Every time I see one, it reminds me of one of those hospital gowns that your butt hangs out of. Three sides are fine, but that fourth side just isn’t making it. What am I talking about? Three sides brick homes.

I like brick. My house is brick… all four sides. But three sides brick is just something I don’t get. One of the great things about brick is that it’s low maintenance… but if 25% of your house still needs to be painted every couple of years, it is no longer low maintenance.

I certainly understand it from the perspective of the builder. If you are building 500 houses, and you can save $3,000 per house, that is $1.5M. That’s enough to buy a really cool car after taxes… I mean REALLY COOL. But, for a home owner, I don’t get it. The $5,000 or so that it would take to cover the last side with brick is minimal. And the house would look SO much better. And, the money will be paid back in a couple of paint jobs.

Now, brick fronts I can deal with. In that case, the cost difference is more significant. I’m not in love with them, but they make more sense to me. They still need the same maintenance as a sided house, but 3/4 of the house just seems to be more logical to me.

Odd I know, but what do you think?