Replacing siding with brick

I'm looking at buying a house that has siding on a good portion of the house. The back and sides have the first 4-5 ft in brick and then the rest in siding. The house has VERY nice finish out everywhere else.

My problem is that the siding makes the house look lower end than it really is. For reference, the neighbors on each side are probably in the $650k range. Most houses in the neighborhood are stone with stucco - or nice brick. I believe the house was built in 2006.

What I'm wondering is how expensive it would be to remove the siding and replace it with brick. Since the house is relatively new, I'm thinking it would be easy to contact the builder and get the same brick.

Has anyone done this? What kind of cost am I looking at?

 

It would be expensive. You would need to modify the foundation to support the brick.

 

The corner cutting builder probably saved $5,000 by using Hardie instead of brick. Cheap *** bastard. I'm no expert, but I'm guessing you can get the whole thing redone for under $10,000. Matching the brink will not be as easy as you think though.

SWAG based on a converstion I had with a contractor a few years ago discussing cut-every-corner-in-the-name-of-profit home builders like Perry Homes.

Bernard

 

Is there anyway to make the siding look more high end?

Also, would it be feasible to speak with a Realtor or 3 or 4 to get their opinions on the potential resale value before undertaking such an endeavor?

 

You can add a new foundation strip next to the existing foundation. The hard part is matching it up flush to the existing 5 foot run of brick that is sitting on the existing foundation. You're either going to have a notch out where the new brick starts, or you have to move the existing bricks out to match the line of new brick. Then if move the existing bricks outward, you have to redo the front facade too. My cost estimate is low if a notch out isn't to the OP's liking.

Bernard

 

Did anyone read the original post? The first 4-5 feet of the house are bricked.

 

Here's a picture of what I'm talking about:


The price on the house is VERY good, so I should be able to spend a little money here if needed. I was also considering stuccoing it.

Disclosure: I hate siding unless the entire house is siding - then I like it.

 

I kinda like the look. You'd be paying probably $15k+ for a mild aesthetic improvement.

 

my bad, i completely misread the 4' to 5' info.

However, after seeing the picture, i dont really see the value of removing the siding and replacing with brick. It looks perfectly fine.

 

A neighbor of mine was in a similiar situation with brick lower and siding upper. He choose to stucco the siding area above the brick and the result was very nice.

Said he couldn't get a mason to say he could match the brick and mortar.

 

My house is all brick. Wanna trade?

 

Well, maybe it would be best to just keep it as-is. I don't HATE it, but it just doesn't stack up with the appearance of the rest of the house:

But for $15k, I could probably find better ways to spend the money.

 

The back of the house looks better than the front.

 

...and when I saw $15k, that's what just putting hardi plank on a decent sized 4 sided 1-story home goes for in the Austin area. I imagine masonry work is way more expensive.

 

looks like two different house stuck together.

 

Everyone critical of the outside is just being jerks. The house looks fine, I wouldn't worry about adding brick. It seems like the easiest upgrade would be stucco but I don't know how much that costs.

Why does the back have brick on the bottom but the front has brick on the top!?1?

 

I have no idea. I need to find a way to add a bit of stucco. Then I would have a stone, brick, siding, stucco home.

 

The house looks fine from the back, but if you change it go the stucco route. That way you could stucco the 2nd floor gable end too (probably could not put brick up there).

If it was my place, I'd leave the house alone and spend the $15k building a cool lookin' patio with a kickass outdoor kitchen. Looks like you have plenty of room out there for something like this:

 

I dont know anything about brickwork, but from looking at your house photos, I'd leave it alone if it were mine. The front looks really good and the back looks good as well. I agree with a prior poster who suggests putting that money into a kickass backyard or some other improvement.

 

Funny you should post that. I was considering something EXACTLY like that. Home site is 1.5 acres, so there is plenty of room. I was thinking of terracing an area down the hill a bit away from the house with a large flagstone base and a built-in fire ring. It would be a great place for the smoker.