New Exterior Needed on 1910 Home

[ldavis (WavyGlass)]

Help! Our 1910 home in St. Paul, Minnesota has old aluminum siding that we are replacing with Hardie Board siding (http://www.jameshardie.com/Design-Ideas/Live-Colorfully) at a 4 inch reveal. We are keeping the original windows but are replacing the storms with Marvin wood surround storms. I need help with the color scheme for the siding, trim and storms! We are leaning towards dark gray, white and black, respectively. I am also curious on opinions as to which is more historically appropriate: (1) white corners or corners the same color as the siding; and (2) smooth or cedarmill finish. Thanks!

[CS in Low Hud]

Hi Idavis,

Welcome to Wavy Glass!

I have a mix of Hardie and original cedar siding on our place. What ever the color scheme you decide, DEFINITELY go with the smooth if you are replicating the original look.

Also, from experience, I have found that the cement content in the Hardie leads to a slightly increased algae growth, as compared to the cedar. If I were to do it again, I might pick a color that hides that better - like a moss green. I have to clean the yellow more regularly.

Chris

[mattswabb]

What's under your siding now? Is it salvageable?

Also you are removing the aluminum siding. Are you planning on removing the siding underneath the aluminum? Someone nearby my didn't remove the original and his job looks like crap.

[ldavis (WavyGlass)]

@Chris - Your house is amazing! I stumbled across pics of it yesterday when doing research on siding, colors, etc. I am definitely going with the smooth. I see you have white corners as opposed to yellow corners. I think I will do the same. Do you have storm windows or is the red just the sash and muntins. I really want black storms but most of my sash and muntins are painted white (this project has spurred a lot of additional "projects"). Thanks for your input!

@Matt - we are not sure what is under the aluminum siding but the contractor is removing the aluminum siding and the siding underneath before it is wrapped. We are anxious to see if there is anything original that we will be able to see. Three different contractors have said whatever is under the two layers is unlikely to be salvageable (plus there are two separate additions on the back of the house that only have the alum siding).

[mattswabb]

You could pull apart a corner of the siding and scrape and sand a bit and maybe able to find the original colors. Maybe in the back or behind a bush to hide it till the job is started.

[CS in Low Hud]

I see you have white corners as opposed to yellow corners. I think I will do the same. Do you have storm windows or is the red just the sash and muntins. I really want black storms but most of my sash and muntins are painted white (this project has spurred a lot of additional "projects"). Thanks for your input!

Thanks, Idavis. Our trim is actually a warm grey color. The sashes are a brick color. We do have storms and screens from Allied (the so-called "Invisible Storms"). Speaking of things that I would do differently were I to do it over... I should have made the storms the same color as the sashes, NOT the same color as the trim. Visually, it diminishes the windows. Live and learn! Here's a close up of the kitchen windows with the screens in place, so you can see what I mean:


Chris

[Neighmond]

Pretty!