Why so many brick homes? (Austin, Mason: environment, real estate, tornadoes)

[momof2dfw]

Probably best to stick w/ the stone. Stucco w/ chicken pox does not look appealing. And having a claim on your insurance record is not a good thing in Texas. FYI: find the company you want to use for a long time right off. Trying to change if you have had a claim is not easy. They pretty well only allow 1 "natural disaster" claim and 1 "other" claim in a 3 year period. So if you get a hail storm 2 months after moving in and then a year or two later have some plumbing leak........ no changing for you. None of that is written in stone anywhere just from my own experience that we came across this year.

As for the brick driveway. I'd probably pass on that. While it may be a bit "cheaper" in price here it is not going to be that much cheaper. The labor is what will get ya . The big thing now is the stained and stamped concrete. I know several people that have done this recently and it looks great. Much better than I would have thought and it looked realistic. You could always border your drive in brick, that is popular along w/ the sidewalk.

Landscaping: Landscaping is not "cheap". I had a neighbor that spent $6K on just a few small beds to be done in her front yard (put in, prepped, planted). EECK!!! Find a good landscape company and look for wholesale nurserys if you can do the work yourself. You will not have any problems finding workers or landscape companies. They are a dime a dozen out here. There are also day labor centers that you can go buy and get someone to help out just for a day or two. We have a regular landscape company that does our yard. We have a contract w/ them so the price is the same every month for the entire year. They take care of everything: mow, weedeat, edge, trim shrubs, clean out flowerbeds, prune trees & shrubs, fertilize, etc. The only thing not included is planting flowers. That is extra. Our rate is $150 a month and we have a HUGE yard w/ a pool and lots and LOTS and LOTS of landscaping.

[texasdreamin]

Great info, momof2dfw. I appreciate it. My initial choice was stamped concrete, but I also love brick roads.

I'm surprised that the labor is comparable. I didn't think ANYWHERE in the US could be as expensive as California. I have a teeny, weeny house (1187 sq'). Half of it is stucco and half of it is wood siding. I decided to have the wood siding replaced with Hardiplank and guess how much half a house is costing me??? $11,000. That doesn't even include eaves and soffits. Isn't that just ridiculous? Bet it doesn't cost near that in Texas. That's why people are moving out...they can't afford to live here.

I guess the landscaping costs there are less expensive. $150/mo for a huge yard is not too bad. I guess I'll pay through the nose for acres

I really love this forum. I feel like I'm coming to know all of you.

[lifertexan]

I think stucco and stone would look better. Where I live in Granbury (not to far from Weatherford) only the cheaper or older homes are made of brick.

Brick is a cheap look?Hmmm.Somebody forgot to tell the builders in the country clubs here building the 1 million dollar homes that,and the doctors buying them must have missed out on that fashion faux pas info also.

Seems someone failed to inform the builders constructing the 6 bed,4 bath, $ 1.5 million homes in the exclusive gated communities of Dallas this fact also.They seem to be building a lot of them.

[Aggie01]

Most homes all over Texas are brick....well, brick facade. They're nothing like the solidly build brick homes in the Midwest. I suppose the brick helps with insulation and the occasional "critter" defense. I certainly prefer brick over any siding.

Stucco looks nice, however, my only concern is upkeep. It looks great at first, but it doesn't age well at all, even with continue cleaning and maintenance. Look at older stucco buildings around Texas. They really do show their age. Brick homes tend to age quite well.

[texasdreamin]

Stucco will age very nicely if it is kept up (painted). I've had mine for 22 years and it still looks good. I may look into limestone and other types of stone. I also hope to be able to get a tile roof. I didn't see much of that when I was in the south. I saw a lot of tin roofs, which I thought were strange, as I had never seen them on a house before. My stepdad said when they were kids, they had a tin roof and he could sleep sooooo good when he could hear the rain beating down on it. Me...I don't think so. I'd be up all night.

[cesparza1]

I'm surprised to hear that stucco is considerd a higher end home building material. I live in Mesa, Az. Every home built after 1995 is stucco. Because it is so cheap. I hate it. To me someone in home construction, there is not a worse building material. it cracks, peels, and chips. yuk! Im actually excited to be moving away from this sea of stucco. besides that all the look the same. COOKIE CUTTER HOMES! we have alot of stories on the news of people walking into someone elses house out of shere confusion. Ive been looking at homes out there, ive gotta say I LIKE THE BRICK! hope this helps
P.S. Those people are usually drunk and/or incredibly stupid!!!

[JesusisLord]

Originally Posted by Aggie01

Most homes all over Texas are brick....well, brick facade. They're nothing like the solidly build brick homes in the Midwest.

Sorry but what's the difference between a solidly built brick home and a home with brick facade?

[Willys]

I know. That baffled me too? I'm in Toledo, OH and here having a brick house means ...you're rich. I'm moving to the DFW area soon and I'm looking forward to living in a brick home

That's funny.... When I was a kid my parents bought a 3 br home (in Abilene, in the 50's) for $14k new, now sells for $120k or more. All brick, hardwood floors, central heat. ALL the homes in that part of town were all brick.

[drjones96]

Originally Posted by MoMark

Although I live in Missouri, many homes are built of brick here too. The homes with just front brick, then siding, or the all siding homes are considered chintzy and not well built. Also, brick is better for rough weather. Ever seen what pounding hailstones can do to a house with siding? It can peel the siding right off and pits it, then damage the materials underneath. A brick home can take high wind, hail, doesn't need painting or much maintenance. There's usually little exposed wood, so little weathering which is a problem for the old all wood homes. A brick home is considered better quality and it makes a difference with home insurance too.

What part of MO? I'm from the Bootheel. I have to say that there are brick houses there but nothing like here in TX. I'd say in the town I grew up in that probably less than half were brick. And they were either very old homes, very small homes or....

Originally Posted by anil

I know. That baffled me too? I'm in Toledo, OH and here having a brick house means ...you're rich. I'm moving to the DFW area soon and I'm looking forward to living in a brick home

...yep...they're weathy.

It seems that here even some of the cheapest homes are made of brick. So do not conclude anything about a house here just because it's brick. It means nothing.

Want to know what drives me completely nuts? These houses that are almost completely made of brick but there will be a sided panel on the side of the house. OMG! You took the money to brick the house but you're not going to cover that 8'X8' section???? That just sends me right over the edge.

[Chinolala]

Brick is the best construction material that there is for buildings. It requires very little maintaince - only needs to be tuckpointed about once every 15-20 years. It also offers the best insulation from both heat and cold.