In this week’s Retro Design Dilemma, reader Nita tells us that she must add exterior insulation to her 1952 flat-roof ranch house in Alaska — and she wants ideas from us for siding. What to suggest? Continue for Nita’s story and our ideas –>
Nita writes:
First, a little about me. My name is Nita, and I live in Alaska. My house was built in 1952 and is concrete block construction. It has survived temperatures as low as -70 and as high as 100, and even a big flood. While our average temperatures aren’t quite that extreme we do regularly see temps ranging from 45 below to 85 above. For me, this means that when I renovate parts of my house it has to be efficient and functional as well as beautiful and vintage-inspired, which is why I need some help.
Second, some history:
In 2010, I went on a mission to find a house. The recession was finally starting to hit us up here in Alaska and the local housing market was getting peppered with foreclosures and inexpensive properties. Being the frugal person that I am, I went about trying to find the perfect house while getting the most bang for my buck. In August 2010, my search ended when I stumbled across a foreclosed 1952 fixer-upper in the middle of the perfect residential neighborhood.Sure, the front yard was tiny and the last owners appear to have half-bleeped every repair they attempted, but it felt like home. I knew it was right for me as soon as I stepped inside for the first time. Original hardwood floors, brick fireplace with quirky concrete base, plaster walls, arched (swoon) doorway into the hall, cedar lined closets….. I could go on, but I’m sure you get the gist.
Since buying it I have put in countless hours repairing and restoring it. The basement has transformed from the scene of a bad slasher movie to a usable living room with an attached guest bed and bath. I have repainted every single wall in the house. I’ve repiped the entire Hydronic heating system. Currently, I’m working on stripping and refinishing my Homart steel cabinets and planning on renovating the main floor bathroom.
The biggest change I’ve made (aside from the basement) has been the windows. With temperatures in interior Alaska reaching lows of -50 and highs of 90, the original single paned, wood frame windows couldn’t stay. As you’ll see in the pictures I’ve had them replaced with new, high efficiency windows with interior grilles that mimic the look of the originals. I cannot tell you how much these have saved me in heating costs so far this winter.
On to my plea for help…
Anyway, my next big project is going to be the exterior, which is what I’m writing you guys about today. You see, I just can’t seem to decide on a suitable option when it comes to siding. I want something that gives the look and feel of being midcentury while also being functional at extreme temperatures. So I’m asking for advice and suggestions from everyone in the Retro Renovation community.Here are the things I want the siding to accent:
-The flat roof. I have the only flat roof house on the block and I want something that will complement that shape.
-The brick porch. I love my brick porch and have plans to build a second tier of brick planters that will hide the concrete block portion of the porch.
-The brick accents below the windows.
-The red walkway. The original owners stained the concrete walkway to match the red bricks and I love it.I’ve included pictures taken today (at -35 degrees) and a picture from when I first bought it in the fall of 2010. Now, some people may be wondering about the visible insulation around that front window… The concrete block construction, while being extremely sturdy and virtually impenetrable, isn’t a very good insulator. Before I put up siding I will be firring out all of the exterior walls in order to add 2” of rigid insulation.
Finally, thank you so much for even taking the time to go over this. I’m at a loss as to how to proceed and appreciate any help you guys and the readers can suggest.
Sincerely,
Nita
Readers, what do you suggest for new siding for this house, after Nita adds more insulation?
When Nita wrote and asked for our help to choose a siding for her house, Pam and I reminded her that we are not experts in insulation or exterior siding/materials in any climate — especially in one so diverse as Alaska. As always, we suggest that Nita check with properly licensed professionals to determine which siding will work best with the insulation that she is adding in her climate.
[Update: Alas, somehow along the way some of the photos illustrating our ideas for this story disappeared from our database — internet poltergeists ate them!]
When it came to the “exterior decorating” portion of Nita’s questions, Pam and I felt more able to help. To begin the transformation of Nita’s exterior, Pam recommended that Nita continue the brick knee wall from the porch planter all the way along the front of the house. This interesting detail will help make the house feel grounded and continue the horizontal line from the flat roof along the base of the house. It looks as though Nita’s brick may be roman brick, which may be hard to match since it is out of production to my knowledge. In that case, she may want to replace all the brick with a similarly colored standard brick.
