Brick why go out

There was a slump again in due to the financial crash and a sharp decline in demand for housing. Architects on the cutting edge did briefly move away from brick as a building material.

However, since the early 's demand has been on the rise again in the UK. At the end of the day, you can't escape the sense of using brick. Clay brick can withstand the broad shifts in temperature and weather we have here, are resistant to damp and also don't need much maintenance. Not only that but they're never not in fashion and it certainly seems like they're having a heyday again. More on that below.

Yes, many housing developments use timber frames and concrete to create the load bearing structure of houses. But whatever the primary building method, brickwork will still make it into pretty much every home in the UK in one way or another. In the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster there has been an increased suspicion of many alternative building materials, particularly for large residential buildings and MDU's. The infamous disaster in which an enormous residential block in London caught fire, leaving 71 people dead, was partly the fault of exterior cladding being unfit for purpose.

Panels on the exterior were made from aluminium composite material with a polyethylene core. This, along with insulation panels and PVC window frames meant the tower was engulfed in flames within 20 minutes. Subsequent enquiries have questioned whether this highly combustible material even complied with building regulations.

Even without that it certainly didn't help the popularity of alternative forms of cladding. Bricks are non-combustible and fire spreads much slower in buildings made from brick and blocks.

It's safe to say bricks are a much safer option and instil even more confidence in buyers. Incentives such as stamp duty holidays always help but regardless, as long as there's people to house, there will be developers building houses. The association with depressing and institutional starkness comes from buildings like this.

I find this facade unwelcoming and reflective of the photo above, but with some colonial details it could be much improved. Classic beautiful home, it's what the photo above wants to be The details and craftsmanship make this appealing to me.

Another historical beauty. Even though the facade itself is simple and square, there are skilled details of brickwork and the light mortar and shutter details prevent it from looking stark.

I think red brick is timeless and I dislike the HGTV shows where they paint the brick on the outside of the house. We have many brick houses in my town as well as brick streets both pure brick streets and those under the asphalt because we had 2 brick factories in our town in the late s.

Those street bricks are coveted because they are imprinted with the name of our town. Besides our brick house, we have brick lining our cemented sidewalks and drives and the paths in our back garden. I like brick and I especially like "old" brick! In my home country brick is a standard construction material, just like concrete or wood logs. No frame construction with plywood or OSB boards.

It's considered too flimsy and suitable chiefly for backyard sheds or summer vacation cabins. However, there are different grades of brick. There's rough construction brick that makes the bulk of a brick wall, and there's finishing brick that goes on the outside of the wall. Industrial buildings like machine shops, warehouses or garages are often built with low grade construction brick. No one would consider them pretty and they are usually restricted to industrial districts or back alleys.

Typical thickness of brick walls in single family homes or apartment blocks is ft. The minimal thickness required by code is 1 ft for a single family house, 1 story plus attic.

In multistory apartment blocks the brick walls are much more substantial. What I find off-putting about brick veneering here in the U. The dissonance between the nice front and primitive warehouse-like back with windows like random holes is so jarring.

Tina, why do I have to be careful, that is my personal opinion, and I should be able to state that. I am not personally attacking anyone, just expressing an opinion.

Fads, fads, fads. Bidets, all white kitchens, no laminate counter tops, ceiling fans are ugly,etc. I recently read that after years of brass-hate, fixtures and accents are making a comeback!! That makes our home an embarrassment of riches! I did the trim on a new house long, long ago where the owner chose a very dark red brick, and compounded the error with black mortar.

This was one of those cheaper "colonials" where the ends and back are vinyl siding. The color looked like raw liver. One of my favorite houses growing up was a rather ordinary rancher but it was done in blushing grey brick with weeping mortar joints. I didn't realize until much later that the identical house had been built across the street in conventional red brick and lacking some other details.

I had always considered that one not so much ugly as banal. I think sometimes its not the red brick itself so much as it is yet another element of the entire house lacking imagination.

Lily'smom , to be fair, I believe I have only seen people here refer to brick in or on their OWN house as "awful". But as a home decorating forum, it's interesting to discuss aethetics and yes that is a subjective issue.

If people want to take down their brick, I will happily accept it for my garden. I am slowly building all my garden paths and bed edgings from recycled brick and it looks beautiful. If I want to change the paths, the bricks can be repositioned. Not many people have brick inside because of earthquakes. I prefer the real used brick not the paint splashed pretending to be used brick. If the bricks are a little worn, that's even better. I don't have anything against brick or stone veneer per se.

It can enhance the looks of a house a lot. But I also believe a house should be styled as a consistent whole. The back of a house should harmonize with the front facade. If one doesn't have the means to finish all the sides with brick veneer or fancy stone or whatever else, then the best course is to apply a less expensive finish throughout or use more expensive materials sparingly as accents.

The key points are harmony and consistency. I live in an neighborhood full of brick: solid color, variegated, red, tan, gray, white, cream colored, we've got it all as houses were built here from the 's through 's. Several years ago I noticed an uptick in how many were being painted--red brick houses became white, green, gold, even powder blue. In many cases, the houses did look more charming, if only because they stood out more from the pack. When you have twenty houses of the same brick in a row, the eye craves some variety, I suppose.

