Brick houses from the 1950s are great for large families and are usually near essential services, making them a very good buy. This house was solid as a rock, but looked drab and colourless.

Tip: Save time and money and prep all the timberwork for the painter. Further improve the look of your home by adding colour to the garden and clean down any concrete surfaces with a hired high-pressure cleaner.

Colour change

A total colour makeover was achieved with a new Taubmans product, Moroka 'Bag and Paint', a no-fuss solution to colouring brickwork. Available in 18 colours, the Moroka finish looks the same as traditional bagging and painting but is much easier to apply.

The first coat penetrates the bricks and inhibits efflorescence, where white salts leach out of bricks and spoil cement finishes. The second coat is a high-density paint that bonds to the first coat. The technique is straight forward but Taubmans offers a 10-year guarantee if you use one of its preferred tradespeople.

Approved applicator

Kelly Moroka Pty Ltd
19 Beaumont st, Hamilton NSW 2303
Phone: 1300 659 005
Fax: (02) 49625266

Website: www.kellymoroka.com

Subtle colours were chosen to blend with the leafy streetscape. The walls were finished in Moroka in Cream, with timber trims in deeper golden, Taubmans Burnt Butter.

Other improvements

• New double garage door.
• Terracotta tiles on the terrace.
• Handrail, descaled and painted using Forest Green Rustguard, White Knight Paints, phone 1800 069 959.
• Mouldings from Focal Point Architectural Mouldings, phone (02) 9546 7091 - made of foam core in an acrylic polymer cement and incorporating Dulux Exsulite to protect against rain and ultra-violet radiation.