The Look of the House: Selecting Brick and Mortar

Home IQ follows the Oberg home construction as they shop for the exterior materials — including picking out the brick.

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The way a house looks from the street is a combination of the architecture and materials you choose such as the color and style of brick.

Getting the first brick out to the site takes a lot of work:

The builder gave the homeowners (Brad and Lynn Oberg) a budget for the bricks, shingles and for each of the exterior finishes.

The builder also gave the couple a list of places to shop, and the first stop was at the brick company. Brick is sold in units of 1,000 each.

Our homeowners had a difficult choice. They first picked out nine variations, and then started the elimination process before deciding on two.

Choosing the brick isn't the only decision that has to be made. Mortar color has to be determined as well. If our homeowners choose any color that wasn't in the original contract, the cost will double, surprisingly, but this only comes to a $500 to $600 extra amount.

With the brick and mortar picked out, it was time to choose the windows, soffits and shingles.

Note: The exterior finishes are picked well before the house is built so the builder can order them and make sure they are at the site before the construction begins.