# Forum Home Renovation Brickwork  Converting weatherboard to brick veneer

## atregent

Hi all, 
I was reading one of Alan Staines books last night, The Australian Renovators Manual, and he talks briefly about converting a weatherboard house into a brick veneer. 
Has anyone had experience with this? Or any thoughts on the matter? 
My original plan was to replace my weatherboards with blue board and render. But this has got me thinking. 
I don't suppose it'd be very cheap either...

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## ozwinner

In the past I have quoted on doing weather board conversions, if it was my house I wouldnt bother as it is far too expensive. 
The windows will have to be replaced, or the reveals made bigger to accomodate the bricks. 
Foundations have to be dug and laid. 
Plumbing will have to be redone, or relocated. 
Eaves have to be put onto the roof, unless it already has them. 
It also pays to make sure the house is level before you start the brickwork, so a reblock may be in order. 
Like I said, expensive. 
Al  :Smilie:

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## dazzler

My 2c 
Very few bricked in weatherboards look 'right'. 
I would spend the dough on a quality paint job and replace any poor ones. 
good luck :Biggrin:   
dazzler

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## Gumby

Mate, I've been in real estate for 20 years (getting out on Thursday  :Biggrin:  ) and I wouldn't advise being too quick to get rid of your weatherboards. Replace them sure, if they are rotten. But there's something about a W/B house that lends character to it. You can repaint as fashions change, you can give it a more federation style with some fret work around the verandahs and lots of other good stuff. Why go for render ? It won't add value to it, in fact you mightr just take some off, depending on what part of Melb you are in.,

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## ozwinner

> Mate, I've been in real estate for 20 years (getting out on Thursday  ) .,

  Soooo, they finally caught up to you did they? :eek:  
Al  :Tongue:

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## Gumby

Almost  :Rolleyes:   
I'm selling out to my partner (the business variety, not the other kind) and looking at other things.  
Let me tell you, 20 years of dealing with the public has left me bitter, twisted, warped, prejudiced, uncaring, cynical, untrusting, bad tempered and wary. Not only that, I have a pretty poor opinion of my fellow man (and woman).  
Other than that, I've come out of it pretty well.  :Wink:

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## ozwinner

Antiques? 
Al  :Tongue:

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## Gumby

No, no anitques. I see enough of them in the shower every morning  :Biggrin:

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## journeyman Mick

Anthony,
just beware that if you live in an area where termites are prevalent that you are setting up ideal conditions for them to gain entry to your house if you brick veneer it. 
Mick

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## atregent

Well, I think that settles it. Weatherboards it is. Personally, I don't mind them, but early on in the piece I sorta suggested to SWMBO that blueboard and render might be an option. I've kinda changed my mind since then and would like to stick with the weatherboards. 
I do, however, want to get rid of the vinyl boards and go back to timber.

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## Metal Head

> Let me tell you, 20 years of dealing with the public has left me bitter, twisted, warped, prejudiced, uncaring, cynical, untrusting, bad tempered and wary. Not only that, I have a pretty poor opinion of my fellow man (and woman).

  I thought they were the qualities required to be a good real estate agent? :Biggrin: .

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## Gumby

> I do, however, want to get rid of the vinyl boards and go back to timber.

  Definitely a good move !

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## seriph1

atregent - I would be keen to kn ow what style your home is and what you may be trying to achieve by BV'ing it. If you could post a pic of the front, that'd be great. As a consultant in the architectural restoration world, there are a million options open to you and a couple may be great alternatives for you to consider, depending on what you're after as a result. 
I'd be happy to have a conversation with you about it, if you'd like.... just PM me and we can go from there

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## atregent

Here's a pic of the front of my house, a standard, non descript 50's weatherboard number. 
I'm not sure I was seriously considering the BV conversion, but just another idea that I came across. 
We live quite close to a freeway, so the primary motivation there would be to reduce the noise as much as possible. 
The two options I'm considering are: 
1. Ditch the vinyl boards and install nice timber ones and add a Cal bungalow style verandah. This wouldn't need to involve the council much (or at all) given that they don't have plans for the front of the house on file (and provided they don't read this and indentify the house!). The advantage of this option is I can do it all myself 
2. Ditch the vinyl, put up blueboard and render. Adding a more contemporary verhanda. This is probably more noticible my the council and may need permits, not sure. Rendering would more than likely have to be done by a contractor. 
Either way, while I'm replacing the boards I can install acoustic wall batts for the noise. And double glazing on the front windows down the track. 
Steve, I'm very keen to hear your opinions.

