Brick and exterior painting in Ridglea Hills, Fort Worth (76116)

Ridglea Hills developed mostly in the 1950s and 1960s on rolling ground west of the older Ridglea area, and its streets are lined with single-story brick ranches, some with split levels on the slopes. Expect low hipped or gabled roofs, broad overhangs, horizontal window bands and carports converted into garages. Brick is the main material, often in reds, oranges and blends that many buyers now consider dated. Trim is usually painted wood, and soffits may be beadboard or plywood. After decades of sun, those wood surfaces commonly show checking, open miters and rot at gutter ends.

Brick on a 1950s ranch has been absorbing and releasing moisture for a long time, so it needs a coating that lets vapor escape. We use breathable masonry paint or a mineral silicate finish rather than standard exterior latex, which can trap water and peel. Before anything goes on, we wash the brick at moderate pressure, let it dry at least 48 hours, and repoint any mortar joints that have crumbled.

Efflorescence, the white powder that appears on brick, has to be brushed off and treated before painting, or it will push the coating off from behind. We apply a masonry primer suited to the substrate, then two finish coats by brush, roller and sprayer so the paint gets into every mortar joint. Painted brick is permanent in practice, so we always paint a sample panel on a side wall first.

• Breathable masonry or mineral silicate coatings only
• Mortar repointed where joints have crumbled
• Efflorescence removed before priming
• Sample panel on a less visible wall first

Wide overhangs keep summer sun off the windows, but the fascia boards behind gutters stay wet after every storm. On many Ridglea Hills homes we find soft fascia at downspout corners, loose soffit panels and bird or squirrel entry points at the gable ends. We cut out rotten sections, install primed replacement boards or PVC, and close gaps with exterior trim and sealant. Where a soffit vent has rusted or clogged, we swap it for a new screened vent so the attic keeps breathing.

Soffits get cleaned, spot primed with a stain-blocking primer where water marks show, and painted in a flat or low-sheen exterior finish so they don't highlight imperfections. Fascia and window trim go on in satin for easier cleaning. If gutters must come down for fascia work, we rehang them carefully and check that they still drain toward the downspouts. Exposed rafter tails, common on these low ranches, get scraped and primed end by end.

Painting the brick and all exterior trim on a typical 1,900 to 2,400 square foot Ridglea Hills ranch usually runs $6,150 to $11,700. Trim-only repaints run much less. Brick condition, mortar repair, the amount of rotted fascia, split-level staging, color choice and whether the house has painted brick already all change that number. It's a typical range, not a quote. Homes with extensive previous patching cost more, because mismatched repairs need extra priming to disappear.

We'll walk every side, tap the fascia to find soft spots and photograph problem areas for your written estimate. Call us to describe the house and what you'd like to change, and we can bring color samples that look right against the roof color you already have. Big color shifts deserve a test. A charcoal brick with white trim reads very differently from a cream brick with black windows.