And often, the same people who care enough about how their house looks to go to the trouble and expense and anticipated ongoing maintenance of painting bricks are also the folks who put a fresh color on the front door, remove tired old awnings, make creative choices in shutters and landscaping, etc. So yes, the house ends up looking much fresher, but it isn't only because the bricks are painted. And, as Pal and others have pointed out, paint colors and painting bricks are trends, and trends swing back and forth.

Today it seems "classic", but one day when painted brick is "dated", someone is going to make a lot of money blasting it off my neighborhood. I am going to get on my design high horse and probably offend some people who personalize discussions about design theory, because I am good at annoying people in this way.

First, I think almost anybody who buys a post war house in almost any part of the country that was not built as a completely custom house is probably going to end up with a lot of choices in houses that include a patch of brick or stone on the front facade and plain siding or plainer brick on the rest.

Almost anybody who builds a new house in a development or subdivision or home owner's association is not only going to face the same, thing, but in addition are not going to be allowed to leave the stone or brick accent off even if they want to.

The element that was originally used as a budget cutting device is now "important" to the design and consistency of the entire development. The consistency of materials of the individual house is no longer important, but the inconsistency of materials and how they are used must be consistent throughout the neighborhood. Second, I don't think there is anything the matter with vinyl siding.

I don't think there is anything the matter with any particular building material. Frank Lloyd Wright built beautiful houses out of concrete block. There's nothing the matter with building a plain rectangular house with plain modest materials that go all away around the house and calling it done. But as a culture we have been convinced that this is cheap looking somehow. But if its three sides of a rectangle with a convoluted elevation on the front including three or four different building materials, it's "pretty".

Third, if you are building a custom or semi custom house, why not build something that you can afford to finish the same on all four sides? We are also in a culture where people are pressured into feeling it's necessary to take everything to a level that we can just barely afford it. And who is that impressing? Some random stranger may be impressed by your house driving by, but what about the people who get inside, and see that there's barely any furniture, and many of the rooms are cheaply detailed drywall boxes.

I understand if you live in a HCOLA that it is easy to be house poor, but whats the point of a square foot house when you are entertaining people on card tables. Sheer volume isn't everything. Should you apologize to friends because the back of your house is vinyl? I dunno, but think about where you are putting friends and family.

There is this fancy facade out front that no one ever spends any time in front of. They are escorted to the back yard. The end unit has plain stucco on the side that faces a side streets.

The backs are vinyl siding you can easily see all three materials together. So some stranger sees the fancy front of the house where the real friends are taken out back where they sit on crudely built pressure treated decks next to vinyl siding with all sorts of PVC pipes and vents and such sticking out all over with no concerns about esthetics, or quality, and it's all right at eye level.

As a culture, maybe we should apologize. But, I dislike brick immensely when used on the inside for fireplaces, or when they try to make it a feature as in "exposed brick walls. We had a brick wall in an apartment here and I hated it. It was very dusty, and I'm guessing there were cracks in it because it was very cold in the winter, and warm in the summer.

Ugh, never again. I like your rant pal I was just so thrilled to have a backyard that I kind of ignored the previous owner's horrible deck situation. I had a bedroom with exposed brick wall in Montreal and I loved it so much. I'd do that again in a heartbeat. I live in a very working class neighbourhood and vinyl is the siding treatment of choice what everyone upgraded to after their tiny postwar homes' aluminum or asbestos shingle siding got tatty.

We also live in a harsh climate that is fairly unsuitable for stucco and even hard on wood siding. I totally get it. I don't love it but I get it.

Brick homes are rare around here except in newer subdivisions but I do love the look. There have been books written about this for decades including architectural historians who put forth that we haven't had an innate sense of proportion since sometime in the middle of the 19th century. I don't think it is quite that bad, but I do think we are in a period that is not going to be looked back at with great admiration from an architectural or interior design standpoint when it comes to commonplace houses.

Many of the simplest and most ordinary houses in the past had a certain amount of charm. The standard "minimal traditional" house built in the middle of the 20th century may not quite meet current standards when it comes to layout and bath sizes, but very few of the designs are actual ugly.

Brick houses provide peace of mind regarding the safety of your family, providing superior protection against fire, storms, mold and insect infestations. Environmentally conscious consumers will appreciate having an energy-efficient home built from sustainable, locally sourced materials.

Brick kilns reach temperatures exceeding degrees, fusing clay together to form densely compressed ceramic bonds. This process creates clay brick and is inherently flame resistant, greatly reducing your risk of injury or loss to fire. Like other types of masonry, brick is a high-quality cladding that never seems to go out of style. For many, the preference for bare or painted brick is a matter of personal style. Before you get out a bucket of paint and a brush, however, read on to understand why so many cringe at the idea of painting over brick.

Once painted, brick siding becomes a maintenance issue. Paint is not a permanent fix—it must be repainted when it begins to show wear. This means giving up a couple of weeks during the summer every three to five years to repaint the house.