Brick - and end to 3-sided brick home request

[cittic10]

There was a mortorium on vinyl siding passed in gwinnett several years ago. That was a good decision.

3 sided brick doesn't bother me but what bothers me is when people take a beautiful brick facade and PAINT it. AAahhh! Blasphemy! Can we make painting brick illegal?

[ericsonga]

Originally Posted by cittic10

There was a mortorium on vinyl siding passed in gwinnett several years ago. That was a good decision.

3 sided brick doesn't bother me but what bothers me is when people take a beautiful brick facade and PAINT it. AAahhh! Blasphemy! Can we make painting brick illegal?

Oh no, painting brick can be done very nicely. Also, there are some REALLY ugly brick colors, especially from the 70s and 80s. I distinctly remember the house my family lived in during the late 80s, early 90s, was pink brick with teal shutters. Not pretty.

Much more rare than the 3 sided brick with the back siding is the 3 sided brick with the front as the side that has siding. My partner's parent's house was built in the early 80s and the back and sides are brick and the front is cedar siding. Apparently, it was originally stained, but they have since painted it. Very interesting...

[atlantagreg30127]

A relative of mine who lives locally plays a game when she watches the show she's addicted to (House Hunters). She records the shows and plays them back later, FF through the intro and commercials.

Whenever they show a three-sided brick home she'll yell out, "THAT'S ATLANTA!!!", and so far, she's never been wrong. It's apparently so much the norm here it's actually considered to be an architectural I.D. in some circles online.

Regarding painting brick: They used to film "Curb Appeal the Block" in Atlanta (production has since moved to California). I remember watching a few of those episodes and the guy who did that show seemed to have a thing with painting brick. I remember thinking how much satisfaction I'd get if I were there to be able to smack him with a board for doing that. He also liked to build backyard style wood decks on the front of the homes too, as well as remove the burglar bars from the homes in the bad neighborhoods and put expensive outdoor furniture that would be stolen within a day in their front yards. I'm glad he's in California now.

[lorilove]

Oh no, painting brick can be done very nicely. Also, there are some REALLY ugly brick colors, especially from the 70s and 80s. I distinctly remember the house my family lived in during the late 80s, early 90s, was pink brick with teal shutters. Not pretty.

100% Agree when done properly on the correct home that screams for an upgrade!

[Fritz99]

I thought I was the only person who thought 3 sides brick was ridiculous. I pass a new subdivision daily with prices ranging from $300k - $500k. Seriously, if you can afford $500k, surely you can afford to have the back side bricked. I am ok with front side brick only. That does provide a degree of uniformity as the house ages. But 3 sides make no sense. I also can not understand an entire subdivision of houses with the exact same front elevation. South Dekalb has an abundance of 3000 sq ft houses with 2 bay windows on the front built in early 2000. Why would you want your house to look just like your neighbors?

[GeorgiaLakeSearch]

Originally Posted by Fritz99

I thought I was the only person who thought 3 sides brick was ridiculous. I pass a new subdivision daily with prices ranging from $300k - $500k. Seriously, if you can afford $500k, surely you can afford to have the back side bricked. I am ok with front side brick only. That does provide a degree of uniformity as the house ages. But 3 sides make no sense. I also can not understand an entire subdivision of houses with the exact same front elevation. South Dekalb has an abundance of 3000 sq ft houses with 2 bay windows on the front built in early 2000. Why would you want your house to look just like your neighbors?

It is the whole keeping up with the Joneses thing! Mass produced exurbia!

Painted brick can make some homes look so much better. It is pretty common in Buckhead because many people like how it can look like stucco from the street, but without the hassle of stucco.

I am not a big fan of three sides brick but do prefer it when I buy rentals because of maintenance. Brick will cause a home to also appraise higher.

[PKCorey]

Originally Posted by Fritz99

South Dekalb has an abundance of 3000 sq ft houses with 2 bay windows on the front built in early 2000. Why would you want your house to look just like your neighbors?

Most of them seem to be have been built by Legacy Homes or whatever their new name is now. Same elevation through out the development.

[livinginbuffalo]

I think the facades of homes are regional. In western NY, it is rare to find any home with anymore than just the front of the home done with either brick, stone or stucco. The other three sides are always vinyl siding and it's not considered ghetto. It's considered the norm. Here my house is four sided brick and my neighbors from the north were thinking we were living large down here. I'm sure the heat down here has something to do with why more homes are bricked all the way around.

[RoslynHolcomb]

Originally Posted by atlantagreg30127

A relative of mine who lives locally plays a game when she watches the show she's addicted to (House Hunters). She records the shows and plays them back later, FF through the intro and commercials.

Whenever they show a three-sided brick home she'll yell out, "THAT'S ATLANTA!!!", and so far, she's never been wrong. It's apparently so much the norm here it's actually considered to be an architectural I.D. in some circles online.

Regarding painting brick: They used to film "Curb Appeal the Block" in Atlanta (production has since moved to California). I remember watching a few of those episodes and the guy who did that show seemed to have a thing with painting brick. I remember thinking how much satisfaction I'd get if I were there to be able to smack him with a board for doing that. He also liked to build backyard style wood decks on the front of the homes too, as well as remove the burglar bars from the homes in the bad neighborhoods and put expensive outdoor furniture that would be stolen within a day in their front yards. I'm glad he's in California now.

I remember that show. The designer was very talented, but anytime there was a brick house you can guarantee he would paint it! I think that defeats the purpose of having brick. If I wanted the hassle of having a house painted, why would I go through the expense of buying brick?

There are some newer homes over here in Dunwoody that are three sided brick. I have no idea what they cost, but given the location I'm guessing a good bit. I don't like it at all. Either brick the whole thing, or just leave it with siding.

[Mal93]

Its funny that Curb Appeal guy always painted the brick, because another property show (maybe one of the ones that compared flippers' renovations? I can't remember) used to always slam any ATL renovator who DARED paint over vintage GA brick (specifically the dark red multitone brick used in a lot of preWWII construction).

Although I like the look of some painted brick homes, it does seem like it would be a pain to maintain/keep clean and it also looks historically inaccurate on most 1920-1940s former unpainted brick homes...as bad as the cheap window replacements with the thin metal "mullions" vs a nicer mullion or no mullions at all.

The WORST is when people paint over natural granite stone foundations. WHY?! WHY would anyone do this?!! Its even more of a crime to me than "that" house in any intown neighborhood that gets painted with the oops section of paint (you know...the random hot pink, purple, or kelly green colors--but I'd rather have a colorful neighboring home than a blase' 3 sided brick / fake stucco/ cheap siding monstrosity. A little character is better than no personality at all!). But painting over stone...*shakes head*