We've been living in a poorly constructed new home for the past 19 months. After all of the legal maneuvering by the builder not to fix anything, other than just slapping another coat of paint on it, he think's he's ready to make a settlement offer.
In meantime, we desire to change the exterior appearance of the house. We currently have stucco but want a brick facade. Can we overlay the brick or brick veneer right over the stucco? What would be the benefit of full brick over brick veneer?
Thanks,
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Unless your foundation has a brick ledge, you can't skin the place in real 'full' brick without expensive alterations at the base of the walls. By 'brick veneer' I assume you mean the thin slices that are put up over chicken wire and a mud bed, about like the scratch coat of real stucco? That is a possibility. If your current stucco is failing, it needs to come off. The house will look funny otherwise, and stucco usually fails because water is getting behind it. That won't change just because brick is over it. The wall needs to be stripped, and any flashing and drainage problems (usually at the windows) needs to be fixed. Any damaged wall parts need to be replaced. (especially true if you have that plastic faux stucco rather than the portland-based kind.)
We can't see your house from here. I suggest asking a few local bricklayers to come by for a site visit. They can tell you the options after a few minutes looking around. By the way, any brick applied over a wood-framed wall is called brick veneer. 'Full brick' is the way they used to build houses, with a wall 2 or 3 layers of brick thick, and no wood. The thin brick is often called 'Z-brick', after one of the original brands. Not sure about what the current term is. Faux brick would probably work.
There is an alternative- a style of fake brick that hangs on the wall like shingles, with each row covering the nails of the row below. Seems to be ideal for retrofit applications like yours, but would likely require the old stucco be stripped as well, to make the windows and doors look right, if nothing else.
If your house is truly "poorly" constructed, then putting a brick veneer on it is not a great idea. Where is the house located? Any seismic issues? Heavy rains? Water intrusion? How's the roof design?
My recommendation is don't spend your settlement dollars on cosmetic changes.
Rarely do settlements produce enough money to even cover the important stuff.
It would cost alot more than you think becuase its alot of work and material. To start with the brick needs a foundation below grade it doesnt have to hold the weight.
: Thanks to all. Home is in El Paso Texas. Rain not really an issue. The settlement will go to fix all the inspection findings, not the aesthetic change to the exterior. Guess when all is said and done, we want this house to look different than what we originally bought.... just into the looking stage at this point, not ready to proceed at this time... your comments about getting the bad issues fixed are a must.
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replying to MikeL, Houstonbrick wrote: Please do not use chicken wire, here at
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we use wire mesh specific to masonry. If you hire a contractor using chicken wire,please rethink your decision. Mason Crew, LLC believes we need to use current building practices. Like I stated before,not an attack,wire mesh, 10 dollars a sheet at any home depot. If you need masonry repair services or advise visit
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