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tncraft

Choosing brick/stone

tncraft
12 years ago

How did you choose your exterior finish? Did your architect/designer choose it?

I'm having having a hard time finding inspiratin pictures. We'll have a combination of brick and stone.

We have been thinking about having 2 different color bricks and have dark bricks around the doors and windows.

pps7... I really like your front porch, the combo of light/dark bricks. How did you find your inspiration? Do you mind sharing a picture of your house (a bigger one that includes more than just the front porch)?

Then there's the decision on where to have the stone. I've seen homes where they only put stone on front of a bumpout. I don't like it. I prefer to have all of the same material for the entire bumpout.

allison0704... I like how your garage is all stone and the rest is brick (which seems to be 2 colors). Did your architect made all the exterior finishes decision?

Please share how you choose your brick (or stone) colors. Inspirations pics would be helpful too!

Comments (11)

  • allison0704
    12 years ago

    Thank you, tncraft. The stone is a mix of 4 types of rock. I worked with our stonemason on the combo. We used stone above all the doors and windows.

    The bottom of the windows/doors and inside arches on the lower veranda house (not garage) are Old Cahaba brick. The house brick was mortar washed, so it didn't matter what it looked like before the mortar wash went on. It was selected for the tumbled, old look, size and they had enough in the brickyard for our build (aka no wait time, some had up to 3 months).

    Our architect did not have anything to do with our interior or exterior selections. I did everything and would show to DH along with way... although he is partially colorblind so not much help (but I don't let him know. ;) )

  • tncraft
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Thank you all for the feedback.

    So, I did alot of driving around trying to find some inspiration. Here's the house I really like:

    {{gwi:1517116}}

    {{gwi:1517119}}

    I never thought I would like a white house until I saw this! I have no idea if this was painted/whitewashed/mortar washed (well, I don't really know what the differences are). Or, maybe it's a white brick that did not require any additional treatment. Do they exist?

    I'm contacting 2 brick companies tomorrow to give me an idea what brick they used on this house. I did talk to my builder and discussed what kind of extra cost it would be to if we whitewash the brick. He's guessing extra $10k!!! Ouch! But he thinks the above house was painted considering the consistency.

    I really like it BUT:

    1. I'm worried about resale. I know one realtor who just built a new house (same price range) who painted the brick white. Her house is all white but not as pretty as the one above. Does this mean it would be safe to assume that resale is not a problem? FYI, I have not found that many white brick houses in the area.

    2. Maintenance. Main reason we want brick/stone everywhere is for low maintenance. If we do paint/whitewash, that means it's no longer low maintenance, right????

    3. how it ages. I guess this is also considered maintenance, but I'm concerned how white brick would look over time. Would it eventually look dingy?

    Any ideas to achieve the above look without doing any painting/whitewashing??? I have been looking at lighter bricks. Maybe this will be a good enough alternative.

    Any thoughts/comments highly appreciated. Thanks!

  • pps7
    12 years ago

    We used a lime wash. we did a single thin coat and left the headers untreated. To get an opaque look like your inspiration picture, you will need to do 3-4 coats. The lime wash will gradually wash off.

    {{gwi:1443404}}

  • allison0704
    12 years ago

    tncraft, that looks like Boral Brick Pastel Coate system... which I believe I read on GW it has been discontinued. There are a couple of houses in our neighborhood that used it. When we were building, the choices were limited and not the color we wanted. The cost was a lot more also.

  • tncraft
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    pps7 and allison0704... Thanks for the additional info!

    I did talk to two brick places. They both have several choices of white brick. So, we are highly considering white bricks (and dark ones for around the doors/windows) to get the same look. Do you think this is a bad idea? Any potential downside I'm not thinking about?

  • mydreamhome
    12 years ago

    Pine Hall brick has a few different choices you might like for the white & the dark. Their prices tend to be among the more reasonable (at least in our area). Our new church has the Chesapeake Pearl brick from PH and it is absolutely stunning. Their Vienna brick may make a good contrast for over the windows. You may want to check them out.

    http://pinehallbrick.com/product_gallery/pg_color.cfm?colorID=3&type=0

    That house you photographed does look like the Boral Brick Pastelcoate. It looks like they are using a different product now called ReCote to get the same effect.

    http://www.boralbricks.com/cms/Masonry+Coatings/165.html

    Hope this helps!

  • tncraft
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    mydreamhome... Thanks for the input! One of the brick company we're checking offers Pine Hall. Great to know they have great prices. :)

    I did talk to the brick company who supplied the bricks for the house pictured above. He said that the house is painted and the homeowners used the cheapest brick. He told me painting is the cheapest option, while using white bricks is the most expensive. Using Master Wall Recote is cheaper than white bricks but more expensive than painting. Ugh! I thought using white bricks would be the cheapest. lol. I'll get actual numbers and see if he's right. :)

  • wandaaweaver
    12 years ago

    Do you have any more pictures of this house? I love the paint color and it looks like what we are building. We are aslo painting our brick...I wish I knew the color of the paint..

  • Stephk123
    11 years ago

    My question is for abdrury...My house is also Old Charleston Queen brick and we are installing new roof. I like the roof color in your picture. Do you know what brand and color shingles you have?

    Thanks!

  • topman
    11 years ago

    @tncraft, I just started my research on brick/stone color so I feel your pain. Our house is mainly brick with stone accents on the front porch. Initially we wanted to go with dark brown bricks but we may go with white bricks now. It's so hard to find inspirational photos online. I couldn't see the link you posted, do you mind re-posting them?

    The re-sale problem is one I am concerned too. I didn't see that many white brick homes when I drive around town so I am thinking may be it's not as popular (but that could be another reason we wanted to go with too). I am looking to find white bricks that give more "texture" on the appearance (trying to avoid going painted bricks because the appearance seems to look very plain or at least just from the few photos I could find online). I will share with you if I can find anything I like.

    What's lime wash? any photo?