East side.

Back of garage. The rest of the back is bricked to the soffit.

Frankly, I'd get rid of all of the brick and side it all. It's beyond awkward looking on all sides, and it's not that attractive a color either. I'd also look at replacing the windows with some larger ones, as the time to do that is when you have the siding off. If it impacts the budget too much, at least do the ones facing the street as they will have the most impact. If you can afford it, do all of the windows, as it's one of the things that dates your home the most. And get good ones, especially if you are in a cold climate. They will pay you back in comfort and better curb appeal.

And you should remove the board and batten to inspect under it, NOT side over it! Add foam board on top of the sheathing before you reside. That will give you additional R value and comfort for very little money. Yes, it will take a bit more care in fastening the new siding, but the house will be warmer and quieter and need less money to heat and cool.

Somewhere between doing nothing and tearing it down to build new, we are trying to stay within a somewhat practical budget for the neighborhood.

Removing all of the brick is not an option. I agree that the colors are weird, but I prefer brick over siding.

The house is on a lake with living, dining, and kitchen along the lake side. Those areas already have newer large windows on both levels. Resizing the remaining windows would likely exceed our budget.

The "boards" are actually plywood sheets with battens added for effect. The builder plans to remove the battens but not the plywood. He does plan to add foam.

Other exterior work includes replacing the entry doors, rebuilding the screened area under the deck, and replacing the deck railings and stairs.

Most of the budget is for interior updates.

While we wait for the estimates, I was hoping to find pictures of other ranches with wainscot, or get an idea of how high up the brick would be on new houses. From the front, I'm thinking halfway would be an improvement, but it's just a guess.

Full front...

The window sills are so high I doubt they meet the requirement for emergency escape and rescue openings in the bedrooms (44" max).

Unless you are going to replace the windows with taller ones I would just touch up the exterior and improve the interior as your contractor suggested.

The bedroom windows don't meet current egress by any measure. The double casements have a post in the center. It must have been okay in 1972.

If we replace the windows, the builder could rework only the brick below the windows, or he could lower all of the brick to match.

I'm just having a hard time visualizing it.

Yeah, I'd concentrate more on getting larger, lower, windows and less about your belt line. If you can't remove all the brick, then work on your windows.

(It really is those tiny, high windows that puts your house firmly in the 70's for construction and not post millenium)...

I found a photo on fauxpanels.com where the wainscot appears to be about halfway up. The proportions look good to me.

They have photos of different applications. The ones where the wainscot is low on the house look as awkward to me as what I have, just reversed.

Here is a link that might be useful: