The Grayest Green You've Ever Seen

After yesterday's Home Show, I have several painters coming over to give me bids. My hunt for the right body color has led me back to a medium--40 to 55 LRV--green. Not white, cream, yellow, pink, or blue; green. There are grays with purple undertones--I don't like them.  But I want it subtle.

Sherwin-Williams has a green that is so gray... How gray is it? They don't have green in the name. Oyster Bay (6206/44) and Austere Gray (6184/51) are in the ballpark, but it decided I really like Escape Gray (6185/41). I bought a quart for testing. It looks gray in the container, but instantly turns green on a wall.

Escape Gray with Pure White mid-rail

I primed the first two rows of blue under the chair rail, then just put Escape Gray on the dark blue to see what happened. I didn't prime any of the other swatches. I painted the chair rail with the expensive "Rain Refresh" paint and--guess what I learned--blue tape doesn't stick to it. I tried painting the chair rail the same as the wall to see whether I like that better.

I still like it on the wall, but it's awfully light on the south side and with Pure White trim it looks kind of country; kind of farmhouse.

Doesn't this seem a little farmhousey?

LRV 41 seems awfully light in direct sunlight on the south side

Escape Gray on Gray Screen (7071/59) with Acier (9170/32) at the right edge. The mid-rail is Pure White, but the other white trim is just primer (and the original house white).

The Curb Appeal Corner

What is trim? Should there be 2 colors (wall and trim) or 3? Should the wall be very light or somewhat darker (or very dark)? 

When prospective buyers park, they will approach from the driveway (I did), so I think this is a critical corner.

I'd like to mockup white trim, white chair rail, with a light gray wall top and bottom, just to see how it feels. High LRV wall colors in the neighborhood often seem washed out. I tried a very light gray on the breezeway (just visible in the photo above). It's Gray Screen (SW 7071), LRV 59, which SW touts as having a "gorgeous blue undertone." I also have a quart of Evening Shadow (SW 7662) LRV 60, which SW says is cool due to a hint of blue.

SW has darker Gray Screen's: Online (LRV 45), Network Gray (37), African Gray (31), and Software (23)--I'm sensing a naming scheme--all of which have "blue undertones." Evening Shadow, on the other hand, has darker grays with cyan undertones: Monorail Silver (50) and Steely Gray (30).

For now, I have put some primer on the middle of the corner. When it dries (both the primer and the rainy skies), I'll try Evening Shadow top and bottom with a primer-white rail.

Tankless Water Heater Repair

I noticed that the VST tankless water heater outside BR3 was flashing an error code--"Ad"--instead of displaying the water temperature. Jonathan reported that there was no hot water.

Zach from Energy Works came out Friday, 1/26 and explained that the freeze a couple of weeks ago probably froze  the bottom of the insulated condensate drain pipe. The unit noticed the clog, threw the Ad error and stopped heating water. He said we should check the unit whenever we get freezing weather and if we get another Ad error, turn the unit off and use a hair dryer to thaw the condensate pipe. The unit should reset when we turn it on again. If it doesn't, Zach suggests unplugging it and plugging it back in 5-10 minutes later.

For $199 ($219.40 with tax), Energy Works will check the unit annually. Sounds like a plan.

7034 220th St SW • MOUNTLAKE TERRACE WA 98043 • (425) 409-5661

For the record, the unit entered service December 11, 2020.

 

Depressing House Color Observation

It occurs to me that there are only two paths for exterior colors. You choose a boring, traditional wall and trim color or, in the alternative, you do something "creative" that will be seen as "odd."

Here's Melissa Welsh: Best Sherwin Williams Exterior Paint Colors (youtube.com)

• Alabaster (creamy white)
• Shoji White - creamier
• Repose Gray - hint of warmth
• Accessible Beige - greige
• Magnetic Gray - cool
• Mega Greige - tan with purple undertone
• Tavern Taupe
• Felted Wool - medium warm gray (looks like taupe to me)
• Gauntlet Gray - pretty dark
• Granite Peak - looks blue ("blue/green gray")
• Pewter Green - "go to dark green"
• Homestead Brown - looks like a darker Felted Wool to me

Alabaster (SW 7008) exterior with white trim 

Sophisticated Dark Exterior

Tricorn Black and Pewter Green

I have been assuming north facing means I need light colors. True for the soffit, I still think, but I don't see the outside wall color affecting the interior light quality. Looking around the neighborhood for gray with white trim examples (and there are many), they seem a bit washed out. Because they are so light (and fairly common) they seem to lack confidence.

90% of houses paint the walls one color and the trim another. Part of this "confidence" aspect, perhaps, is painting some walls a different color. I'm thinking that painting the north and west walls of the garage a different color will seem decisive and at the same time rationalize the annexation of the garage.

In this sophisticated, dark scheme, the idea is to paint every wall of the house (upper vertical, chair rail, and lower horizontal) something like black except the garage east (front), north, and west walls, which would be a dark green. From the backyard, every wall would be black. The gutters, eaves, soffits and the greenhouse window would be Pure White, and the front door would be an accent color. We stain the brick at the breezeway and garage to match their walls. We could use black for the garage doors, the dark green for trim such as the glass block trim--these are details.

