The external architecture of your house.

One area of our work that we believe is unbeknownst to our clients, is what we call the external makeover. Quite often at the initial enquiry, the client may talk about how dark their hallway is, or mention that the stairs in the hallway need updating, but very seldom does a client mention that they dislike the external appearance of their house. It may be because the layperson doesn’t consider the transformation of the exterior as a possibility, or economically viable. It can be true that when combined with some internal transformative work to the house, it becomes easier to justify in terms of cost or effort, but it’s a shame to relegate the architectural style of the house to that of secondary importance.

Often, clients initially choose a house for practical reasons and accept the exterior of the house as it is, not even questioning whether it could be changed at all. That is until it comes up by chance during a conversation with the team at Building Tectonics. Please take some time to see what we can do regarding this because how your house looks is important, probably more important than most people acknowledge.

It’s not just an exercise of pastiche, as there is a definite skill needed to pull this off well. I’m sure some people could do this easily, but unless you possess this innate skill, an understanding and knowledge of a range of architectural styles are very helpful. Other factors to keep in mind, other than what may be termed “architectural fashions” are how the facade will weather, and whether it will need any maintenance.

Sometimes a facelift can also bring about other positive points such as improved thermal insulation or improved sound insulation from noisy traffic. Even without such practical improvements, your house could be worth more and may sell much quicker when the time comes to move on after these improvements have been made.

Written by Tony Keller - Building Tectonics Ltd