Making a house look pretty

[PositronicRay]

Thinking of a house move this yr, early days yet, not quite in a position to visit and view yet (apart from the odd drive by)

Anyway this one keeps popping up on my searches

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prope...

http://images.portalimages.com/31983/26536574/broc...

It ticks a lot of boxes in terms of location, price, size, layout etc.

I'm a realist and know wherever we'll always have to compromise on something. But I just can't get excited about it, not sure I'm wanting to spend a chunk of dough on something that's just okay. I'm imagining by the lack of photos it's due some money spent on decor/bathrooms and it's been on the market for a while. (a bit of a st job on photos actually they couldn't even be bothered to stick the bins out of sight)

Exterior wise what would you do to "pretty it up"? Mrs PR likes render, fairly fashionable locally, but I'm thinking upkeep is a pain.

[LaurasOtherHalf]

I don't think there's much the matter with it to be honest (apart from the price-I won't tell you what we spent on ours!), if you wanted it fashionable I'd go for grey front door and windows, take the wood cladding to black or grey and re do the gutters in black with the rain water pipes.

Thing is you're probably just replacing stuff that doesn't need it, which is obviously a waste of money.

I'd imagine a new front door and some modern lighting and garden furniture would spruce things up no end.

[PositronicRay]

Thanks, it's well priced for the road. The cladding is actually tiles, they look like need attention, maybe replace with cladding or re tile then repaint the middle bit cream and plant some climbers.

I'm not keen on grey windows (or fashionable come to that)

[8-P]

Ive seen way worse from a looks perspective!

[Spudler]

Yep, render.
Crying out for a more contemporary look.
Change windows if budget can take it.

[PositronicRay]

How much would render cost?

[LaurasOtherHalf]

PositronicRay said:

Thanks, it's well priced for the road. The cladding is actually tiles, they look like need attention, maybe replace with cladding or re tile then repaint the middle bit cream and plant some climbers.

I'm not keen on grey windows (or fashionable come to that)

Well that's good 'cos it'll save you a fortune

If the tiles are shot, they're simple to replace with some nice wooden boards. You could then match the front door to these and perhaps add some half lamp posts around the drive (again to match the wood) to create some foot lighting for evenings. Then add some lighting to the actual house and you'd have a nice welcoming front aspect that looks up to date without trying too hard.

We had similar tiles on our last fixer-upper, I was adamant I was getting rid to replace with wood and although it would have been nice the house would have stood out like a sore thumb on the street, something I didn't want to do.

Something I've always found no handy is to take an hour or so out before I buy somewhere and walk around the neighbourhood taking it all in. Pick your favourite house on the street and think about what it is you think makes it the smartest-neat garden? Beautiful drive? Or even just really fresh facials and soffets, on an estate of similar properties it can be the smallest of things that improve the looks.

On our last one (of similar age to yours), we took up the concrete drive, got rid of half the lawn and put in a lovely (cheap) gravel Y shaped drive. I kept the hedge neat, binned off the crappy gates and then replaced all the facials with plastic and put up new gutters. Final piece was a nice roller garage door.

The house then went from one of the shabbiest on the street to imho the smartest. Sold in two weeks for the full asking price, not that you're selling but it goes to show how important it is.

[Jobbo]

I used to live a few doors up from that house. The older houses in the road are prettier but it's a nice place to live, and I compromised on a 60s house for location too.

The house I lived in (no.70) was similar brick and has been facelifted by the subsequent owners; that'll give you a good idea of what sort of thing is achievable. There's also a (IMO more successful) facelift not very far away: https://goo.gl/maps/FezJfY9RxV92 - neither are the same original design of house, though.

A front extension would be the ideal way to facelift it properly but I don't think that's possible due to the building line, so you'd be limited to changing materials, windows, porch etc.

Edited by Jobbo on Thursday 26th January 09:19

[PositronicRay]

We know the road and area, very well indeed, only 1/4 mile from our current semi. The nicer looking similar style houses on the road have been rendered.

Downside are.

Topish budget
Small rear over looked garden (current one is more spacious)
Small garage with no space to extend
Doesn't get my juices flowing

Upsides
We can afford it
We like the area, most things are a pleasant walk, convenient amenities, pubs, restaurants, close to open countryside, dog walks at the end of the road.
We've always liked the road
Layout's good

[PositronicRay]

Jobbo said:

I used to live a few doors up from that house. The older houses in the road are prettier but it's a nice place to live, and I compromised on a 60s house for location too.

The house I lived in (no.70) was similar brick and has been facelifted by the subsequent owners; that'll give you a good idea of what sort of thing is achievable. There's also a (IMO more successful) facelift not very far away: https://goo.gl/maps/FezJfY9RxV92 - neither are the same original design of house, though.

A front extension would be the ideal way to facelift it properly but I don't think that's possible due to the building line, so you'd be limited to changing materials, windows, porch etc.

