Brick home owners, would you do it again? (Franklin: new house, buying)

[TXRyan23]

I work for a Stucco company.

I would suggest Brick over Stucco. Although Stucco houses will save you electricity money, They are prone to termites and water damage. Brick houses are solid and will be around forever !

[Mary_Moon]

My last home was a custom built all brick and it did cost quite a bit more to build than if we had gone with vinyl or even vinyl on the sides and back. A friend of mine had vinyl and it looked really bad; it was wavy and pieces of it blew off during a wind storm. It just doesn't look very good, IMO.

Our current house has wood siding and although it's better aesthetically than vinyl, the upkeep is a pain. It needs painting right now and I'll have to hire it out since I'm way too afraid of heights to get up on a ladder and do the upper story. The only good thing about it is I can change house and trim colors easily if I want. Once you pick a brick color, you're pretty much stuck with it unless you paint it.

[JoeCartpath]

Brick is definitely the most durable siding you can have by far, and gives a house a more substantial, upscale look. As far as the color changes, avoid the trendy brick of the month color and stick with something traditional and you won't grow tired of it. You can always change the color of the trim, shutters, doors and any siding on the house if you want a change of pace. Few houses are all brick. Most have some areas (gables, under porches, etc.) that are some kind of siding - so you can use paint there to change the look of the house. For that matter, you could paint the brick. To many, that sounds like a sacrilege but, if done properly, painted brick will last for years and years before needing painting again. I wouldn't do it unless I got a really good deal on a house with ugly brick, but I have friends who have done it and they say they'd do it again.

I also hate vinyl siding. It can look OK, but most installations I see use the cheapest siding available...and it looks it. The siding on the non-brick areas on my house is Masonite, and it's OK - it seems to be much better that Masonite used to be. If I ever have to replace it, I'll use Hardy Plank. I doesn't rot, termites won't eat it, and it seems to hold paint extremely well - probably because moisture doesn't get behind the paint.

[gemkeeper]

Good advice, JoeCartpath. We have had the ugly brick experience in PA where our home was ground floor brick the second story and dormers were asbestos shingle. Yep, built in the '50s when you could still use asbestos.

The first thing we did when we bought the house 34 years ago was to paint everything, brick and shingles, a light taupe. The trim was painted an off-white and the front door barn red. We had black shutters on the windows.

It was an older home, but it looked great to us after the work. As far as durablility on the paint on brick, we have driven past that house that we lived in for only 5 years and it has never been repainted as far as we can see. I'm sure that the trimwork and shutters have seen a few paintings, but otherwise, the house looks the same as it did 35 years ago when we did the original spruce-up.

Now, we are in GA, have lived in our all Boral brick home since it was built 7 years ago. All of the trim in Hardy Plank. We have not had to do any painting yet on the trim, the brick is a medium traditional shade, and is very good looking.

Termites! Don't kid yourself. Brick makes it more difficult for termites, but they will chew through anything. We have had eradication of termites twice, replaced an oak hardwood floor covered with carpet that they feasted on, and replaced many trim pieces inside of our garage and behind the appliances in the laundry room.

Termites are EVIL!!! They will find food anyplace they want. We now have termite traps every four feet surrounding our house and have them checked (big service fee) every 8 weeks year round. If you live near a wooded area, you are guaranteed to have termites. Just do all you can, beginning with ground site treatment before building, to keep them out of your domicile. The wood pile out in the back corner should be more to their liking anyhow!!

By the way, our exterminating company told us that one of termites favorite targets is the underside of drywall. The paper and plaster fill is easy to chew, dark and like dessert to termintes.

Oops, back to the original question. I would only consider brick for our next house. It is very durable, little upkeep, energy saving and beautiful. We have also had stucco and wood siding homes, and briefly, a vinyl siding (big mistake!), and brick is far and away the best choice if you can afford it. When building, always use the very best materials and practices in the things you can't change - siding, framing, insulation, heating choice, plumbing, etc. - and keep your budget savers for the things you can change down the road - flooring, plumbing fixtures, appliances, door hardware, etc. You will be so happy if you apply that rule to your building project.

[loonyrich]

The previous two posts pretty well summed up the advantages of brick but I will throw in my 2 cents anyway. I am also in Washington state and likewise heading to Tenn as soon as I can get my house sold. This slow market is frustrating but I digress. I have lived in brick houses when I lived in Ark years ago and yes I think that it is the best for maintenance and longivity. You only have to paint the trim when needed and you can even eliminate that by using vinyl trim. We have been looking on the web for a short list of houses when we get there and there are lots of brick houses to choose from. I don't think that you will have any trouble finding what you want in your price range, in fact we will probably be competing for the same houses.

[gemkeeper]

Originally Posted by Alice Johnston

Hello. I live in a brick house that was built in 1972. We are trying to reduce our energy costs. Wouldn't it be better to cover the brick with white siding, so as to reflect the hot sun?

Alice, that brick house is a barrier to the heat and cold. Vinyl siding - or any siding would offer you only the advantage of being WHITE! In the southwest you see a lot of adobe with thick adobe walls. It dries to be rock - or brick - hard and is a natural barrier to the heat and cold extremes of the dessert.

Brick has the same properties, as does concrete. A concrete or brick structure will maintain a more constant temperature than a vinyl, aluminum or wood siding house.

Good thought, but the physics just don't compute.

[cobolt]

Originally Posted by loonyrich

The previous two posts pretty well summed up the advantages of brick but I will throw in my 2 cents anyway. I am also in Washington state and likewise heading to Tenn as soon as I can get my house sold. This slow market is frustrating but I digress. I have lived in brick houses when I lived in Ark years ago and yes I think that it is the best for maintenance and longivity. You only have to paint the trim when needed and you can even eliminate that by using vinyl trim. We have been looking on the web for a short list of houses when we get there and there are lots of brick houses to choose from. I don't think that you will have any trouble finding what you want in your price range, in fact we will probably be competing for the same houses.

All these defectors from WA to E TN!! Me too!

Definately brick. Even if it costs more, in the end it's worth it and it doesn't cost you more, if you get my drift.

[JoeCartpath]

Termites!!!!!! Yep. you have to remember that a brick home is only brick veneer - unless you have REALLY old solid brick walls. You've got exactly the same wood framing behind it that you do in a shingled house (unless you have concrete block construction)....and that structure is just as likely to have termite damage as any other home.

[gemkeeper]

JoeCartpath, our brick home is stick built, but other than that there is no exterior wood. Fiberglass doors, vinyl windows (UGH!), fiberglass shutters, steel garage doors, and Hardy Plank cement board trim for everything else.

Those little buggers will get in under a foundation and find their way through a cement crack that you can't even see with your naked eye. Termites are like the Creature from the Black Lagoon. There is no place you can hide from those creatures from prehistoric times. (Do I sound like I REALLY dislike termites?)

We don't even have wood-burning fireplaces. All ceramic gas fireplaces. Just lots of hardwood floors that say "Come eat me!"

[JoeCartpath]

They really like trim such as baseboards and door facings. I guess it's softer than the framing and makes for a better snack!