Changing the look of the house.

BloodySandwich

Hey, guys, I have a question if anyone can answer, It might be strange question, but here we go: Let's say I bought the house in neighborhood and all houses look excalty the same, except for doors etc and lets say house is kinda cold and you want to put insulation. However on the front wall of the house the're bricks, and I wonder can you change the look of the house or is going to look very strange because one house is going to look completly different.


Ps. Sorry if is stupid question but I'm foreigner so don't know much about this things in Ireland.
Thanks.

jmBuildExt

You need planning permission if your proposed changes aren't in keeping with the existing houses.

Whas your concern? Do you think the houses are horrible and you are looking to change it under the guise of external insulation...
Or are you worried the external insulation will change the look of the house?

...You can put almost any finish on the insulation. So matching with the old shouldnt be a problem.

BloodySandwich

I am more worried about the house is not going to look the same, most of the neighbours use that injects insulation which is my opinion not effective as normal insulation of the wall. I'm not builder and I don't have idea about construction but when I see how someone build that house is just ridiculous how mess up it is , they didn't put any ventilation in kitchen and bathrooms and you have to open windows to let air out, just wow... same with rooms I have this small ventilation in windows which is really bad..

BryanF

Because of the brick you should get an inspection by PI covered professional before pumping, buts it's the first thing I'd do insulation wise.

External wall insulation (ewi) can be finished with brick slips, get one of the bigger ewi suppliers to visit or post samples to you.

BloodySandwich

Thank you guys for letting me know, I didn't realize they can put anything on insulation. Really good to know.

Brother lives in an estate of pebble-dashed houses. It's a long street with houses either side. All houses have the same look when built.


He has external insulation on his house which makes the exterior look almost like sand/cement rendered finish. Very different to the other houses, but the colour is pale cream and a few of the houses on the street, although pebble-dashed, are painted colours (cream, pale blue etc.) so his house, although a completely different finish, doesn't stand out at all (which is good, cos although it can look really good having your house stand out, it can also look really bad).

Mind you, some of the houses on the street have weird random fronts on them. One has a big porch supported by concrete pillars, one has red brick on the downstairs at the front, etc. and although these all look a bit different from the standard pebble-dash, again, they're done in subtle colours and such and don't stand out a mile off.