Our neighborhood was built in the 60s and early 70s. Most of the houses still maintain their original brick exterior and colors. It feels like a time capsule driving in the neighborhood. However, we have made a lot of changes on the exterior since moving in. We demoed the metal awing in the front of the house, got rid of the cracked concrete patio next to the foundation, removed the foundation planting, and installed a brand new storm door. These steps were taken to address the water issue around the foundation, but of course, these projects improved the curb appeal tremendously.
The front of the house, summer 2017, shortly after we moved in
The front of the house, summer 2019
The front of the house today:
When the roof was replaced, we painted the soffit, the fascia, and the front door to a darker color to match the new gutter, which gave the house an entirely new look and feel. Many neighbors stopped on their tracks and told us how much they loved the new look of the house. Some even said that they enjoyed watching us make decisions during the renovation process. “It is like watching a HGTV show in weekly episodes!” They said and we laughed together. Our neighbors’ praises certainly confirmed our choices of the trim color, and the front of the house looked really good!
But somehow, the house still looked a little strange. For the longest time, I could not pinpoint what was off about the house, until Slav suggested that we should have painted the gable.
A gable is the triangular part of a wall under the roof, especially between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. Our house is side-gabled, meaning that the gable portion faces the side of the house. Although not in the direct view of the street, one can still catch a glimpse of the gable when passing by.
Generally speaking, the gable color does not need to be the same as the roof, or the fascia, or the soffit. More often than not, the gable color actually contrasts the roof color, and accompanies the siding of the house. Our house has yellow brick siding. After careful consideration, we decided to paint the gable the same color we used on the fascia and soffit – bronze.
We used bronze on the soffit and fascia to match the bronze gutter, and really liked how it looks. The original gable color appealed very yellow next to bronze, which made the gable portion look very dated.
To repaint the gable portion, we first had to clean the surface to get the dust, wasp nests, and spider nets off:
Then we needed to use the sander to take off the peeling old paint and rough the surface to receive new paint.
We also needed to patch and caulk the gaps and holes:
I spend a whole weekend cleaning and sanding. Then Slav patched all the holes with sealant/outdoor caulking.
The gable on the garage side is relatively lower to the ground. I was able to reach all surfaces with a tall ladder. But the west side gable is a different story. With sloped land underneath the gable is very high up. Slav had to climb up for most of the work.
After letting the sealant dry, I lightly sanded everything again, cleaned the dust off, and it was time to paint!
The new paint reads a bit blue in the picture above, almost black in low lighting, but it actually looks lighter and warmer in person. I think it made an amazing difference from the old color:
Here is the west gable before:
And now:
Definitely more seamless and better!
At sunset, the bronze color reads warm. I love it.
Painting the gable looked like a small upgrade, but it actually took us two whole weekends and many evenings. It provided a big visual impact, and the house finally looks “right”. 🙂 The best part of this project? When I painted the gable on the tall ladder, this girl was watching me closely from the below.
What do you think? Do you like the looks of our newly painted gable?
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