Our Blog

Last week a new client reached out looking for some guidance on their exterior elevations. They found themselves caught in between value and upgraded elevations. Their value elevations were loved by purchasing but not by their customers. Their first attempt at elevation upgrades wasn’t making either group happy. They had misapplied a great deal of exuberance.

Many builders find themselves caught between value and curb appeal. But before applying upgraded materials, you need the elevation basics first.

Alignment & order

Alignment on an elevation can be very powerful. When things line up – they just feel and look better.

• First and second floor windows aligning.
• Front door being centered on the front porch
• Second floor windows centered over the front door.
  
  

Window proportions

• Try to achieve a 2 to 1 ratio with windows – twice as tall as they are wide.
  
• The ideal windows for this are 3’ by 6’ windows and 2’ by 4’ windows. A 3’ by 5’ works well enough for value elevations – but you may want to consider a 2’-8” by 5’-4” window.
• Windows that have these proportions are more aesthetically pleasing, as they align with the Golden Ratio. They also mimic the proportions of a person standing behind the window. In short – they feel more natural.

Front door focus

• Since we design houses for people, they look more friendly when the front door and/or front porch is the focus.
• Gables are a great way to draw attention to the front door. (They also divert the rain, so you don’t drown the pizza man)
  
• If the garage is forward of the main body of the house and has a gable, consider making the gable around the front door similar in size – if not larger.
  

Nature of the materials

• There are certain traits of material that seem to go better together.
• For example, I like pairing board and batten siding with window with a 2 over 2 window grid – because they reinforce the vertical lines of the siding
  
• I find shakes to add a more rustic feeling to the home. These pair well with rustic style Craftsman windows with a 3 over 1 grid. Or an Arts & Craft style window with a 4 over 1 grid pattern. I also like stone with shakes along with plank shutters.
  

Rule of three

We typically like to limit the exterior materials to three.

• This could be two siding profiles with an accent of brick or stone. However, I don’t care for three siding profiles on one elevation.
• Lap siding works well with shakes.
• It also works great with board and batten.
  
• You can also do two different widths of lap siding.
• Some combinations just don’t work together – I don’t like shakes with board and batten.
  

Too much of a good thing.

Sometimes adding extras to an elevation goes too far.

• If you have three gables on a front elevation – make one more dominate with its accents – and consider something less dominant for the others.
  
• For example, I like a roof window above the main body of the house and a smaller gable vent over the garage
• Having the same three brackets, vents, or windows on three gables on one elevation is not necessary and is expensive.
  

Big Forehead Garage

• Be wary of a big blank space above the garage door. This happens often when the house is elevated on a crawl space. We covered this extensively in a previous blog found here.
• Consider a taller garage door
• Break up the garage surface with changes in material – like stone at the bottom, siding midway up and shake shingle towards the top.
• Interrupt the siding with either a window or vent midway up as well.
  
  

Now – armed with these basics, step back and evaluate your existing elevation and consider what needs to change. Don’t forget – your floor plan could be problem – especially with things like window alignment and overly dominate garages.

And lastly – if you need help – please reach out. It is what we love to do.