If you're looking for the traditional appeal of brick siding and your home currently has vinyl, you may want to consider replacing it with brick veneer. Brick veneer is a thin layer of brick that's attached to the wooden frame of your home. Since the brick is thin, it doesn't weigh very much — this makes it possible to swap out vinyl siding for brick veneer without making significant structural changes to your home in order to support the added weight.
Brick exteriors have a traditional appeal, which tends to make them more aesthetically attractive than vinyl exteriors. However, the benefits of brick veneers go further than aesthetics. Below, you'll learn about four additional benefits of replacing your existing vinyl siding with brick veneer.
1. More Durable
Even though the brick layer used in brick veneer siding is thin, it's still quite durable. Vinyl siding is much more susceptible to impact damage. Hail, in particular, can create deep gouges in vinyl, and you'll need to replace all of the damaged panels in order to restore the appearance of your home's exterior. When you swap out your existing vinyl siding for brick veneer, you're making the exterior of your home much more durable — with brick, you decrease the chance that you'll need to make repairs.
2. Not Susceptible to Warping or Fading
Vinyl doesn't resist heat very well, either. High heat can cause vinyl panels to warp and buckle. Very high temperatures can even melt vinyl siding. In fact, a rising problem with vinyl siding is the increasing prevalence of energy-efficient windows that have a low-emissivity coating applied to them. These coatings are very good at reflecting heat from the sun, which makes the window more energy-efficient. Unfortunately, that reflected heat has to go somewhere, and if the light shines on vinyl siding, it can cause it to melt. Brick resists heat very well, so you'll never encounter this problem with brick veneer siding.
Sunlight also causes vinyl siding to fade, since ultraviolet light causes the paint to slowly degrade. While vinyl manufacturers add ultraviolet inhibitors to paint, it will still fade over time. This commonly causes uneven coloration in your home's exterior, as different sections receive varying amounts of sunlight — the ones that are exposed to more sun will fade more quickly than the other sections. Brick veneer siding doesn't fade in sunlight, so your home's exterior will always stay the same, even color.
3. Easier to Keep Clean
Rust stains from sprinkler water, grass stains, and pollen stains can all build up on vinyl siding. While it's easy to clean vinyl siding, you'll need to do it fairly often in order to keep it looking pristine. Brick doesn't take up stains as easily as vinyl, which means that it will continue to look great even with infrequent cleaning.
4. More Energy-Efficient
Finally, replacing your vinyl siding with brick veneer will increase your home's energy efficiency by improving exterior insulation. Brick veneer is installed with an air gap between the brick and your home's wooden structural framing. Brick is porous, so the air gap is necessary to prevent moisture from seeping through the brick and draining into the wooden frame of your home. The air gap has the additional effect of improving insulation, as it adds an extra barrier between the temperature of the wooden frame of your home and the outside air.
With brick veneer's increased durability, ease of maintenance, and improved energy efficiency, there are more reasons to replace your vinyl siding with it than simply its aesthetic appeal. If you're thinking about swapping out your current siding with brick veneer, contact a siding installation contractor in your area who has experience working with brick — it's more complicated to install than other types of siding due to the grouting and leveling required, so you'll want to find a contractor with ample experience.
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