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Siding over a brick house

berone | Posted in Construction Techniques on May 22, 2008 12:44pm

I have a house that is brick from the ground to the roof. It was built in 1850 as a carriage house for the estate that was my neighborhood at the time. Somewhere around the 20’s or 30’s it was converted to a residence. When we bought the house it was painted and peeling. (Still is, for that matter). Our first desire was to strip the paint and bring it back to brick. After careful study and stripping one wall (inside the porch we enclosed) I have concluded that stripping it is not a viable option. Over the years there were an assortment of patch jobs done to the building – cement lintels put over the windows, cutting through the arched lintels that had been there, for example. Various openings patched up with different brick and cement, etc. I now understand why it was painted. So this week I got a few estimates on having the house repainted. The prices came back from $8k to $16k, with the two contractors that I felt had a good grasp of the work and prep involved being $14k to $16k. That’s a significant chunk of our rolling remodeling budget. (Most work I do myself, but this is a two story house on a walkout basement so the gable end is 3 stories off the ground. If I didn’t have 2 years of interior projects to go I might think about it, but…) And after $16,000 I would have the same patchwork surface, albeit painted. So I’m wondering about the possibility of applying siding over the brick surface. I wouldn’t consider vinyl under any circumstances, but HardiPlanks are an aesthetic option for me. I read Rick Arnold’s article on rigid foam insulation on the exterior of a house and that got me thinking about that. The walls have no insulation on the interior and no way to add any – plaster over lathe applied directly to the brick. So there’s only about 3/4″ between the plaster and the brick. So a layer of insulation on the outside is attractive. The brick, by the way, is 3 layer thick – about 12″. I read the tech and installation articles on James Hardie’s website but found no data on installing over brick. I have a call to their tech support but haven’t heard back.

So – has anybody done anything like this? Is it feasible? How would it be done? Nail furring strips vertically 16″ on center and put the foam and then the planks over that is what I thought of. Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Anthony
_____________________________________
“Never try to teach a pig to sing. It only wastes your time and annoys the pig.”
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Replies

  1. darrel | May 22, 2008 03:39am | #1

    Just tossing out an idea...could you stucco over the brick? Granted, that'd probably cost as much as painting...

    1. berone | May 22, 2008 06:15am | #6

      Stucco was the first idea we had, but the ballparks on that were way over what we could consider - $25 - $30k. I don't necessarily expect this option to be less expensive than the pain, but we have to do something and it's going to cost money. If the foam would give us an insulation advantage and the house would look appreciably better then it's an option I want to explore. I'm not worried about trimming out the openings - the way they are currently configured lends itself to the trim out.Thanks,Anthony
      _____________________________________
      "Never try to teach a pig to sing. It only wastes your time and annoys the pig."

  2. seeyou | May 22, 2008 03:44am | #2

    I can't imagine what you're proposing would cost less than repainting the brick and it would be tough act to trim and flash the openings properly and would require about the same maintenance. Good luck.

    http://grantlogan.net/

     

    But you all knew that.  I detailed it extensively in my blog.

  3. rez | May 22, 2008 03:45am | #3

    Dang man, if foam board would work ok on the outside under a siding then the mass of the brick would let you heat that big old place with nothing but a wood stove.

     

     

    be thrifty

    Click here for access to the Woodshed Tavern

    Click here to visit the beginning of Breaktime...[

     

  4. frammer52 | May 22, 2008 05:33am | #4

    If you think painting is expensive, wait to you see the bill for siding!!!

    I did side a log home once though, lots of fun!

  5. mrfixitusa | May 22, 2008 05:44am | #5

    I have a red brick house 1250 sq ft ranch

    A couple of months ago I painted it kind of a linen white and it has dark brown trim and I am very pleased with the results.

    You have to spray it

    A heavy nap roller just did not work very well.

    Total cost was 10 gallons of paint for my house

    Good luck !

    +++

    Spring Break = Summer Broke

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