Residing a concrete block cabin.

[Scarpozzi]

I have a 750 sq ft concrete block house that needs to be gutted and fixed up. (Second Lake cabin)

It has painted concrete block at the moment with green painted woodwork. It's built into the side of a hill and there's a basement accessible from the front of the house that faces the lake. The entrance is in the back of the house through a screened in porch. I'm thinking about doing stone veneer on the front bottom and what's available on the sides up the hill. What's the cheapest product that will dress up the block and not look like trash? I'm the labor.

I'm also looking at faux cedar shakes as siding, but curious if anyone has any other ideas of what might look good and not cost an arm and a leg. Big box stores always have tremendous markup on these specialty products.

I couldn't find a great picture of it, but here is part of it. The basement is only accessible from outside.

 

[Steltek]

If you are wanting to do it on the cheap, you can purchase molds to make your own faux stone veneer from concrete (or even make your own molds to use). I didn't look, but I'm sure there are Youtube videos on how to do it.

 

[jmagg]

Cultured Stone or lightweight stone veneer would look great. In my area, costs would be between 12-15+ pr sq ft including diamond lath, mortar and fasteners. You cant stick the stone directly to painted block, lath and a heavy scratchcoat is needed. Casting your own stone would take forever and be very difficult to apply unless you use lightweight aggregate.

EIFS would be 5-6 pr sq ft not including sealant. You would need hawk and trowel skills and be sure to use the correct sealant and backer rod terminations.

Not sure how you would attach shakes without extensive firring, but would look good.

A nice new paint job is your best low cost choice.

 

[lxskllr]

Depending on what the rest looks like, a nice parge coat could look good. It can look kinda ghetto, or pretty nice depending on the exact building style.

 

[jmagg]

Depending on what the rest looks like, a nice parge coat could look good. It can look kinda ghetto, or pretty nice depending on the exact building style.

Cant parge over paint without lath. Even with bonding agent its bound to fail.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Cultured Stone or lightweight stone veneer would look great. In my area, costs would be between 12-15+ pr sq ft including diamond lath, mortar and fasteners. You cant stick the stone directly to painted block, lath and a heavy scratchcoat is needed. Casting your own stone would take forever and be very difficult to apply unless you use lightweight aggregate.

EIFS would be 5-6 pr sq ft not including sealant. You would need hawk and trowel skills and be sure to use the correct sealant and backer rod terminations.

Not sure how you would attach shakes without extensive firring, but would look good.

A nice new paint job is your best low cost choice.

I'm in the pre-pre-pre-planning stages of this project. It's going to be a little bit before I make any final decision.

I was looking at stone veneer because it would increase the value the most, but it would cost money unless I could find a cheap way to cover 400-500 sq ft. (I haven't measured) My only concerns would be cost and whether or not a 7' tall wall of it would be too busy looking and will the windows/doors on that wall be an issue.

The parge coat like lxskllr suggested would be a good option if it doesn't fall off the wall. I've seen some really bad jobs, but would be paintable and look better than concrete block (the goal).

The block needs to be cleaned up and I need to trench down one side (where that gutter is) install a drain tile and do some external waterproofing around one corner before I get going, so I have some time to decide. That corner of the basement collects water during heavy rains. I may have to get my jackhammer out and bust the concrete down there to install a sump. All that has to be done because I'm going to be building a retaining wall around where you see the bush past the gutters and reworking the driveway (space for 1 car currently) and making it a double concrete driveway.

Once I get those few projects worked out and fix the water, the rest of this stuff will be mostly superficial. I don't want to install anything on the wall if moisture is likely going to wick up and destroy any coatings on the outside.

 

[jmagg]

I'm in the pre-pre-pre-planning stages of this project. It's going to be a little bit before I make any final decision.

I was looking at stone veneer because it would increase the value the most, but it would cost money unless I could find a cheap way to cover 400-500 sq ft. (I haven't measured) My only concerns would be cost and whether or not a 7' tall wall of it would be too busy looking and will the windows/doors on that wall be an issue.

