vinyl/brick siding combination

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm with your spouse. It looks fine and is a common look for older houses. I would greatly discourage you from painting brick if it's not already painted. Painted brick is hard to maintain and can never be unpainted. New siding in a more modern color might improve the look of the house but it's not cheap (for some reason) so you might want to leave it as a future possibility and not a necessity.

The only place I have ever seen the vinyl brick combo is here. It is an atrocious look and screams that there wasn't enough money for brick. I'd hardiplank the vinyl.

It's actually pretty common in the south but I think different from how they do it in the DMV area. You'll find that the entire facing front of the house will be brick or stone and then the other three sides are vinyl. So when you come up to the house from the front, its one unified look but if you approach from the sides or back you see that it isn't really a brick home.

New poster here.

Um, no. Not common in the South at all. When I moved to the DMV I was shocked by all of the brick-front houses that cost 2-4x similar all brick houses in the South. It is tacky and pretentious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:painted brick screams cheap and make maintenance

So all of those multi million dollar row houses with painted brick in Georgetown look "cheap" to you?

My dad, who was from Italy, was a stonemason and bricklayer. He's rolling over in his grave now.

You don't paint brick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm with your spouse. It looks fine and is a common look for older houses. I would greatly discourage you from painting brick if it's not already painted. Painted brick is hard to maintain and can never be unpainted. New siding in a more modern color might improve the look of the house but it's not cheap (for some reason) so you might want to leave it as a future possibility and not a necessity.

The only place I have ever seen the vinyl brick combo is here. It is an atrocious look and screams that there wasn't enough money for brick. I'd hardiplank the vinyl.

It's actually pretty common in the south but I think different from how they do it in the DMV area. You'll find that the entire facing front of the house will be brick or stone and then the other three sides are vinyl. So when you come up to the house from the front, its one unified look but if you approach from the sides or back you see that it isn't really a brick home.

New poster here.

Um, no. Not common in the South at all. When I moved to the DMV I was shocked by all of the brick-front houses that cost 2-4x similar all brick houses in the South. It is tacky and pretentious.

I am from the south and have never seen it anywhere but here. Ticky tacky

[Anonymous]

OP here--thanks for the input. If anyone has someone (builder?) they recommend who could take a look and give a quote, would appreciate it. I agree it's not an "urgent fix" but it's something that I think makes an otherwise nice house look cheap, and it's on my list of things to fix in the next 5 years or so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here--thanks for the input. If anyone has someone (builder?) they recommend who could take a look and give a quote, would appreciate it. I agree it's not an "urgent fix" but it's something that I think makes an otherwise nice house look cheap, and it's on my list of things to fix in the next 5 years or so.

It's a waste of money. But most importantly. if it's the norm in the neighborhood it wouldn't be a good investment to over improve.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:painted brick screams cheap and make maintenance

So all of those multi million dollar row houses with painted brick in Georgetown look "cheap" to you?

My dad, who was from Italy, was a stonemason and bricklayer. He's rolling over in his grave now.

You don't paint brick.

DC is not Italy. And in DC, we do.

[Anonymous]

Painted brick is beautiful if done correctly. Some of my favorite houses in NW, Bethesda, and N Arlington are painted brick. There's a rabid anti-brick-painter on this board who always jumps in with multiple intense posts about how horrible it is, though. (Who seems to be a different person than the offspring of the Italian bricklayer.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
painted brick screams cheap and make maintenance


So all of those multi million dollar row houses with painted brick in Georgetown look "cheap" to you?


My dad, who was from Italy, was a stonemason and bricklayer. He's rolling over in his grave now.

You don't paint brick.


DC is not Italy. And in DC, we do.

We all know that trends come and go. The problem with painting brick is that you cannot undo it. It's like painting the woodwork in your house (which was popular for a time and then not popular again). My opinion is that the natural brick or stone look is nicer. But it's just my opinion.

It's funny that George Washington could not afford brick so he used pine siding that had been beveled to create a brick look. He then painted it and threw sand on it to make it look textured. I'm sure he would not have painted his brick if he had been able to afford to use it.

[Anonymous]

My dad, who was from Italy, was a stonemason and bricklayer. He's rolling over in his grave now.

You don't paint brick.


DC is not Italy. And in DC, we do.

And I guess you speak for all of DC. ?? I'm sure there is someone in Italy who has painted their brick as well.

[Anonymous]

Love, love painted brick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm with your spouse. It looks fine and is a common look for older houses. I would greatly discourage you from painting brick if it's not already painted. Painted brick is hard to maintain and can never be unpainted. New siding in a more modern color might improve the look of the house but it's not cheap (for some reason) so you might want to leave it as a future possibility and not a necessity.

The only place I have ever seen the vinyl brick combo is here. It is an atrocious look and screams that there wasn't enough money for brick. I'd hardiplank the vinyl.

It's actually pretty common in the south but I think different from how they do it in the DMV area. You'll find that the entire facing front of the house will be brick or stone and then the other three sides are vinyl. So when you come up to the house from the front, its one unified look but if you approach from the sides or back you see that it isn't really a brick home.

Have you ever ventured outside of the beltway?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Love, love painted brick.

wait a few years

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Love, love painted brick.

wait a few years

That's a bad paint. I agree I love the look of painted brick. Georgwtown has been painted brick for decades. It's not a trend in DC. Painted brick is also very popular up north.

[Anonymous]

http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/4040365/list/What-You-Need-to-Know-Before-Painting-Brick/


Some people recommend staining the brick instead of painting it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
painted brick screams cheap and make maintenance


So all of those multi million dollar row houses with painted brick in Georgetown look "cheap" to you?


My dad, who was from Italy, was a stonemason and bricklayer. He's rolling over in his grave now.

You don't paint brick.


DC is not Italy. And in DC, we do.

We all know that trends come and go. The problem with painting brick is that you cannot undo it. It's like painting the woodwork in your house (which was popular for a time and then not popular again). My opinion is that the natural brick or stone look is nicer. But it's just my opinion.

It's funny that George Washington could not afford brick so he used pine siding that had been beveled to create a brick look. He then painted it and threw sand on it to make it look textured. I'm sure he would not have painted his brick if he had been able to afford to use it.

We're considering painting the brick on our 1937 N. Arlington cape. The brick is an ugly color and in bad condition. It has been repointed in the past and needs to be repointed again in several sections that werent done previously. I can't imagine a case where mismatched mortar would ever be in style, so I think our best bet is going to be a quality paint job after fixing the mortar. It's one thing to avoid painting quality brick, but sometimes brick deserves to be painted. No shingles or landscaping will fix it.