof is fading , and the green is dated -- that would be the place to go Surfmist or slightly greyer .

White walls , charcoal tudor timber , do that back pergoda posts and beams in charcoal , the fences in charcoal EXCEPT the existing side fence/gate that is white .

The upstairs veranda and posts may be brown ( hard to tell on the computer ) -- change to charcoal . Probably all it needs , unless you want a bit of stand-out ( yes , that's me ) -- it looks like the front door is varnished , and 4 glass panels ? If its okay , leave as is , or stain a bit darker . But if it needs work -- paint it bright red , orange or sunshine yellow , AND do the gutters to match . White , grey , charcoal , red tinges to the pathways , and a splash of colour .
Lin B thanked pottsy99

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