House facelift

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Our house is in dire need of smartening up, we've got builders coming in a few weeks and scaffold going up. So far the plan is too:

Repoint all brickwork including the chimney
Re-render with monocouche in a chalk-white colour
New sofits and facia boards
Replace dormer cheeks and timber with marley cedral board
New guttering
Re-roof the dormers



Has anyone got any other suggestions or advice? I'd like to have gone with coloured windows but the current ones are only 5 years old so they're staying

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jas xjr said:

are there any specialist paints available for the windows?
good luck and i am looking forward to the completed job

You can get them wrapped which I've considered, I'd want to see some examples that had been done for a while first though

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langtounlad said:

Improve the insulation around the dormer projection if you are redoing the roof?

Good call, would like to modernise them a bit, i love this look


The inside of the left hand room is being plastered and the flat ceiling under the dormer will be pulled down as it's leaked in the past so we can insulate from the inside. The sides are single skin blockwork from what I can tell so additional insulation there would certainly help.

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Ricky146a said:

I would get the roof pressure cleaned while you are at it.
You will already have scaffolding in place and cleaning the tiles will add the finishing touches to the facelift.

I'll be giving it a good scrub. Bit concerned about pressure washing though as the felt isn't in great shape underneath, it's bitumen type stuff which is showing it's age.

I've removed a lot of moss since that picture was taken which has left this:

It looks even worse when it's dry, the colours been sucked from the tiles by the moss...

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Dr Murdoch said:

Change the colour of the front door?

That's something I'd considered, but again it's only 5 years old. I reckon thats something that would be easy to vinyl wrap

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cossy400 said:

Whilst I see your point, a new front door would be a set piece in some respects.

Any plans for the driveway?

Is it feasible to fit a new door into the existing frame?

Driveway is next on the list

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DrDeAtH said:

Re roof in a different colour. As you say, scaffolding will be already up.

Would love too, but not sure the budget extends that far, any idea what that would cost?

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Jonesy23 said:

Is there any actual need to repoint; not clear if you mean repair or a general redo? It's messy work and rarely ends up looking tidy as not many people are actually that good at it, especially cutting out the old mortar. If it doesn't *need* doing to fix eroded joints then leave it.

Could say similar with other jobs where repair and refresh is a better option than redo.


I would sound a general note of caution about face lifting a house - I know the render/new roof /coloured frames/etc. thing is sort of popular right now but remember it will be horrendously unfashionable all too soon plus anyone that does it makes their house stand out as having been redone. Always better to work in sympathy with what's there than to convert too far.

Unfortunately it needs doing, the render's seriously cracked on both sides and the mortar is crumbling away especially on the chminey.

I'm not sure the house would suite a complete refresh, but they were poorly built inthe first place and repairing them back the original standard seems pointless. I'm more inclined to improve whats there with more modern materials and correct some of the stuff that annoys me about it's current state,

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Little Lofty said:

I done this recently, new anthracite windows, new fascia and guttering, new roof extended across extension, porch roof and rendering to garage etc, the windows make the biggest difference.

Thats a good effort. Were the facia boards repainted?

What did the work on the roof cost if you dont mind me asking?

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Vron said:

I was advised against this for two reasons - if you've already got a cavity it won't add anything compared to the additional cost and hassle (window reveals guttering fascias etc), and secondly there is a huge problem with the insulating foam breaking down behind the render. The rendering companies blame the insulation companies and vice versa.

Already have cavity insulation

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samdale said:

This. And change the frosted glass panels next to it. For me it's the thing that dates the house the most. There's hundreds of choices of privacy glass that all look much more modern.

Really? we went with frosted as i thought it looked more modern than the floral panels you got in the 80's.

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Nickbrapp said:

Don’t forget some nice downlighters in the soffits

Not keen on this look, a couple of subtle exterior lights will go on though

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bristolbaron said:

have you considered boarding over the peach rendered section at the front? could look smart flowing through from the side instead of different finishes?

It is something I'd considered, I may attempt a photoshop to see what it looks like

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monkfish1 said:

this stuff 3 times a year. no more moss, no damage

https://www.mosskillers.co.uk/algae-killer

sure, you need to be patient though.

I'll get some of this ordered

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Matt_N said:

Does the render extend around the gable like your neighbours?

If not and it's just the forward facing peachy bit, could you just clad that with a match to the new cladding on the dormer cheeks? A new wooden front door to match that cladding would look nice.

Get rid of that bush by the front window too.

Render extends around both sides as in a right state, cladding on the sides would look odd but it may work on the front.

We like the bush, it's lovely when it's on flower, it could do with some shaping though

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Just to update this. The scaffold came down a week ago and i'm pretty pleased overall. The render looks much better than before. It's chalk white, so less magnolia than it looks in the photo. The cladding is grey James Hardie plank.

We had them insulate the section of roof above the front door which has made a huge difference. There was nothing in there before and on cold days you could feel the heat being sucked out of he house at the front.





Next is to do the driveway, some internal plastering, decorating, carpets etc etc etc