You can also remove the form stone. Most have brick underneath. Maybe cost more and there’s some cases the brick underneath not great condition.

You can simply remove the formstone lol

Idk the cost, but what you are going for is cute! Yes, you can take the formstone off..that is $$, then the brick underneath probably at least would need repointing...more $$.

I own a painting business, I’ll tell you what we charge & how we do it.

Usually $1300-$2500( + paint) depending on size of the house. First we power wash the surface to get any dirt/mildew off. Next we repair any cracks/holes on the surface. After that it’s paint time, primer + two finish coats.

With that said, the pricing can vary obviously. Painting companies are going to charge more than a handyman for example. When you do decide to paint it, spend the extra bucks on a quality primer & paint. (If someone tells you that you don’t need a primer, stay away) I recommend Loxon Masonry primer & either Duration or Superpaint for the finish, all are Sherwin Williams products. Let me know if you have any questions.

Why did formstone become a thing, anyway?

Thanks! I appreciate your reply and will keep in mind!

Pretty detailed answer. One question: is scaffolding needed/required? What would that cost?

Usually scaffolding isn’t required. An extension ladder or two works. Cut in around the edges/doors/windows first & then use a roller on an extension pole to roll the remaining area.

Cheap to build with gave a nicer appearance than brick also fun fact it was a Baltimore company

SACRILEGE

Appreciate you going for painting rather than removing. Formstone is a finite thing and once it’s gone, it’s gone. If it’s crumbling then I understand removing it, but it’s a thing that is unique to Baltimore and a few other cities/areas and I feel like we should try to preserve when reasonable.

It was patented in Baltimore and at the time was considered a cleaner, more modern look than brick. It also protected the brick and provided a measure of insulation and weather resistance. Exposed brick needs semi-regular maintenance. Slap formstone on top and the brick underneath is pretty much good forever.

Aha! So pretty much a Baltimore phenomenon, with not much adoption elsewhere. Hard to imagine that it ever looked "modern" to anyone.

I would prefer to have bare brick, because that's just a classic look, but I think trying to remove formstone would be an expensive hassle and could quickly become a nightmare if there's issues restoring the brick.

And... as much as I love red brick, I think formstone looks pretty sweet with the right paint scheme. It definitely adds character to the neighborhood to see a few houses in vibrant colors rather than just endless brick.

Yeah, I wonder what the future will consider this generation's shag carpet and faux-wood paneling.

I would not buy a house with your GF unless it will be in only one of your names

This can be very expensive, and do note this is a project that's very likely to reveal another big project underneath, so be ready to drop a bunch of cash on it.

Though I do want to do it to my house, I'm gonna put it off for a number of decades because we don't have the standard formstone, ours is a different pattern so I don't mind it as much

I guess bad taste is taste

Indeed. John Waters called Formstone the polyester of brick. I love it.

Any particular reason behind that?

Agreed! I definitely didn’t want a formstone house when I bought last year, but it’s what I found (almost every other box checked). And there’s a smattering of absolutely gorgeously repainted formstone homes here and there, so I plan on adding mine into the mix someday! Now that I have some idea of the cost (thanks, u/DryLipCoyote!) I know what to save for. Next step is easy: picking out fun, vibrant colors.

Different times, and red brick was not only everywhere, but “old fashioned” (I remember growing up surrounded by old, fairly ugly red brick and swearing I’d never buy a house made from that!). I think there’s a similar style in a few of the other east coast cities like NYC from around the same time, but this has definitely become a classic look… when well preserved and updated.

Thanks for the info! Sounds pretty thorough. I saw your website in another post, now to plan it out and save up :)

I’m assuming because if you break up who gets the house? There aren’t the legal protections/procedures for mortgage and ownership like in a marriage. If one of you up and leaves can the other cover the total mortgage? Things like that.

It is very probably worth it to buy a house that is brick and not formstone bc of the real estate value. Much better for resale.

Formstone looks like shit. The brick on my House is from 1870. I would much rather we preserve original Baltimore architecture than some formstone.

The answer is gray wood-look LVP flooring and shiplap.

Oh, I thought you/they were going to say some Baltimore/Maryland-specific reason.

We already discussed that possibility and we came to an agreement as to how we'd handle a breakup.

We're also planning to get our wills made soon and, at that point, may just have a contract drawn up that formalizes the percentage each of us owns.

"Aha! There's charring from an undisclosed house fire!" "Oops , half the window headers were failing and had to be replaced with a different material" "Welp, they re-pointed the whole thing with concrete at some point and the whole wall's spalled"

Oh, you’re right I forgot. In Baltimore, MD specifically if you break up John Waters decides who gets the house and the one who doesn’t has to move to the Eastern Shore.

This actually doesn’t have a huge impact on resale values. When I tell buyers that you can paint or remove the formstone, it no longer becomes an objection.

We painted ours, I think it was $1500

Baltimore brick is is often soft, though many formstoned buildings were newer and had harder fired brick. Another reason is the mortar joints are of lime mortar. Great material, but it has a life span, when exposed to the elements. Leaks occur.