Color	SW #	LRV	Color	Undertone
Tricorn Black	6258	3	Black
Greenblack	6994	4	Black	Green
Black of Night	6993	4	Black	Slight green
Inkwell	6992	4	Black	Slight blue
Pewter Green	6208	12	Green

Exterior Color

Light (due to north face). Not two-tone (because it's not a 1957 Chevy Bel-Air). No highlight on the chair rail (because the rail isn't anything to highlight). This house (910 120th St) seems a good role model:

Basically, gray with white trim. Gray is tricky--it can easily have blue, green, red, or yellow undertones. This photo, taken on an overcast January day, might look different in summer.

I chose Pure White (SW 7005) for the eaves. LRV /84. I could go brighter, but I bought an expensive gallon, so I'll give it a try. White Snow (SW 9541 /90), (High Reflective White 7757 is Interior only). Snowbound (SW 7004) is nice, too, but it is actually LRV 83. The existing white on the house is too bright, in my opinion--it looks like primer.

I collected about 30 paint chips from Lowes, spread them out and looked for a good gray. I liked Olympus White (SW 6253 /68), Agreeable Gray (SW 7029 /60), and Grayish (SW 6001 /60), but there are dozens of similar grays. "Agreeable Gray" is Sherwin-Williams' best-selling color.

Make the front door pop with color, maybe the greenhouse window, too. Maybe paint the brick at the breezeway and garage, maybe don't accent the trim or the garage doors--maybe give the garage gray a blue tinge to separate it from the house. This post is just about the house walls and the trim.

I put the three grays on a board and looked at them in the (overcast) sunshine:

Front door

Curb appeal corner

Breezeway--painted with Gray Screen 7071 two years ago

Garage--Time to paint the brick?

West wall

South wall--note that they used T-11 instead of vertical v-groove siding

April 2019 test with Acier 9170 (LRV 32)

Regardless of their marketing names, the three swatches are bright gray (close to white), a darker but still light taupe in the center, and a lighter taupe on the right. In the sun, the trim white seems yellow, while the leftmost "bright gray" seems bluish. For compatibility with the center trim white, I think I like the warmish gray taupe on the right. (SW mentions this gray's "red-violet undertone.")

Here's the color panel at the "curb appeal corner" against the existing dark blue:

Eave Progress Report

I'm working to remove the existing gutters as a first step, in order to assess the fascia damage. Every corner seems to be rotted, There are 12 gutter runs, numbered as follows:

I have removed 8 gutter sides: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 12. This leaves the 4 longest gutters: 4, 9, 10, and 11. The gutters are attached with a nail through a hanger every 24" and I have learned that prying out each nail brings the gutter down with minimal violence (3 and 5 were pretty dramatic, before I learned this.)

The corner at 8-9 requires some finesse. The Internet cable attaches to the fascia, so if I pull the fascia off, the wire will droop or fall. If I yank the nearly 40' gutter off, it might take the wire with it. So, I plan to cut the #9 gutter, leaving just the corner piece at #8-#9. Then I can bring the #9 crashing down.

Under the gutters, the corners--all 12 of them--have rotted fascia. I have repaired the fascia at the 1-2 corner and the 1-12 corner, but 2-3 and 11-12 corners are still to be done. 

The rotted corner at 1-12 after the fascia was removed

Removing the rotted fascia is the next phase after the gutters are off. This involves locating the 2x4 supporting the soffit and cutting down the middle so we can attach the old fascia and the new wood to the same 2x4. 

The front half-gable (wall #6) needs work because they embedded the gutter. I don't know what they were thinking.

The black square near the center of the photo shows where they embedded the gutter, interrupting the trim. I don't think I can patch that, and if the trim comes off, the siding goes, too.

The gutter was there when the half-gable was built? It's crazy.

How much new gutter do we want?

We can go all around the house, as before--it's a nice, consistent look. If we have no gutters, we'll have a waterfall at 5 doors. We can install diverters, but that's a hassle at re-roofing time and it doesn't protect the upper deck or the basement stairs. Maybe just gutters at the doors, the deck stairs, and the basement stairs. We could go minimal:

Or, we could just leave off the east and west sides, which have no doors. I call this the "rational" gutter plan:

All around is 257 linear feet of gutter. Rational saves about 60` (23%). I can go either way on the east wall, but I definitely don't want gutters at walls #2 and #6--they were nothing but trouble, and they're in someone's eye line from the breezeway stoop or the upper deck. Also, they went nuts trying to hide the downspouts, only to put one in next to the electric meter. Get it gone!

Progress photos

Wall #12. Cutting the gutters near the corners makes them easier to bring down.

The corner at 7-8 inspired the whole project--it's been getting progressively worse.

6, 7, and 8 removed. #5 still there, but not for long.

Nothing is level, but I'm proud of the roof trim. (This is primer only, by the way.)

Wall #5, at the garage doors, bows very obviously, but I think new, properly-sloped gutters will hide it. The house turns 77 next year--buyers will have to understand.