Pam suggested that Nita use stucco for the rest of the house’s siding — of course she’ll need to check with a professional to make sure this is a viable option first. I would then paint the stucco a deep olive green (such as Sherwin Williams Houseplant), which will work well with the brick and provide color in the snowy winter months in Alaska. To warm up the white trim, Nita could paint the rooflines, window frames, door frame and carport supports a warm cream (such as Sherwin Williams Morning Sun). Then to add some pizazz to the entry, a new door from Crestview Doors — the Delwood — would reinforce the mid century style. Painting the door a deep red (such as Sherwin Williams Red Tomato) will help the entry door be the showcase of the front of the house.
Depending on what hardiness zone Nita lives in, she may be able to plant several of these Red Twig Dogwood shrubs from Fast Growing Trees — that are leafy and green in the summer and in winter, the stems turn a bright red — which contrasts nicely with the snow, compliments the house color and coordinates with the red door. Having a few shrubs near the corners of Nita’s house will also help anchor the house, provide winter color and hide the utility box that is on the front corner of the house near the carport.
Since Nita lives in a snowy climate, she may want to look into adding a railing to her front steps. Of course she would need to check local building codes to see if railings are recommended and what specifications they would have to meet. If Nita does decide to add a railing, we suggest a black iron railing that would be placed on the right side of the stairs — so as not to obstruct access to the planter under the front window.
We also discussed board and batten siding — as an alternative to stucco — which would add vertical lines to contrast the horizontals of the roofline and brick knee wall. Either the board and batten siding or the stucco would look lovely on Nita’s mid century “mini martini” house.
Hopefully we’ve given you a few good ideas Nita — best of luck with your exterior remodel — please let us know how it turns out.
Todd A says
If you re-side this home make sure to box in that electrical pipe and panel, just have a round opening so the electric meter can be read, Hinge the area around the panel so repairs can be done. This was taken out in the “new” picture but is a major distraction that is curable.
This home screams for mid century wood decorative panels on the carport sides, and to the right of the front door to give added depth and grounding to the large roof overhang. A design like the one on the bottom right side of this page would be era correct : http://midcenturyliving.blogspot.com/2010/08/wood-privacy-screens.html
Anne H says
I thought exactly the same thing about including a design element to distinguish the projecting roofline. That would help to further distinguish the building plane and add visual interest to the facade. Lattice stix makes really cool screens in different patterns.
http://www.latticestix.com/index.php?cPath=517
ChrisH says
Thanks for the link. You’ve given me some ideas for my back yard.
Libbyontheprairie says
Can we see pictures of the inside of your house! I’m particularly interested in the Sears Homart cabinets! Thanks!
Nita says
I will be posting them on my blog shortly. 🙂
MbS says
Nita, I encourage you to think about color! I grew up in Montana, and during the grey days, well, color is so cheerful and hopeful against the white of snow and charcoal greige of dirty snow days. Lots of options and you have great lines for color contrast, based on the existing red….happy for you. 🙂
Suzy says
My mid-mod house in the PNW was “panabode” construction, basically cedar planks placed vertically, with a steel ribbon holding them together. We added insulation to the outside by installing 4×8 sheeted foam insulation (looks like particle board plywood, and has a 1/2 layer of foam inside) covered by Hardie siding in full sheets, which looks like smooth stucco, but won’t crack as easily in an earthquake. We trimmed it with aluminum. Hard to imagine, I know. But a beautiful nod to mid-mod with a 21st century edge.
oh Holland says
Suzy — Bet I’m not alone wishing I could see pics of your house!
Olga says
Adorable home! After reading all through the posts now i want to see a blog to follow the progress. Its like finding a good book and i need to know what happens! So link here when you get that up and going! My experience has only been with redoing a Victorian home in VA. But i love the Frank L Wright – ness of your home and the small horizontal bricks are divine. I think vertical lines would expand the look of it and add to the whole line-gorgeousness of your home. Whatever you do i am sure you will have thought it out!
