Paint color and roofing color questions

15 years ago

OK I am in the process of trying to find an exterior color scheme for our house. I'm looking for a source of red asphalt shingles and possibly some sort of program to mock paint our house so I can get an idea what colors I might consider.

We have a simple foursquare with three dormers and open porch with posts. No shutters and the siding is asbestos shingles which I will probably just repair and keep.

So far I've though of a light purple with white trim and a light gray roof.

A cream base color with spanish red trim and roofing material and an off white porch.

A red bluff base color with a cream trim and porch and tan roofing.

I sort of colored in a photo on the paint program to see how it might appear red and well we are a bit concerned it might stick out like a sore thumb even though the red wouldn't be a bight red but more of a brick red. Most of the houses in the immediate area are quite a bit shorter than mine and although the house doesn't have any right next to it, I don't know if it might stand out too much but the light purple might be too much too, think of a light lilac color. The neighborhood is sort of not in the greatest shape either but I am hoping it might revive some. I want something inspiring and inviting, not imposing.

I just don't know. It is currently sort of cream with brown roof and trim but it feels dreary in a way although more mature than purple or big red possibly.

Anyone know any sites with gorgeous colored foursquares?

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Comments (12)

User
15 years ago
Enjoy looking!

Here is a link that might be useful: Robert Schweitzer's site
missouri1
Original Author
15 years ago
Thank you :)
missouri1
Original Author
15 years ago
Well our house, being covered in asbestos will probably not be split in two colors (top and bottom) but I found this. What do you guys think of this one?

Here is a link that might be useful: Red foursquare
concretenprimroses
15 years ago
I like the bold color of this one. It seems to suit that style house. I guess really dark colors fade more quickly tho. The ones for the early 20th century on the other website were elegant, but to me a bit lifeless. Lots of people seem to want beige houses or cream. When that first started it was an interesting contrast to more colorful homes, but serveral different toned beige homes in a row are just boring I think.
kathy
missouri1
Original Author
15 years ago
Oh boy I wonder if the paint would fade fast on asbestos shingles? I didn't think of it till today but the house we currently rent is a variation of red. The paint color has stayed true for quite a few years here and it is on wood siding so it might be ok but it's not in full sun for that long of the day on any particular side.

Our house will have one side facing south without shade so I hope that won't be an issue. For some reaosn I'm really liking the idea of giving it some good color.
Pipersville_Carol
15 years ago
Paint sticks great on asbestos siding. If anything, it will fade more slowly than on wood.

We could only afford to remove the asbestos siding on the front of our house (revealing original wood siding in near-perfect condition), and our painter LOVED painting the asbestos.

You mentioned that you can't do a two-tone/split color affect because of the asbestos. Why not? There's no reason the top of the house can't be a different color than the bottom, just because the siding texture doesn't change. I think a two-tone paint job would be a great way of adding interest and an authentic look.
gamecock43
15 years ago
We have a 4 square that I love in my town. It is a sage green color with creme accents.
columbusguy1
11 years ago
The people here know I like to keep in period where possible, and my 1908 foursquare is painted in the closest colors I could find to ones from the Harrison Brothers paint card shown in Moss' Victorian Exterior Decoration....

The colors I chose are from Sherwin-Williams, which has been around since before 1900, and are body: Barberry, trim: Fishpond.
The picture was taken by the city for the Auditor's page, so is pretty crappy.
old_house_j_i_m
11 years ago
I do some freelance work as a historic homes color consultant. My neighbor and I chose colors and he painted his foursquare red with ivory trim - he has a black roof, it looks great. I'm painting my home olive with gold trim to contrast with his. They are a great pair of old houses that have definitely inspired others in the neighborhood.

Id recommend NOT using the same color on the roof as anywhere else on the house. if you use red as the body, choose a non-red color for the roof (perhaps a deep deep green - it looks GREAT).

And be careful of the shade of red you choose - Another neighbor replaced her original faded red standing seam roof with a new aluminum one in fire-truck red. it was not great, but I thought, at least she chose the "same kind" of roof. Then she painted all the trim RED - it looks like a KFC. Its horrible and an embarrassment to the neighborhood.

Look thru Moss's exterior color books - he's the best man to research when it comes to exterior colors on historic homes.

And please don't paint your house lavender with a red roof - just, please, don't
fuzzywuzzer
11 years ago
I don't know if this site will be helpful for paint colors, but it could be interesting to any old-house/foursquare lover in general:

http://www.centralgardens.org/wp/our-neighborhood/historic-guidelines

Of your ideas, I think I like the cream base color the best. :)
Fuzzy
chibimimi
11 years ago
Wow! Thanks for that link, Fuzzy! We used to live in a foursquare in Central Gardens. Browsing that site brought back wonderful memories of our home and neighborhood.
azzalea
11 years ago
The thing that jumped out at me was 'asbestos shingles'.

Whatever color you decide to go with, before you invest big $$$ in a repaint, you might want to check about that asbestos--people in our town are being required to remove their asbestos shingles. If that's coming in your area, it would be wasted money to paint now and then have to toss all your work and money a few years down the road.

I know different areas of the country have different takes on the danger, and the remedies--but repainting a house is pricy, even if you do the work yourself. Just wanted to mention that possible situation, so you could look into it.