Edited by Jobbo on Thursday 26th January 09:19

Mrs PR loves the look of that place (it's our shortcut to the "Vs")

[PositronicRay]

Just had a look @ the floor plan, very little natural light into the living room. Plus the garden will only get the sun until 2pm.

Rapidly talking ourselves out of arranging a viewing.

[hyphen]

I would arrange a viewing and decide

[Risotto]

PositronicRay said:

Exterior wise what would you do to "pretty it up"? Mrs PR likes render, fairly fashionable locally, but I'm thinking upkeep is a pain.

In terms of improving it, I'd suggest trying to be more imaginative and sympathetic than the usual cedar cladding and black window frames.

Although the house doesn't use that many different materials, the overall look is quite disjointed because everything is broken up - a bit of render here, some brickwork, more render over there, some areas of tiling, a small ground floor window divided in two where others of the same size aren't, etc.

It may be worth trying to keep to the same materials but unify some areas.

I'm not a huge fan of flat roofs but to my eye, the tiles used on the porch roof aren't suited to such a small area and it looks clunky. I'd consider changing it to a flat roof, which I assume it was originally.

I know there isn't a lot of love for 70s houses generally but remember that there was a time in the 20th century where Victorian properties were seen as hopelessly old fashioned, over-embellished eyesores and everyone was ripping out the fireplaces and ceiling roses, tacking hardboard sheets over the doors and banister spindles, etc. People will happily pay a premium for unmolested examples of Victorian housing these days though.

It may be a while off but I expect the same process will play out with 70s houses. Nothing wrong with updating a place but if it can be done sympathetically, all the better - particularly if the house is on an estate of similar properties. Improvements to estate houses tend to look better if they're done in a manner that maintains the uniformity of the area. There are some houses near me that look okay in isolation but stick out like a sore thumb in their surroundings.

Edited by Risotto on Thursday 26th January 13:09

[V8RX7]

You could cheer it up cheaply by just rendering the front face between the brickwork.

I don't like the lack of windows - I presume it's been extended as the design doesn't flow.

I've been looking for homes for a friend nearby for £350k so I'm sure you could do better than that for £500k

[PositronicRay]

Going off topic a bit, because a couple of posters seem to know the area.

2 interesting looking places within budget. (albeit not exactly perfect location)

One 1/2 way up Red Lane the other Highland Road. HS2 is due to through probably 400m from each house.
Do you think
a) Noise disturbance?
b) Difficulty selling?

[Jobbo]

I've never been a fan of Red Lane - it's a bit far for nipping to the V's. Highland Road is probably going to suffer more from HS2, I'd say, and feels like somewhere old people live.

The most obvious alternative to the one you originally linked is on Amherst. That's the same basic house as my old place which is lighter, I think. But it also has an east facing garden which isn't enormous, and doesn't have a big frontage to make up for it.

Really it looks like there's not a lot on the market. We looked at absolutely loads of places in 2005/06 and there was far more to choose from.

[V8RX7]

PositronicRay said:

Going off topic a bit, because a couple of posters seem to know the area.

2 interesting looking places within budget. (albeit not exactly perfect location)

One 1/2 way up Red Lane the other Highland Road. HS2 is due to through probably 400m from each house.
Do you think
a) Noise disturbance?
b) Difficulty selling?

On a wet night, outside, I can hear the trains that are over a mile away.

400m if there are some homes (rather than fields) is enough IMO for them not to worry you inside but you will hear them outside personally I doubt there will be that many trains - if the right house came up it wouldn't stop me buying it but obviously if the same house came up a mile away, I'd prefer it.

[Jobbo]

In the immediate future, the noise of trains won't be an issue but construction work will.

[PositronicRay]

Jobbo said:

I've never been a fan of Red Lane - it's a bit far for nipping to the V's. Highland Road is probably going to suffer more from HS2, I'd say, and feels like somewhere old people live.

The most obvious alternative to the one you originally linked is on Amherst. That's the same basic house as my old place which is lighter, I think. But it also has an east facing garden which isn't enormous, and doesn't have a big frontage to make up for it.

Really it looks like there's not a lot on the market. We looked at absolutely loads of places in 2005/06 and there was far more to choose from.

Amherst, Rose Croft, Berkeley, Bromley and Fernhill close are all on the list, as is Brookside and Fishponds rd (backing onto open ground would be great) The house currently available on Amherst has an awkward layout on the ground floor with narrow small rooms.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prope...

We've actually more space in our current (extended semi) on Priorsfield Rd. Sq footage isn't the point though, we don't need a huge space or 4 bedrooms, it's how useable the space is.

Second look, the agent is advertising the place as "great potential"

Still no hurry, we'll wait.

[PositronicRay]

V8RX7 said:

On a wet night, outside, I can hear the trains that are over a mile away.

400m if there are some homes (rather than fields) is enough IMO for them not to worry you inside but you will hear them outside personally I doubt there will be that many trains - if the right house came up it wouldn't stop me buying it but obviously if the same house came up a mile away, I'd prefer it.

Both houses have open fields between them and HS2.