Dreaming about your perfect custom home in Greenville, South Carolina? At Five Star Construction, we’ve been building custom luxury homes for our clients for decades. We know the landscape here in the Upstate inside and out, and we know exactly what building materials and home styles work best with our beautiful scenery and the wants and needs of your family. While siding gained popularity during the late 90’s and continues to be a popular choice for a home’s exterior due to the ease of cleaning and replacement, building homes with brick exteriors is a tried-and-true style that you’ll still see in just about every neighborhood.

What are the pros and cons of building a home with a brick exterior? Let’s take a look.

First Off: The Pros

It’s an easy eco-friendly choice. While “zero energy” and “eco-friendly” homes are a big trend — and the trend continues to grow here in the South — one reason that brick has long been a favored choice for home exteriors? It’s made of two of the most abundant natural resources on earth: clay and shale.

Plus, if you end up with extra bricks at the end of your homebuilding experience, keep them on-hand in a storage shed and you’ll have ready-made options for lining your patio, putting in walls for raised-bed gardens, and other outdoor decor and entertaining options!

Brick exteriors are low-maintenance. Brick doesn’t need to be painted after installation (although painting a brick exterior has seen increasing popularity as a DIY project for older homes recently), and it’s not subject to the same kind of potential issues with rot or becoming dented after a bad hailstorm.

Brick exteriors provide natural fire resistance. We’re not saying they’re fire-proof, but brick does not aid in the spread of a house fire and so can help to contain a fire inside the home or make it less likely that fires will spread.

Using brick for a home exterior also provides greater protection from extreme weather events. Again, this isn’t foolproof — but siding exteriors are more likely to suffer damage from inclement weather than brick exteriors, and brick does a better job of holding up to flying debris.

Okay, So What Are the Downsides of Brick Exteriors?

Up until now, using a brick exterior for your home has seemed like a slam-dunk choice, right? Well, let’s pause and take a look at a few of the potential downsides of this traditional home exterior choice.

Brick is simply a bit more expensive than most other home exterior options. Brick home exteriors cost, on average, about 6 to 7 percent more than vinyl siding. While 6% doesn’t seem like much of a difference, these costs do add up when building a home and should be factored into your overall home-building budget.

Your options for color are severely limited. Because brick is made of natural materials, only a few different color options are possible for natural brick exteriors — generally a series of reds, browns, and grays.

While brick can be painted, it’s a labor-intensive project, as every inch of the home exterior must be painstakingly and completely coated — and you’ll need to repaint the whole house every few years to keep your home’s exterior color from fading.

Potential need for pricey repointing. Pointing (the mortar used to connect the bricks together) may need replacement every now and then, especially if done improperly. Repointing is an intensive and potentially expensive home exterior repair.

So, What Does the Choice Come Down To?

Just like every other home exterior option, using a brick exterior for your custom home in Greenville, SC really just comes down to your vision. Our Design Center is happy to work with you to ensure your home’s exterior fits your budget, lifestyle, and preferred home design.

While brick might be a bit more expensive, it can also add a look of timelessness that many homeowners dream about, even in new construction. If you’re interested in building a custom brick home in Greenville, SC, give Five Star Construction a call at (864) 303-9143 or contact us online at any time.