Attack of the Killer Brick in Victorian Flatbush
One of the commenters yesterday brought a new plague to our attention that is evidently spreading through the leafy back-streets of Ditmas Park and environs–Brick Creep: In the biggest head scratcher, the Cortelyou and Rugby house was striped back to reveal fire damaged dark green cedar shake shingles and then to the bare wood. And…
One of the commenters yesterday brought a new plague to our attention that is evidently spreading through the leafy back-streets of Ditmas Park and environs–Brick Creep:
In the biggest head scratcher, the Cortelyou and Rugby house was striped back to reveal fire damaged dark green cedar shake shingles and then to the bare wood. And instead of re-siding the house they are now applying brick! And not just any brick, but a weird tan brick that graduates to an edging of maroon/brick. UGH!
Run for your lives!
Flatbush from Someone Who Knows [Brownstoner]
Maybe Shahn knows…
Unfortunately, I don’t. But it would be well worth my time to go through my old issues (it was this past year) and find out. The type that I remembered being pictured was Cedar Shake, so it could be that manufacturing. Worth giving them a call.
To try and answer my own question decided to poke around the This Old House site http://www.thisoldhouse.com
I found links for:
http://www.azek.com/ they make historic repro PVC Trim
http://www.jlshutters.com/ they make historic repro PVC Shutters (but don’t need shutters for the house)
but I did find a resource for siding, do you recall name of the product?
Is this siding available in New York ? Been trying to find siding that mimics the historical look, but will be more budget friendly, both in initial cost and maintenance. Ex: Owens Corning has a whole historic looking collection that has clapboard, shake, and scallop style siding but they don’t have a dealer/contractor anywhere in the area.
I think some owners may think brick is a long-term investment, in that you don’t need to paint again. However, it is a costly outlay, which reinforces my observation that people are spending money out here these days (as opposed to the 70s, when many renovations were cheap quick fixes)- some opting for historical preservation, others for what we see above. If the choice of brick is being made on practical as opposed to aesthetic grounds, let me point out once again that This Old House recently featured a synthetic, easy-to-maintain siding that beautifully recreates the look of cedar shakes. Certainly the next best thing.
Sorry to hear you feel that way, Buffalo. And no, it’s not Oak Park, but it is thelargest collection of freestanding Victorian homes in the ENTIRE NATION, and that in itself is something well worth preserving. They also reperesent an extremely varied architecural vocabulary, again, a unique feature of the neighborhood. And yes, these houses do cost quite a bit to keep up, and that’s something that should be taken into consideration before purchasing one. That is also why I am sympathetic to the use of (most) synthetic materials that can duplicate the architectural intent of the original designs.
Can someone explain why owners brickface their houses around this area? Is it cheaper to maintain or something? (If so, wouldn’t there be even cheaper ways of cheaping out? Siding or something?)
Gosh, I can’t believe no one has mentioned the fence!
Really though, walking through the neighborhood today, a lot of the houses need a lot of work…$$$. Once you buy one of the behemoth houses and “restore” it, maintaining it properly would also be $$$. (What would it cost to have one painted every few years… $10,000?)
Also, it’s not like the neighborhood is Oak Park, Il. Yes, some of the houses have character and I love the residential feel, but they really seem more like the McMansions of the day.
The house is on the edge of the last block of BSW http://www.marykayg.com/html/large_map.html
Cross the street and you hit the “DMZ”,where another brick attach can be found by walking down Westminster. Then you hit DPW, keep walking and more bricks are being stuck to poor defenseless wood frame buildings.