I am a fan of all brick- in fact I would pay 2x that to make sure it is all brink. I would not consider buying a brick front only house- ever. Again, personal opinion

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My British husband needed several years to get over the fact that U.S. houses are not all masonry and brick. Ugh.

If your house is in a pricey area I'd go with all-brick, especially if $15,000 is a very low % of the total house price. If other neighbors have half siding and $15,000 is looking off market for the square footage to cover, do the planks.

May I ask if the $600,000 consider pricey or not? This is in Montgomery co.

What size house

How true. Most new construction does have a wood frame except for some ultra-luxe houses with concrete block as a backup. While fiber cement is sturdier than vinyl, it is in no way as sturdy as brick - especially in high-wind situations. And manufactured stone - which no one has spoken of here - is expensive, unproven and has very few performance ratings to speak of.

But most people like the look of a material because of what it contributes to the curb appeal of the house. That's why fake materials (vinyl, fiber cement, EIFS and manufactured stone) all look like something else.

$15K to add brick to all four sides in this area? That's a deal when considering the overall cost of the house.

FYI for whoever resurrected this thread, by searching.
Most brick "veneers" are actual whole bricks that go around the house on the outside of the waterproofed and insulated wood frame. They are not "tiles of centimeter thick brick patterns".
All houses nowadays are wood frame, not masonry or brick structural frame. So pick what "veneer" you want on the exterior of your wood frame. Obviously placing and cementing brick is more costly and time consuming (and classic) than hardiplanks.

Anonymous wrote:PLEASE don't go with the one floor brick house. Those thing are the fucking worst. I hate mixed media, there is a gigantic new home in our neighborhood that is a complete mullet (top half brick, bottom half cheap siding).

Business on the top, party on the bottom. . .

All hardiplank (wide planks) looks nice. It looks like original wood clapboard. All brick is also nice. Vinyl siding of any type is shit and looks that way.

Don't mix media. Commit to using the same material for the whole thing.

PLEASE don't go with the one floor brick house. Those thing are the fucking worst. I hate mixed media, there is a gigantic new home in our neighborhood that is a complete mullet (top half brick, bottom half cheap siding).

You will never regret brick. Siding is cheap looking ESP. Over time.... Brick is hurricane proof, siding is not. Brick may be painted, comes in many colors, and left unpainted requires no maintenance until 100 years or more. Cheap house or Brick house? Recent market research shows than when given a choice most homeowners choose Brick and your future buyer when you sell, is more likely to choose your house over the Hardy Board version.

I am personally shocked that the difference in price is only $15,000. DH and I discuss all the time how awful it looks and have presumed the price difference must be enormous. If all it costs to make an addition look actually integrated into the house is $15,000 I am amazed that more people do not do it. I am not saying that $15,000 is nothing, but I see this all the time in many pricey neighborhoods in DC.

Anonymous wrote:I would either get all brick or all hardi-plank. Personally, I hate the brick front, vinyl or hp sided homes that are so everywhere. Looks so tract home, mass produced. Yuck. Actually, this is one of my pet peeves, if you couldn't tell.

+1

I think brick veneer, which, if successful, is an imitation of solid brick, looks more substantial than Hardiplank, which is an imitation of wood. This is only because "real brick" is generally considered more permanent than wood. I'm fully aware of the fact that a house with either can can be as strong as you care to make it, but that's the impression conveyed. For the same reason, a house covered with vinyl siding will look flimsy, even though what's under the vinyl may actually be strong enough to survive the worst hurricane. Also, Hardiplank, which seems to be a perfectly good product if installed correctly, hasn't been around in its current form for long enough to establish a track record for longevity; brick veneer, if installed correctly, can last more than 100 years, and there are 130 year old buildings to prove it. Brick also offers somewhat better fireproofing, much better protection against insect intrusion, better noise isolation, and more thermal mass (which is an advantage in DC, I believe). But no siding appeals to everyone , so whatever you chose, I'll at least offer these suggestions:

1. If getting Hardiplank, try to avoid the type with embossed wood grain. At best, the embossed grain will make it look like crappy, decrepit wood, at wost, it will make some people confuse it with vinyl siding. Unless it is damaged, flat Hardiplank is indistinguishable from well-sanded, painted wood, so it won't draw unflattering attention to itself.

2. Some combinations of brick and lap-siding or brick and stucco look good, but a brick front with lap-siding everywhere else just looks stupid; the lap siding calls attention to the fact that the brick is a veneer. A brick front with stucco sides would look a lot more dignified (since stucco could have anything - wood, brick, or block - underneath it). If you must combine brick or stucco with lap siding, having brick or stucco on the first floor and lap siding above that makes the most sense; at least the heavy stuff is on the bottom, the way it would be if each material were the full thickness of the walls.

Pricey for upper moco, not pricey for lower moco

I think that "in theory" a builder should be able to combine brick and siding to a great advantage, but I have never seen it done well. All I see in new construction in my neighborhood is brick front, siding on 3 other sides, and to me it looks unspeakably tacky, especially on houses that have clearly cost a lot to build. It just looks cheap, like a woman with full make up but a dirty bum.

On a new house $15K (to me) would be well worth it to achieve a look that won't make me cringe every time I see it.

I'd go with brick. It's a better material and you can get it any color you want and use it in just about any house design you can imagine.

Hardi is more durable than vinyl, but it doesn't come close to brick in performance characteristics like fire protection, wind protection and maintenance. And I'm talking a veneer application on wood frame - not brick all the way through.

If you want Hardi to look good, you'll probably want to paint it. So you'll recoup a lot of your first cost money after your first paint job.

She's a brick....house.