The parge coat like lxskllr suggested would be a good option if it doesn't fall off the wall. I've seen some really bad jobs, but would be paintable and look better than concrete block (the goal).

The block needs to be cleaned up and I need to trench down one side (where that gutter is) install a drain tile and do some external waterproofing around one corner before I get going, so I have some time to decide. That corner of the basement collects water during heavy rains. I may have to get my jackhammer out and bust the concrete down there to install a sump. All that has to be done because I'm going to be building a retaining wall around where you see the bush past the gutters and reworking the driveway (space for 1 car currently) and making it a double concrete driveway.

Once I get those few projects worked out and fix the water, the rest of this stuff will be mostly superficial. I don't want to install anything on the wall if moisture is likely going to wick up and destroy any coatings on the outside.

A textured or flat 2-3 coat cement job would be fine with diamond lath attached to the block mortar joints.

 

[Greenman]

Acrylic stucco is also an option. It can be put over the existing paint as long as the paint is well bonded to the block. I've done it successfully on three different block buildings. The oldest instillation has been up for around six years and still looks like new.
Note that this isn't in snow country. I have no idea how freezing would affect the coating.

 

[Scarpozzi]

If you are wanting to do it on the cheap, you can purchase molds to make your own faux stone veneer from concrete (or even make your own molds to use). I didn't look, but I'm sure there are Youtube videos on how to do it.

After looking at the cost of stone veneer, I'm circling back around to the thought of doing molds with colored concrete. I don't particularly have lots of free time, but have lots of time to actually complete the job....so doing it 10-20 times slower isn't an issue. I'd just have to calculate how many square feet of stone to manufacture and then decide how long it would take to sit around and wait for concrete to dry. while I stack the finished stones up.

The toughest part of that is picking the right mold. There are some for $200 and some for $40 (on eBay)....so I need to factor in how many yards of concrete it would take to make the stones to cover those walls....then estimate actual material costs.... It may be the best way to get the look I want without spending $4500 in veneer stone. I'd like to save THAT money for the rest of the siding.

 

[Greenman]

After looking at the cost of stone veneer, I'm circling back around to the thought of doing molds with colored concrete. I don't particularly have lots of free time, but have lots of time to actually complete the job....so doing it 10-20 times slower isn't an issue. I'd just have to calculate how many square feet of stone to manufacture and then decide how long it would take to sit around and wait for concrete to dry. while I stack the finished stones up.

The toughest part of that is picking the right mold. There are some for $200 and some for $40 (on eBay)....so I need to factor in how many yards of concrete it would take to make the stones to cover those walls....then estimate actual material costs.... It may be the best way to get the look I want without spending $4500 in veneer stone. I'd like to save THAT money for the rest of the siding.

This sounds to me like an operation that's never going to be finished or look good. I'd paint the block and walk away. Spend the effort on something that will have a bigger impact on living in the structure rather than how it looks from the outside.

 

[Scarpozzi]

This sounds to me like an operation that's never going to be finished or look good. I'd paint the block and walk away. Spend the effort on something that will have a bigger impact on living in the structure rather than how it looks from the outside.

Perhaps your right. I just hate looking at the block and think it makes the structure look like it needs to be bulldozed. (I grew up looking at that shack before I owned it...obtained it in 2011 or so)

 

[Greenman]

Perhaps your right. I just hate looking at the block and think it makes the structure look like it needs to be bulldozed. (I grew up looking at that shack before I owned it...obtained it in 2011 or so)

You could also go with the basic rule in construction, "if you can't fix it or hide it, decorate it".
Put a trellis across the back, maybe a small patio and your good to go.

 

[Scarpozzi]

You could also go with the basic rule in construction, "if you can't fix it or hide it, decorate it".
Put a trellis across the back, maybe a small patio and your good to go.

