Paint the brickwork or not?

[Crowbar hero]

Help avert a divorce!

We are extending to the rear of the house and it's always been part of the plan that the pebbledash will be painted, in white, so that new matches existing.  Up to about 1m you can see there's a coarse of red-brick, this detail has been extended to the rear. Likewise the brick window-sill details will also be on the rear. 
My wife wants to paint the expose brickwork to match the door/gate at the side.  I think it would be a shame, particularly the new brickwork to the back which is nicely finished, and I'm sure some love and elbow grease would clean up the existing stuff, however she is usually right on the aesthetic front, however I can't see it looking tidy after being painted. This has had a knock-on effect regarding guttering and soffits (white or black), and so we are reaching crunch point where the builder wants to order the plastics but we can't agree on the colour.

So for those with an eye for design and aesthetics - should I capitulate and let the nicely finished brickwork be painted, or stand by my guns and suffer the frosty 'Fine!' for the next eternity?

[Jilly]

No quite what you want to hear, but how about painting the whole house... But not blue, but a nice off white to blend with other properties. It wouldn't really matter then if you painted the brick the same or not. But I would do it in the house colour not the blue, I think it might make the house look bigger. Or perhaps even compromise and just leave 2-3 courses unpainted so splashing doesn't show? 

Edited July 28, 2022 by Jilly

[ToughButterCup]

Is it possible to paint a small patch of brickwork (an inconspicuous bit) the desired colour ? 

Wince, suck teeth ... rictus grin ... bottle of something nice....

[Crowbar hero]

Just now, Jilly said:

No quite what you want to hear, but I would paint the whole house... 

The pebbledash render above the bricks will be painted - that we are all in agreement on.

[Crowbar hero]

1 minute ago, ToughButterCup said:

Is it possible to paint a small patch of brickwork (an inconspicuous bit) the desired colour ? 

Wince, suck teeth ... rictus grin ... bottle of something nice....

I could probably build a bit of a mock-up easily enough, we've probably got enough spare material.

 

[Ferdinand]

Um. I'm biased but I''ll try to give good practical advice.

 

I admit that my attitude to painting pebbledash is roughly the same as having a leg off with a rusty nail file and sulphuric acid. I have a T who has been campaigning for it since about 2011, and I have so far held firm; I like making tenants happy and this has not been easy.

 

The issue as I see it is the difficulty of doing it, and the need to repaint it periodically. IMO it is the unnecessary creation of unnecessary work.

 

However, given that you are committed to painting it white, the basics are that you need to make sure that you are utterly tight against water ingress at the top, and probably need paint that will let any moisture that does get in get out again, and use paint that is going to last the longest possible, and consider maintenance, and that you are both sarisfied.

 

On colour for the brickwork and your direct question , if you do it all white it you need to be sure it will work well as a "face" for the house and you will be happy. I would look around at other local houses to see what you both think works. I think in these circs I would leave the brick as brick, and consider painting the eaves triangle at the top in a brick colour or something smart - or perhaps cladding it with something 'plastic wood' in a suitable colour.

 

One way to check this is to print out a photo processed to look like a line drawing, and colour it in on paper or on screen. You get something suitable to do that by taking a photo and running through an "edge detect" and "monochrome" pair of filters, plus perhaps a "sharpen" filter.

 

Stuff up at the top wants to be maintenance free, as you cannot maintain paint from a ladder without risk. So you will be into professionals or at least a scaffolding tower once every decade roughly.

 

I would do it differently, but so would we all and that was not your question.

 

I hope that helps a little practically.

 

Aside: do you need planning permission ?  Sometimes it does apply to colour. Or are there covenants? Checking around the area may give an impression on this.

 

Ferdinand

[Crowbar hero]

1 hour ago, Ferdinand said:

Um. I'm biased but I''ll try to give good practical advice.

 

I admit that my attitude to painting pebbledash is roughly the same as having a leg off with a rusty nail file and sulphuric acid. I have a T who has been campaigning for it since about 2011, and I have so far held firm; I like making tenants happy and this has not been easy.

 

The issue as I see it is the difficulty of doing it, and the need to repaint it periodically. IMO it is the unnecessary creation of unnecessary work.

 

I appreciate this may well be a bit of a chore, however with a decent electric sprayer and a scaffold tower I can get hold of quite easily I don't think it'll be as bad as some are saying (I'll probably end up eating those words).

 

 

1 hour ago, Ferdinand said:

 

On colour for the brickwork and your direct question , if you do it all white it you need to be sure it will work well as a "face" for the house and you will be happy. I would look around at other local houses to see what you both think works. I think in these circs I would leave the brick as brick, and consider painting the eaves triangle at the top in a brick colour or something smart - or perhaps cladding it with something 'plastic wood' in a suitable colour.

 

Other house of this design have all sorts of finishes, most are white painted render:

 

 

A couple are beige/magnolia:

 

A few have painted brickwork, mostly black, one or two white and one a hideous 'lego brick' red which now looks shabby:

 

 

1 hour ago, Ferdinand said:

One way to check this is to print out a photo processed to look like a line drawing, and colour it in on paper or on screen. You get something suitable to do that by taking a photo and running through an "edge detect" and "monochrome" pair of filters, plus perhaps a "sharpen" filter.

 

I've drawn up the elevations in CAD so it's easy enough to print and get the crayons out

 

1 hour ago, Ferdinand said:

Stuff up at the top wants to be maintenance free, as you cannot maintain paint from a ladder without risk. So you will be into professionals or at least a scaffolding tower once every decade roughly.

 

I don't mind the tower option, I had it a couple of years back to paint the top triangle - it was very scruffy before:

 

1 hour ago, Ferdinand said:

I would do it differently, but so would we all and that was not your question.

 

I hope that helps a little practically.

 

Aside: do you need planning permission ?  Sometimes it does apply to colour. Or are there covenants? Checking around the area may give an impression on this.

 

Ferdinand

Thanks for your thoughts - I'll check the planning permission thing, it's not an AONB or anything but best be sure I guess.

[Ferdinand]

Thanks for the reply.

 

The important thing is that you have thought sufficiently and will be satisifed with your decision, without surprises in the future.