Painting & Siding
Choosing an Exterior Color Scheme
By: Danielle McVicar
Choosing a color scheme for your house is one of the most difficult tasks while remodeling your home. The exterior of your house is the first thing anyone sees; it’s the first impression of your home. Your color choices affect not only you, but everyone who looks at your house. If you choose colors that are too neutral and boring, your house will seem flat and featureless. However, if you choose colors that are too loud and vibrant, they may overwhelm the architecture as well as clash with the rest of the neighborhood. The ideal colors for your house will highlight the beautiful features of your home while disguising its flaws. A well chosen color scheme will boost the appeal of your house as well as raise its market value.
The two main factors that will help you determine which colors are perfect for your house are the architecture of the house and the neighborhood environment. Historic architectures, such as Colonial or Victorian, look best in their original colors. Doing some background research on your house will help you a great deal in your quest for a color scheme.
If history and architecture don’t affect your color choices, take cues from other houses in your neighborhood. Your house should have its own style and personality, but should also blend in with other surrounding houses in the area. Taking a look around your neighborhood may give you some ideas and inspirations for your own home.
An exterior paint scheme typically consists of three colors, one for each of the three paintable parts that make up a home’s exterior: the field, trim, and accent.
The field is made up of large areas, such as walls or roofs, and is the majority of the exterior. Using a lighter color to paint the field will give your house the illusion of being bigger, while darker colors will make it appear smaller. Visually unappealing elements, like gutters or downspouts, should be painted the same color as the field so that they fade into the background.
The trim consists of corners boards, window trims, fascias, rakes, etc. If the trim is painted the same color as the field, the house appears to look unfinished. However, if the trim is a darker color than the field, elements such as windows appear to be framed and disconnected from the rest of the house. Choosing a color lighter than the field is almost always an effective choice for the trim.
The accent includes specific elements such as doors, shutters, and other architectural features. The accent is where the most dramatic colors are painted. Eye-catching colors are often used to draw attention to the most important features of the house.
If you aren’t the adventurous type and don’t want to choose your own exterior color scheme, many paint companies offer paint selection programs that provide various color combinations for you to choose from.
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Feng Shui and Your Front Door Color
By: Danielle McVicar
The color of your front door is an important element to your house; it’s one of the first things a visitor will notice. It’s important that the color of your door ties into your exterior color scheme, but according to the theory of Feng Shui the color of your door is also important because it determines the energy that flows into your home.
The theory of Feng Shui concerns itself with the balance of energies in a home. Different colors represent one of the five Feng Shui elements, which are fire, water, earth, metal and wood. Doors and windows are extremely important elements of Feng Shui because it is through these openings that energy enters the house. The front door is especially significant because it is where the majority of the house’s energy comes from.
Each of the five elements is associated not only with colors but with directions. To determine which color your front door should be for good Feng Shui, you must first consider which direction your front door is facing.
The following list details what colors are acceptable for your front door depending on its facing direction.
South- If your door faces to the south then its element is fire. Colors that are associated with the element of fire are shades or red, orange, and pink.
North- If your door faces to the north then it is ruled by the element of water. Colors associated with water include shades of blue and black.
East/ Southeast- If your door faces to the east or slightly southeast then its element is wood. Wood colors consist of shades of green.
West/ Northwest- If your door faces to the west or northwest then its element is metal. Colors associated with metal include shades or white, gray, or other metallic colors.
Southwest/ Northeast- If your door happens to face southwest or northeast then it is ruled by earth. The colors that are associated with earth are shades of brown, tan, beige and yellow.
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Different Types of Exterior Siding
By: Danielle McVicar
There are many different types of exterior siding options available, all of which impact your house differently. The following list contains the most popular siding options available today along with the benefits and drawbacks of each.
- Stucco Siding- Traditional stucco is made from cement mixed with water and inert materials like sand and lime. Modern stucco is usually synthetic, and is both durable and moisture-proof. Stucco can be tinted different colors, which never need to be repainted. Stucco can be hard to apply, however, due to its texture.