Ted says
Don’t have time to watch entire video, but glad you proposed the vertical board & batten in your video, Pam & Kate! That was first thing that occurred to me as best aesthetic. The play & tension btwn. absolutely-vertical & absolutely-horizontal elements is a dynamic approach to MCM design; look at Richard Neutra’s various projects, partic. from 1950-on, as the best of any examples.
B&B look goes back to early Calif. ranches (I mean, like back to late-1800s mission days) as very simple & practical solution to keep out weather, and has been reinterpreted thruout MCM and ranch house design vocabulary ever since. (And make no mistake, this IS an MCM house, modest though it may be. I think 1st rule is: decide what style your house is telling you it wants to be, then stay true to that.) Plus, this’d be great way to attach to furring strips which’ll encase insul’n. I normally dislike Hardiplank (concrete siding) b/c its thin profile lacks the rich shadowline of true 1x wood siding, but used as B&B (I think you can get the right Hardi dims’n. for the battens, like 1x2s) it’d be perfect; more $ than wood but prob. better choice in that harsh varying climate. BTW I hafta respectfully disagree w/ owner about showing off those brick stools below windows; they really don’t go w/ the look, so if it were me I’d simply hide ’em under the new siding.
Would also look @ ways to pull facade out w/ rectilinear built-in planters, or courtyard-like privacy screen, both of various hts. to echo stepped-down hts. of house & carport roofs. To go further, altho’ I dunno what’s going on inside house, might want to at least consider modest changes to window proportions / orientation / placement. (I know those are new; just sayin’, while you have the chance before adding siding….and windows’ll hafta be addressed in some way anyhow as they’ll now be too recessed in new siding.)
Nita says
However much I’d love to change the dimensions of some of the windows, that would be extremely difficult. When the new windows were put in I spoke with the installer about how the old ones were done. Apparently, on houses like this they would build up the concrete block and leave an opening for the windows. Then, before they went any higher with the block they would slide in the windows and pour concrete around them to hold them in place, after which they would continue upwards with the block.
This block is a pain to cut through on its own, as I discovered when I had a cutter come in to make a hole for a new egress window in the back. If you add in the steel mesh/lath and the inch or more of plaster over that, resizing windows would require a whole team of professionals. I had considered it before I put in the new windows, because the last owners put in that large picture window you see in the front, but decided that the time and money required for that was beyond my budget at that point.
As it is, the new windows appear larger than the original because without the old wood frames they are able to utilize more space for glass and thus let in more natural light, which can be a precious commodity in the winter. I do, however, appreciate the suggestion, especially since I had thought something similar before they went in. I considered waiting until the new siding was done before I did the windows, that way they wouldn’t be recessed, but the old ones had cracks in the glass that were expanding and the wood was dry-rotting, so I had no choice but to replace them when I did.
Ted says
Thx Nita for all the thorough responses……sometimes the effort involved, when you know all the nitty-gritty of the underlying construction, forces some real compromises! Even changing the grid (mullion) patterns by addition or subtraction looks like it’d be a real challenge, if at all possible in fact, w/ your double-glazed windows.
Sara says
I grew up in a concrete block ranch house built in the late 40’s. When my parents bought the house in the early 80’s, it had the original single-pane metal frame windows and the walls, just like yours, had no insulation. This was in the mountains in Northern CA and we froze…I can’t even imagine how cold you must be in Alaska! Once those blocks get cold, it’s super hard to warm the place up. And in summer, we’d sometimes have temps in the 90’s and those blocks would get warm…we cooked! My dad firred out the exterior walls and added rigid foam insulation which sounds like what you’re going to do. We also replaced the windows. I like the hardie plank idea. My dad used horizontal rough sawn redwood siding, about 6″ wide, but I would imagine that would be hard to find in Alaska, plus it doesn’t really fit the era. But the horizonal planks did looks nice and complimented the lines and angles of the house. Are your interior walls block too? Ours were, and my mom was forever fighting those walls when she wanted to hang pictures. Good luck with your project…your house is adorable!
Nita says
My interior walls are plaster, actually. They still put up quite the fight when hanging pictures or anything, but I love the texture of them. I even had my contractor use a hand-texture on the basement walls (which were done in drywall when I renovated) so that the texture matches everything else.