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## seriph1

hi again  -  the range of options you have is endless! the home appears to be a 50's bungalow, typical of those found all round Melbourne ,especially in Coburg/Pascoe Vale. it can certainly be made to look very Calabunga with some inexpensive yet careful renovation, even though the roof pitch is different from one. If you haven't removed the existing PVC boards, I recommend you take some from either the house's blind side or rear. You may be surprised by what you find beneath......you may have perfectly good weather boards underneath. one thing is likely - there will be extensive battening behind the plastic, which depending on what you want to do, may be an excellent base from which to work. Seeing that you mention noise pollution as a major consideration, there are a number of things you can do...... again, I would be happy to have a chat about them, but they are too numerous and detailed for me to detail here. 
BTW, what's around your place? Are there any Victorian homes in the street or even Federation or Calabungas? Reason I ask, is because it may be a real consideration when deciding what 'period' to emulate with your home's facade. 
My first home was built in 1920 and I spent years testing a range of idea on it ..... with varying success - in the end, we had a beautiful CalaBunga, with a bunch of interesting features throughout. It was a lot of fun and a great learning process..... suffice to say though, that the home I sold bore no resemblance to the home I bought 20 years prior! From a 16 square non-descript home to a 22.5 square CalaBunga with leadlights, French country Kitchen, slate floors, mezzanine bedroom and music room, etc. etc. etc. 
Above all ..... have fun!

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## Gumby

I think Steve is giving some good advice here. That home could be tricked up nicely.  
I had one in Chadstone many years ago which looked very similar. The people I sold it to did a lot to make the front very federation looking, replaced the old steel frame windows (they are a bugger to get out) and it really lookls good. I'd be surprised if a few homes inyour area hadn't been treated in a sim ilar way and you'd only need to look around to get some good ideas. 
You could use timber boards or even look at something like Weathertex Federation style boards. No rot, no warping, and only need paint to keep them pretty.

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## atregent

Now there's a coincidence, this one's in Chadstone too! 
There's a huge range of styles in the area. One neighbour has a brick veneer, the other side is similar to mine but with a two storey box tacked on the back. Across the road is a more traditional Cal bung. looking place, and behind me is a block of 4 new units. 
I'm not sure how good the boards behind the vinyl will be, but I imagine they'd be hard to match up with new ones.  
Can anyone give me a rough idea of new board prices?

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## Gumby

> Now there's a coincidence, this one's in Chadstone too!

  Hmmm. Were in Timmings st - right opposite the freeway :eek:  It was 1/4 acre and they have built 4 units on the blocks on each side now. I wish i still had it today.  :Frown:     

> I'm not sure how good the boards behind the vinyl will be, but I imagine they'd be hard to match up with new ones.

  there's only one way to find out.   

> Can anyone give me a rough idea of new board prices?

  get down to Bowens on Warrigal rd - they should have them.

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## atregent

We would've almost been neighbours. I'm just around the corner in drummond street. And, when we moved back to melbourne after two long years in sydney, we we looking at renting a brand new townhouse in Timmings st. What a small world... 
We both really love the place and plan to stay there for quite a while. The only thing we don't like is the freeway noise. Some days, when the wind blows the right way, it's quite loud. That, and the young kid next door who drives some subaru thing with an exhaust big enough to stick your head in who takes 5 minutes park the damn thing and comes and goes at all hours of the night...

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## Gumby

Yes, it's a small world indeed.  :Smilie:   
Next time you're out for a walk, go past number 15. It was built in the 50's by a builder as his own home. It was very well done and used the wider bullnose boards which I think look much better. If the aluminium spouting is still there, that's what I put up in the mid 1980's. Shame about the colour but that was the fashion back then. 
You'll see it's been tricked up well but it looked just like yours once. 
I sold the thing in 1987 for $93,000  :Frown:   But i only paid $45,000 for it in 1982, which was before the freeway opened and they moved one of those bloody great towers closer to the house. 
If you're into a bit of woodworking, you should pop in to the Triton Woodworkers Club at holmesglan TAFE. It's just up the road. They meet on the 3rd Sunday of the month from 9am - 12 approx. You'll get lots of advice and help there too, not just Triton related.

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