The process of applying it is the same as Stucco. Expanded metal mesh is nailed to the brick, in the mortar joints. The Portland cement stucco mix is troweled on. Had the owners chosen smooth stucco finish people would not be concerned. Stucco is used all over the world and is a great way to protect the lesser looking cinder block or soft brick. The ides of making it look like stone is where the cheapness comes in. Flagstone was used in suburban houses in the 50s, it has a very period look. If you spend much time scoring the stucco as real stone, it is fairly convincing. This is how the Cardinal's residence is treated , just behind the Basilica. The guys who did many of the city houses had to work fast and score the joints before the cement hardened. A close look at most houses will show they were not good about making the vertical joints at the correct place to look real.

I did and there was no issue (later got married - and divorced - but no issues with many properties purchased).

We made a ton of freaking money off the first one too. Would highly recommend

I’m curious how much it cost to put on a house back in the day tho 🤣

Found an invoice from the 60’s in my house and it was $1600

Wut that sounds like a s*itton 🤔🤔

edit: take a photo of the invoice and post it for posterity tho!

Joe Shifflet at Brick Bros told me $2500-3500 in September of 2021

I have no idea what box it is buried in, I found it over 20 years ago. I thought it sounded expensive as well

Yeah. People love having to spend more money and more time after they go through the trouble of buying a home. Have fun with your formstone and your idiot realtor! 🤡🥴🤡

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Your post wasn’t about the expenses involved in removing formstone, it was about the marketability of a home. If a home checks every box for a buyer but has a feature that can easily be changed, a buyer would be making a mistake not purchasing it.

But hey what do I know, I’m just an idiot realtor.

Neighbors houses were done for 1100$ a few years ago. First they powerwash then come back the next day and paint. This included painting the front porches. Formstone in hampden.

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I think about that a lot. Also, I try to imagine if something I consider beautiful because of its age, like the Victorian row houses in Charles Village, was ever considered an unfortunate new development similar to how some people see luxury apartments today. I also try to picture what things will be admired in the future. Are people going to be psyched about an early 21st century McMansion in 50 years?

To add to that, if there is lead-based paint underneath, that’s another layer of complexity (and cost) you’ll need to deal with. Personally the painted formstone looks fine.

Bold of you to expect those McMansions to be standing in 50 years.

A lot of the less expensive row houses were built with a cheaper brick that was soft and permeable. Formstone was added to protect the structures.

Never could figure out why our first home in West Baltimore was a brick row house with a very imposing door surround added in Formstone. I hated it in those days because the rest of the house had a sort of Colonial appearance and then this big, ugly gray fake door surround.

It goes in and out of style. For a long time people didn't want to do anything to change it because it was regarded as a sort of folk art thing like having painted screens or blue window shades.

I don’t know if you knew this, but some buyers like to change things about a house after they buy it. If you haven’t heard of this little thing called “home improvement,” I think you should check it out!

If formstone bothers you, just wait until you hear about things like “carpet,” and “laminate,” and please don’t let me scare you with a “wood paneling”

Hahaha, good point.

Those dopey sliding barn doors will be one

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Honestly formstone looks cool in a so tacky it's awesome way. Can't imagine a much more iconic Baltimore look than a formstoned rowhouse with the OG white marble steps. I think if you end up buying a house with formstone, you may grow to love it just as it is!

My experience with buying a house in Baltimore (but probably true anywhere) is that there were some aspects of my house I was 100% sure I was going to change, but then once living here they no longer seemed like a big deal. Other stuff I didn't plan to change, I ended up wanting to. Based on this experience, I think you're getting a bit ahead of yourself. You haven't even decided on a house yet! First buy the house, then live in it for a bit, then decide which features you *really* want to change and which don't affect your quality of life too much.

Yikes

@drylip, what’s the name of your business? I need my two story house done

It’s DN Contracting. You can reach us through or Facebook:

DN Contracting

Or you can reach me at :damjan@dncontracting.info

Send us a message & we can setup a time to come out for a quote, thank you.

My gf and I have both owned houses separately, (not in Baltimore), so this is not our first rodeo.

We already know exactly what we want in our house and have gone to a number of open houses in the neighborhood to get a sense of what is out there.

We are probably going to to be putting an offer down in the next few weeks.

At this point, we are just trying to fine-tune the budget aspect, and that means figuring out how much to set aside for painting the house, if necessary.

Yes it does. Painted or not it looks like cheap shit. Anyone who isn’t a cheap shit with bad taste gets rid of it. It’s like a plastic slipcover on a $300 couch.

That’s $13-16k adjusted for inflation depending on the exact year.

and hope that when you remove the formstone the brick isn’t it in bad shape underneath.

> We're also planning to get our wills made soon and, at that point, may just have a contract drawn up that formalizes the percentage each of us owns.

I know this is offtopic to form stone, but make sure to have independent lawyers assist each of you separately. That’s essentially a prenup.