Deciding Between Brick and Stone Exterior Home Finishes

When discussing exterior home finishes, you’ll soon discover they are as diverse as the homes themselves. Long gone are the days when the most popular siding choices were wood, aluminum, or vinyl. Now homeowners can select from heavy duty brick or stone siding that offers more benefits such as increased insulation.

Concrete Brick Siding

Concrete brick siding is reasonably priced and offers outstanding insulating properties and better resistance against inclement weather like sleet, snow and ice. Since concrete can easily be tinted or dyed, concrete brick siding is available in a wide selection of colors.  State of the art manufacturing techniques now allows the siding to be made in several different sizes and styles.

Clay Brick Siding

For thousands of years clay has been used as an exterior home finish, and clay brick siding is a very popular option because of both sound reduction and extra insulation. Clay brick siding interlocks together and then is permanently secured using mortar. It is available in either a smooth or textured finish and also comes in a wide array of sizes.

Mortarless Brick Siding

In the past this product was usually used for things like retaining walls, but recently it has been revamped as a exterior home finish.  While it is faster to install than the above mentioned options, it does take an experienced professional because of the complex dry fit.

Stone

Natural stone has been used for centuries because of its beauty and durability. Adding stone can easily increase a home’s property value, but it is expensive and is often used in combination with another finish such as vinyl siding. Because of the weight, stone requires a good solid foundation and needs to be installed by an experienced stone mason.

For more information on exterior finishes and other renovation ideas, contact us at Renewal Design-Build.