Painting of Brick

Hello All, I am interested in HOA guidelines about painting of brick. Our HOA rules only allow painting/staining specific normal paintable/stainable items on a house. Anything else (brick) is allowed only with HOA approval. We need guidelines to manage this process.

What Jeff said. If you want to establish some guidelines, perhaps you should talk to a few contractors who do this work to see what the pros and cons might be.

Also, why is this coming up now? If one homeowner asked for This and was denied according to the documents, that should be that, unless you've had other homeowners making the same request. In which case ask THEM to research the pros and cons and then offer suggestions to the board.

Jeff,

We do have an ACC. The ACC reviewed an approved this initial house and it did not turn out visually the way it was envisioned by the photos provided by the homeowner (Of course, that is in the eye of the beholder). The ACC is not obligated according to our rules to approve any more as each request is independent. I am on the HOA Board and want to be a reasonable board member and allow homeowners to improve their homes to the extent that it does not detract from our community. Our homes are in the $500,000 plus range and about 4200 sq ft plus. Painting brick appears to be happening all over here in North Texas. I am just looking to see if any other communities have had this come up and it they have come up with general guidelines for performing this popular upgrade.

Thanks,
Gary

Fresh paint often does not turn out like the "pictures". It takes time to weather. Example: We approve a "purple" color. Have several homes painted by original developer that had it. Someone approved to paint their the SAME color came out looking horrid. The fresh paint was bright and overall not attractive. However, I am sure once weathered and given time it would be good.

I would recommend talking to a paint expert like Sherwin Williams. There are paint schemes and types you may recommend. Plus the type of gloss is important as well. Some paint stores have list of what HOA's are approved colors so people can come into that store and know it's all good. We recommended Behr paint and certain color pallet of an old northern fishing village.

We went through something similar except for vinyl siding. That had to be approved separately and colors approved. Could only use the colors closely matching our current approved color theme.

Gary

The controls are there as in nothing can be done without approval. I would move to set some Rules & Regulations such as having a paint color palette for people to choose from versus "pictures" that might not present the color properly. They will still need approval but they at least can name the color

Gary

I'm not certain I agree painting brick is as widespread in North Texas as you may have inferred from your observations. And, frankly, I do not think it a good idea.

Perhaps it is prevalent to an extent in non-HOA properties, but not in the properties with which we are familiar in HOAs in this area.

We live in a 9,300 home master association in the NE corner of the DFW Metroplex, between 380 and 121 (Sam Rayburn), west of 75. Our property sizes and values are comparable to those in your community. The governing documents do not allow brick on the exterior of the homes to be painted. We are familiar with the Declarations in two other HOAs nearby, both also do not allow the bricks to be painted.

Before your Board begins making exceptions, I recommend you discuss the increased owner maintenance of exterior surfaces which will be required. You may have to not only revise your ACC documents, you may also have to revise and communicate those portions of your compliance documents which describe the requirements for exterior maintenance of the properties. The actual compliance review process will require revision as well, perhaps at extra expense to the Association.

Just as the original builders generally did not allow similar bricks/brick colors to be reused in close proximity to another property using the same bricks or colors, your ACC process must now stipulate a range of colors which will be acceptable, and the allowable proximity to other properties which are already the same or similar colors. You must also address related color palettes for trim, doors, and other painted surfaces.

You must also address the extent to which the brick may/must be painted. All bricks on the property including garages, brick work on patios, bricks used in planter surrounds, or ??? Visible (or not visible) from the street or other common area vantage point?

Whereas brick on homes, in this climate zone, requires little attention over time, painted brick will require maintenance/repainting on a 5-10 year interval, based on the quality of the paint job and the extent to which moisture naturally penetrates the bricks. They can look especially ragged near the ground due to proximity to the moisture in the ground and overspray from irrigation systems.

Painted brick will also significantly increase the periodic expense of maintaining the exterior of the home, with related compliance issues due to the natural tendency to defer expense. Most homes in this area are 70% or more brick or stone, only the Hardie Plank and wood surfaces must now be repainted or stained.

Good luck. Again, I recommend no.

That sounds like a reasonable guideline. If you can, organize an architectural committee to oversee these types of requests, or create formal architectural guidelines that explicitly state what can be painted/stained.