Good call. This is pretty fundamental for me though...I have a rule about house purchases....I would never buy property that's below the grade of the road....basically, water runoff ends up in your yard and you have drainage problems. The front yard on this house is basically where you see the car in that picture. There's another house between this one and the lake...so this house has a view of the back of a house, but has lake access via a road and 80' of lake frontage to the left of the house.......which I own a cabin behind it (my primary place to stay out there). It's more rustic...so this place is the project.

The land is below the road and when it rains hard, water stands about 30 feet below it....on the property line. I'm tempted to bring 8-10 truckloads of dirt in and bring the yard level up a few feet. (not anything too drastic cause it's a big space....but it would totally allow me to level things out and maybe bury some gravel to encourage more drainage. Like I said...this place is costing me nothing to have/maintain besides taxes, but I'm using the property, so it's not a big deal. (actually just using it to store my authentic beer garden tables and yard equipment at the moment)

 

[Greenman]

Good call. This is pretty fundamental for me though...I have a rule about house purchases....I would never buy property that's below the grade of the road....basically, water runoff ends up in your yard and you have drainage problems. The front yard on this house is basically where you see the car in that picture. There's another house between this one and the lake...so this house has a view of the back of a house, but has lake access via a road and 80' of lake frontage to the left of the house.......which I own a cabin behind it (my primary place to stay out there). It's more rustic...so this place is the project.

The land is below the road and when it rains hard, water stands about 30 feet below it....on the property line. I'm tempted to bring 8-10 truckloads of dirt in and bring the yard level up a few feet. (not anything too drastic cause it's a big space....but it would totally allow me to level things out and maybe bury some gravel to encourage more drainage. Like I said...this place is costing me nothing to have/maintain besides taxes, but I'm using the property, so it's not a big deal. (actually just using it to store my authentic beer garden tables and yard equipment at the moment)

I live in California, so it's always drought or flood, drainage isn't an issue under either condition.

 

[lxskllr]

FWIW, I think block has a certain charm, especially if it was made well. It's definitely a sub premium look, but it's honest. The bit I can see in the pic, it looks like a camp cottage from the late 30s. Try taking it back to it's brand new 30s glory. Give it a tin roof, some old school gutters, and real closable shutters. It'll look pretty nice.

 

[Scarpozzi]

FWIW, I think block has a certain charm, especially if it was made well. It's definitely a sub premium look, but it's honest. The bit I can see in the pic, it looks like a camp cottage from the late 30s. Try taking it back to it's brand new 30s glory. Give it a tin roof, some old school gutters, and real closable shutters. It'll look pretty nice.

When I put a new roof on it in 2012 or so, I cut through the sheathing to find it's probably 1" or 1 1/4" plywood up there. I have a list of projects/fixes. I'm just trying to be selective and making sure anything I do 'invest' in won't be something I'll have to tear out to do future upgrades.

That's why I'm paying attention more to foundation and base level stuff at this time, despite its minimal contribution to the big picture. I'm maybe 3 years from being debt free. I'll have far more cash flow to true upgrades then.

I actually have a few major projects at my house to complete before focusing out there, but have a floating dock to rebuild in 60 days or less.. I'm about to get real serious again. 😒

 

[Greenman]

Looking at that picture, I would focus on simply breaking up that large flat area (and cleaning up the crap, but we won't talk about that).

 

[Scarpozzi]

Looking at that picture, I would focus on simply breaking up that large flat area (and cleaning up the crap, but we won't talk about that).

That's why I was looking at changing it up and adding siding on the top half and something else on the bottom half.

I took a truckload of trash from out there to the dump today and will be collecting more and more over the next few months. I did the same in my garage at home and will be clearing more out tomorrow. I'm not putting a ton of time into this stuff, but really trying to make a dent in these stupid projects so I can burn vacation in the cooler months and actually get stuff done. I'm hoping we don't see real cold weather until late December.