- Stone Veneer Siding- Stone siding is one of the most durable types of exterior siding, and one of the most beautiful. Common stone used for siding includes granite, limestone and slate. Stone siding happens to be extremely expensive, however, and precast stone siding is available at a lower cost.
- Wood Clapboard Siding- Common wood used for siding includes cedar, pine, spruce, redwood, cypress, and Douglas fir. Although many synthetic sidings have been created, wood still remains a popular siding choice. It can be stained as well as painted. Wood siding can be relatively pricey, however, and will eventually begin to rot and need replacing.
- Brick and Brick Veneer Siding- Brick is made of fired clay, and comes in a variety of colors. It does not need routine maintenance like other sidings do and is virtually indestructible. The biggest drawback to brick siding is price as it can be quite expensive.
- Vinyl Siding- Vinyl is made from polyvinyl chloride plastic and is cheaper and easier to install compared to most other forms of siding. Vinyl siding won’t flake or rot, but it can crack or fade over time. There are also health and environmental concerns with vinyl siding.
- Aluminum Siding- Aluminum siding is an alternative to vinyl and is considered by some to be old-fashioned. Like vinyl, aluminum siding is durable and easy to maintain. Aluminum is also fire proof and not harmful to the environment or your health as vinyl is said to be. Aluminum will fade over time and can be dented, but it won’t crack like vinyl is prone to do.
- Engineered Wood Siding- Engineered wood siding is made of wood products and other materials and is often called wood composite. It comes in panels that are both inexpensive and easy to install. Engineered wood siding appears more natural than other synthetic sidings but does not look exactly like real wood due to the uniformed texture.
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Home Remodeling: Choosing an Exterior Paint
By: Danielle McVicar
Exterior paint not only makes your home more attractive and appealing to the eye, it also protects your house from fading, moisture, and temperature changes. The average house needs its exterior repainted once every six to eight years. With all the different types of exterior paint available, choosing one for your house can be difficult, even more so if you don’t know the differences between them.
The two main types of exterior paint available are latex paint and alkyd paint. Although there are many more specialty types of exterior paint, these two types represent the vast majority of the market.
Latex paint is the most common and popular paint available for purchase. It is water-based, which makes it flexible and able to expand with the siding of the house in changing temperatures. Latex paint is also breathable, which means that it won’t trap moisture and won’t crack and peel. In addition to being nearly odorless, latex paint dries relatively fast, generally taking anywhere from 1 to 6 hours to fully dry. Also, being water-based means these paints clean up easily and are environmentally friendly.
However, latex paint is sensitive to the cold and should never be allowed to freeze before it is dry or else it will be severely damaged. Also, compared to oil-based paint, latex paint has a tendency to show brush strokes after it has dried.
Alkyd paint is oil-based, and is preferred by professional painters because of its smoother finish and fewer roller/brush marks. Alkyd paint is durable, stain resistant, and can be sprayed on with a paint sprayer rather than a paint brush. It is extremely wearable, has a more level flow and leveling, and has better surface penetration than latex paint.
There are drawbacks to using alkyd paint as well. Alkyd paint has a very strong smell due to the high level of volatile organic chemicals. The smell lingers for quite a while after the paint has dried and is harmful if ventilation is not allowed. Also, because alkyd paint achieves a smoother finish, it takes longer to dry compared to latex paint, anywhere from 8 to 24 hours. It also sags if it is applied to thickly.
Both types of exterior paint have their benefits and drawbacks, but after determining your specific needs you should be able to pick the one that is best suited for your home.
By B. J. McCauley, June 24, 2010 @ 10:28 pm
I love the information about the door colors. I never thought of the Feng Shui method, thanks I will try this and hopefully have better reception too.
Thanks
By B. Moore, July 4, 2010 @ 5:57 pm
I believe that some people believe that brick/brick veneer should be pressure washed. I believe that it weakens the brick or its compound or bonding, (whatever they are stacked with and maybe even the brick itself). Could someone comment on this? Thank you!
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