With summer now upon us so too is the season of repairing the damage to our homes from the months of freezing cold and wet snow. Indeed one of the first things people turn to when they finally see the snow melt and get to spend time outside is the appearance of the exterior of their home. Unfortunately, this often leads to broken hearts when people find that the outside of their home doesn’t look as good as it once did, with cracked and faded masonry usually being the worst offenders. Luckily, as most skilled Masonry contractors will tell you, this can be a golden opportunity to employ one of construction’s oldest, yet most overlooked implements, bricks! Bricks are relatively cheap, incredibly versatile, and incredibly rugged, let’s delve into a few other benefits of brick installation, shall we?
Bricks Help Keep Your House Climate Controlled
Every Canadian is familiar with the frustration that comes with the country’s ever-fluctuating temperatures, and the heating and cooling costs that come with them. Interestingly brick installation can help with this, during the summer bricks store heat from the sun during the day, and release it at night due to their clay construction, helping to passively maintain the temperature of your home. In the winter, they work as fantastic insulation to keep the cold out for the same reason. Helping you stay comfy and keep more of your cash year round!
Bricks Require Very Little Maintenance
One of the first things new homeowners will notice about the exteriors of their home is the amount of maintenance they require. Indeed, new coats of paint, regular cleanings, even repairs in some cases. All of this upkeep does add up too! Brick, however, requires almost none of this constant babying. They are impact resistant to hail, don’t fade in the sunlight, and some can even withstand pressures up to ten-thousand pounds per square inch! As any Masonry contractor will tell you, once bricks are in place they will sit for fifty years robust and beautiful, unlikely to crack, though perhaps requiring a power wash once every ten years. Nonetheless brick will maintain its performance for as long as, or longer than you reside in your home.
It’s effortlessly stylish.
Most people want their home to look visually appealing, and that means near constant upkeep, periodic renovations, and careful design. Brick is often overlooked as the perfect answer to all three of the previous criteria. While most think of brick as a glum victorian red with a stony finish and rectangular cut, they actually come in a plethora of glorious earthy tones from deep velvety reds to cocoa brown to even light adobe-like cremes and Metallic tones that shine like precious gems. Even more so, they can be formed and cut into a variety of shapes and textures beyond that of the classic rectangle creating beautiful geometric patterns. As an added benefit of being one of the oldest construction implements still in use today brick is often regarded as timeless, in many cases immune from the ever-changing styles of architecture, and therefore from the need to be replaced regularly during remodels.
It’s Cost-Effective and Sustainable
In a world where the ecological impact of industry are becoming ever more part of the public discussion bricks offer a classic, elegant, and naturally cost-effective solution. Brick is first created from both naturally occurring minerals sourced from shale deposits as well as the world’s abundant sources of clay, making them very cheap to produce, and are incredibly green both due to their energy-saving properties when used correctly and long life cycle. Adding to this exceptional ecological profile is the fact that bricks can be recycled, further reducing the ecological footprint of projects that employ them.
Bricks: A Safe Investment
The advantages of using bricks on the exterior of your home are nearly endless. From the cash you save due to the temperature controlling properties of the clay, to the nearly no existent maintenance cost, your wallet will thank you. you’ll never have to replace them, and will never find yourself calling them a fad, and if you’re concerned about the planet they hold an advantage in the way that they are recyclable and sustainable. So next time you find yourself replacing siding or replacing cracked stone, or even repainting an exterior wall, instead consider picking up the phone and calling Jayson Global your local masonry contractor for a quote on a brick installation, you won’t regret it!
Check out some of our brick suppliers – Cast Supply and IXL
