Homes with bricks on 3 side (house, construction, quality)

[huma281]

Hardie plank to brick doesn't really cost the builder that much money. Some builders like to exaggerate the cost and charge you $3k-$4k. I found some reputable builders that will charge you a fair amount $1.5k-$1.8k.

Overall, I don't know why builders do this. There isn't that much of a price difference and I think the homes look better all brick. It's pretty much like tiles or wood floors. It doesn't cost the builder that much more money from installing carpet, but they will make you pay for it.

[vutekho]

Maybe those rear sidings were indeed, hardie plank. But due to them ranging from white to a vanilla looking color, my untrained eyes wrote them off as vinyl. But it was a whole neighborhood. Maybe if they had it painted, it would have looked better to me.

[Ace_TX]

yep, it's all cement fiber board

3 sided veneer > front only

[smuggy_mba]

We paid 4K for brick on 3 sides of a 2 story house; the front had bricks already. Can't stand hardie plank for some reason.

[pdouglas]

How much would it cstto add brick to the back of a ne stry house after it s constructed. In ther words not using the builder.

[cheryjohns]

A whole lot more than just doing it in the beginning. It's one of those things that you do during construction, rather than after.

[Rip808]

When we first bought the back had hardy plank. We just bought a new house and went ahead and paid for brick on all sides. $4k upgrade but I think it's worth it. With hardy you had to paint/power wash yearly to not get ugly. Some people don't do this and you can tell right away. The homes with hardy plank on 3 sides (looking at you Katy Creek Ranch) make the whole neighborhood look hideous.

[texdav]

Its pure cost and all brick is a option.

[Hangster]

Originally Posted by pdouglas

How much would it cstto add brick to the back of a ne stry house after it s constructed. In ther words not using the builder.

It is very cost prohibitive to add brick afterwards because there is no concrete ledge for the brick to rest on. In order to have brick, there has to be a 6" ledge that the brick lays on. Part of why brick costs so much more is because the builder would have to add the cost of this concrete ledge if you want to add it. For homes without brick, no ledge is needed as the siding or hardy plank is nailed to the frame. The cost of additional 6" ledge of concrete can be pretty expensive depending on the length of the ledge. Most foundations are 4' deep at the edge so if the back side of the house is 50' that equals an additional 100 cubic feet of concrete in addition to the cost of the brick, sand and morter and additional labor to install the brick vs hardie plank.

[Weatherguy]

The older neighborhoods are brick all the way around. But the suburbs built in the last 20 years or so often have brick only on three sides. I will not buy a house unless it is brick all the way around. The 3-sided trend isn't just Houston. It seems to be all over the South at least. You should see the multitude of cheap looking suburban neighborhoods in every direction from Austin. When you drive down a street and see mainly the front of the houses, they look OK. But some views of the neighborhoods present dozens of the backs of houses, and that's what looks so bad. For some reason I don't find the homes in Houston suburbs to look nearly as objectionable (the 3-sided brick) as the ones around Austin. Maybe it's different builders.

Anyway, I would gladly pay the extra for brick all the way around.