Nita says
On the topic of windows treatments that insulate:
In contrast to the Window Quilt, a seasonal option that is cheap and pretty commonly used up here is the plastic film option: http://www.amazon.com/3M-Indoor-Insulator-Kit-5-Window/dp/B00002NCJI
It seals off your window without blocking the light and views. Another option is tacking up something like a moving blanket.
As for everything else:
I cannot thank everyone enough for their comments and suggestions! I have quickly read through them and will be reading through them more carefully after I get off work. I think it is possible for stucco to work up here, as there is another midcentury house in the area with all stucco siding. My only concern would be how dry it gets here in the winter and whether or not that would cause the stucco to crack. I love the colors that Kate picked out! I’ve been going through a lot of green paint swatches from Home Depot and Lowes, so it seems that great minds think alike because that’s the direction I was headed.
It hadn’t even occurred to me to extend the brick out to create a grounding effect with a knee wall, but that is brilliant and really ties the house together in a way that was completely escaping me. That is most definitely going on my to-do list. I wonder, now that it’s been mentioned, if I can’t find any Roman brick whether or not something like the AirStone (mentioned previously) can be done in that style.
All in all, I think I have a lot of options to consider and luckily, I have a couple months to do that before I need to begin ordering materials. (Shipping takes a while, as you can imagine)
On a final note, I think I’m going to have to do a driving tour around my neighborhood to show you guys some of the other midcentury houses and buildings in the area. I think you’ll be surprised by the variety and I know there are a few in particular that you will covet as much as I do.
Thank you again!!
Kate says
Wow — great minds to think alike Nita! I can’t believe we both picked green! I think it really would look great on your house. I have the same roman brick (different color though) on my house and wonder what I would do if ever I needed to replace or rebuild anything. I haven’t been able to find a source for Roman Brick so if you do find one, please share with us here.
I’m glad we were able to help — you have an adorable “mini martini” ranch house! 🙂
Ted says
You’re right, Roman brick will take some searching (and of course depends on where in the country you live & how far you’re willing to pay to have shipped from afar). Even where I am in the Southeast with our famously red-clay soil (thus many brick foundries), the only place my search uncovered is Belden Brick out of Canton, OH: http://www.beldenbrick.com/2007/facebrick_2007.asp
But worth asking all the local brickyards anyway. And be aware when matching: there isn’t necessarily just one “roman brick dimension”.
BK31 says
EIFS / Dryvit usually uses a rigid foam insulation as a substrate with a stucco look. While its not a true mid-century material it can give you some great flexibility and allow for some interesting horizontal reveal lines or profiles to be added.
I’d keep any patterning, battens, lap siding etc. horizontal especially with how narrow the front of your house is. I’d let the brick to the right of the door be your main vertical element and let it stand out. You could do a hardiboard sheet product to cover furred out insulation and add horizontal batten strips at panel joints and evey 16″ or 24″ (roughly every 2 or 3 courses of block that you have now) and have the battens wrap the corners instead of hit a vertical member. Kind of like some of Wrights Usonian houses that he did later in his career. They could be painted all the same and let the shadow line subtly play up the horizontal nature, a tone or two darker than the base panels for a decent amount of drama, or match the deep red of the brick over a cream base for a look similar to Wright’s Duncan house which was built int the 50’s.
Brian
Nita says
I spoke with my dad, who has been in construction for years, after the Hangout and mentioned the stucco idea to him. I asked if stucco fares well up here. He said the better option was exactly what you mentioned, using something like Dryvit. He said that it insulates better and lasts longer in the harsher climate than stucco.
TappanTrailerTami says
Hmmm….very cute house! I think if it were me, I’d do the rigid insulation and then for siding, Hardie Plank or similar board and batten to lend a vertical element.
I might also paint the roof trim/overhang the same color as the siding on the lower portion, and trim color on the upper half – there seems to be a dividing line to do that. The trim color would also go on the front door and I’d add narrow trim to the windows, same trim color.
No matter what you do, your house will retain its cute factor and be easier to heat!
I’m cold just thinking of anything below 25 degrees!