Hey Kristin, I'm a noob when it comes to raised beds myself, but I can tell you that when the ground freezes, you will have frost heaval. This will crack the mortar in the joints of your brickwork if you don't pour a boot of foundation of some kind. Being in zone 8, I would bet that your frostline, the depth to which the ground freezes during winter, is very shallow. You would not need a massive foundation ring, I would bet that just 4-6 inches with 2 pieces of 1/4" rebar would do very nicely. It would be worth it in the long run, I think, becasue tearing down, cleaning and re-mortaring bricks is an ugly, hard and messy job. Brickwork that is cracked, that has shifted or is outright falling apart is ugly as well. Do it right the first time, you'll thank yourself every day when you DON'T have to re-do all your work. Keep in mind also, then once you have made anything involving brick or concrete, moving this later is a job so close to impossible, that it may as well be just that; impossible. Tearing this ind of stuff down is either very labor-intensive or costly. Be careful when you plan something so permenant. Personally, if I had a whole bunch of vintage brick laying around, I would use them to lay around my raised bed made of wood, making an attractive border for the bed or even a small area to stand on while working around the bed. Hope I helped :)

re Trebruchet's response - there is elastomeric paint which is intended for mortar - just google it. It allows breathing. i.e. "An exterior, flexible high-build coating designed to expand & contract, bridging hairline cracks in vertical masonry surfaces. This extremely durable, mildew & dirt resistant waterproofing finish has superior elasticity & elongation properties to resist cracking. It withstands 98 mph wind-driven rain. The 100% acrylic latex formula provides a breathable film, releasing moisture that builds in walls." Also, since it's already been painted, is that issue moot?

Wow everyone, thanks for the input and the compliments, we are at that stage where we are just tired of remodeling, even though we are in the home stretch, so it's really nice to have positive feedback! Suero and Justgotabme, I really am liking the idea of the pergola it's something I hadn't really considered before. Thanks Suero for trying the cedar shakes on the gable ends, I'm sure it didn't do much since it just accentuates the low slung roofline and that's something we'd like to down play. Oceanna I completely understand what you are saying about painting. We do have a really good painter who has done work for us for years and is very reasonable so I could ask him what he would charge. Scoobyruby I hadn't thought about natural wood like cedar, I may have to think about that one, if we don't choose to paint the brick it could be really complimentary to the tones of the brick, but less cottage like I would guess. Socks and Megsy it's good to know that we don't *have* to paint the brick since it appears that people on here don't hate it, which is great. I do think better landscaping and shutters would go a long way in making things look better. I had to laugh at the white shutter/white sock analogy, we think they look like white socks too! :-) Kitchenkelly, I have long admired your kitchen and your photos of your backyard so your compliment really made me smile! One of the best parts of my job as a writer is that I've been privileged to write about some amazing homes, both large and small so I've been filing away ideas for a long time now. My husband loves my job and hates it all at the same time. I do a lot of designer and renovation homes so I come home and say things like "hey we can take that wall down!" When he gives me the "no we can't" look, I simply say, sure we can I've seen it done! I'm amazed each time I do a renovation story, I've found over the years that most of the time it's the homeowners with the vision. Few, if any, of the homes I've covered used high powered design or architectural firms to create their dream homes, most of them, like me, have just had a picture in their heads that they are lucky enough to make into a reality! I'm not knocking either designers or architects, if my MIL hadn't had either she would still be trying to make decisions and with their help she and my FIL have a lovely home! And like it has been said before, good architectural plans can often save you money and give you a more sound structure in the end. My husband has been playing around all day with Photoshop Elements to try and color the house, we just need to figure out how to import BM or SW paint colors, so far all he's been able to apply are crayola primary colors lol! Kat :)

> The whole house exterior looks ugly like this. Is it possible to clean the entire house with muratic acid? Yes. It can all be fixed. > How can we make the builder do it? Tell the builder it is not acceptable. You will not be taking possession of the house until it is fixed. I made some money laying the bricks. Typically (1) too much water in the mortar, when you level the brick the water squirts out on the bricks below. (2) Inexperienced bricklayers like to have the planks they stand on close to the walls. When mortar falls, it hits the planks and instead of dropping down splashes right back on a clean brick. Really stupid. Newbie lays one course of bricks and you need to clean like 6.