- Joined
- Oct 29, 2012
- Messages
- 1,325
I'm 32 and my wife is 28. Our house is 2,100sf, but only because the previous owner converted the garage to a large bedroom. Before that it was probably 1,400sf. So the rooms and bathrooms are on the small side. It's a cute house, 50% brick, 50% shiplap siding. I've caught enough of the HGTV channel shows while flipping through cable stations and sitting in hospital waiting rooms to know that shiplap is a big deal and highly sought after (if TV is to be believed). I like our house but I am not sure if we will live here the rest of our lives, so resale value is a concern but not the only concern.
I like the rustic look of the bare weathered shiplap, but it's not a big deal for me. It's like I would prefer chrome door handles on my truck instead of black plastic ones, but I wouldn't get rid of a truck just because it had black plastic door handles. For my wife it's a much bigger deal. For her, this "ugly" weathered wood is like a truck that smokes, knocks, and breaks down any time you get out of towing range from home. She's been complaining more and more intensely about it each year for 3 years we've lived here, and I estimate by this time next year she'll be ready to part ways with it if nothing's been done about the shiplap. She wants it painted white, and she's committed to doing the work herself if I'll just let her do it.
I haven't given the green light for painting it because my impression is that the opinion of real estate community is that shiplap is not to be painted, and painting it kills its value. I don't know if that's correct at all, and if so, to what degree (looking for input here). Also, I personally prefer the rustic ("ugly") look over the white painted look, but as I said, it's not a big deal for me. If my preferences were the only concern, I would quickly concede and let her have her way because I know it's a much bigger deal for her.
So is there any possible compromise? Anything I can do to "liven up" the shiplap short of painting it? I hit a spot of it once with the pressure washer and noticed that it blasted away a lot of the weathering color and left what looked like newer wood. Maybe she would be OK with that... not sure. But I am hesitant to pressure wash the whole lot of it because the walls aren't IP69K rated, and I'm sure that some of that water being blasted at high pressure from an odd angle woukd find it's way into the walls and maybe cause mold/rot/swelling/cancer.
Maybe I should just rip off all the shiplap and sell it to one of those wannabe HGTV pickers? Replace it with white vinyl siding since it seems my wife would prefer the look of the downgrade. I don't know what to do... need advice.
I like the rustic look of the bare weathered shiplap, but it's not a big deal for me. It's like I would prefer chrome door handles on my truck instead of black plastic ones, but I wouldn't get rid of a truck just because it had black plastic door handles. For my wife it's a much bigger deal. For her, this "ugly" weathered wood is like a truck that smokes, knocks, and breaks down any time you get out of towing range from home. She's been complaining more and more intensely about it each year for 3 years we've lived here, and I estimate by this time next year she'll be ready to part ways with it if nothing's been done about the shiplap. She wants it painted white, and she's committed to doing the work herself if I'll just let her do it.
I haven't given the green light for painting it because my impression is that the opinion of real estate community is that shiplap is not to be painted, and painting it kills its value. I don't know if that's correct at all, and if so, to what degree (looking for input here). Also, I personally prefer the rustic ("ugly") look over the white painted look, but as I said, it's not a big deal for me. If my preferences were the only concern, I would quickly concede and let her have her way because I know it's a much bigger deal for her.
So is there any possible compromise? Anything I can do to "liven up" the shiplap short of painting it? I hit a spot of it once with the pressure washer and noticed that it blasted away a lot of the weathering color and left what looked like newer wood. Maybe she would be OK with that... not sure. But I am hesitant to pressure wash the whole lot of it because the walls aren't IP69K rated, and I'm sure that some of that water being blasted at high pressure from an odd angle woukd find it's way into the walls and maybe cause mold/rot/swelling/cancer.
Maybe I should just rip off all the shiplap and sell it to one of those wannabe HGTV pickers? Replace it with white vinyl siding since it seems my wife would prefer the look of the downgrade. I don't know what to do... need advice.