Brick is one of the more expensive exterior options for a new home, but the gap between brick and other materials is smaller than many people assume. For a typical single-story, 2,100-square-foot house, brick veneer adds about $7.74 per square foot of living area to the build, compared to $5.71 for fiber cement and $2.75 for vinyl siding. That means you’re paying roughly three times what vinyl costs and about 35% more than fiber cement, the two most common alternatives.
Whether that premium is worth it depends on what you’re comparing, what type of brick construction you choose, and how long you plan to stay in the home.
Brick Veneer vs. Solid Brick: A Big Cost Difference
Most brick homes built today use brick veneer, not solid masonry. The distinction matters a lot for your budget. Brick veneer is a single layer of brick attached to a standard wood-framed wall. Solid brick masonry (sometimes called double-wythe) uses two or more layers of brick as the actual structural wall. Almost no residential builders use solid masonry anymore because of the cost and the engineering involved.
Brick veneer runs $5 to $12 per square foot for materials and installation. Solid brick masonry costs $9 to $20 per square foot. For a 2,500-square-foot home, adding brick veneer typically costs between $20,000 and $70,000 depending on the brick type, pattern complexity, and regional labor rates. Solid masonry would push that figure significantly higher. When people ask whether “brick” is expensive, veneer is what they’re really comparing against siding options.
How Brick Compares to Other Siding
A 2023 cost study by RSMeans/Gordian, one of the construction industry’s main cost databases, broke down the total installed system cost for different siding types on standard homes. For a two-story, 2,700-square-foot house, the numbers per square foot of living area were:
- Brick veneer: $9.53
- Fiber cement: $7.03
- Vinyl siding: $3.38
On that same house, brick veneer costs about $2,500 more than fiber cement and roughly $16,600 more than vinyl. That’s a meaningful upfront difference, but it’s not the dramatic gap many homeowners expect. Fiber cement (the material behind brands like James Hardie) has gotten more expensive in recent years, narrowing the distance between it and brick.
Why Labor Drives the Price Up
Brick’s material cost is surprisingly modest. The raw brick for a wall system averages around $4.14 per square foot. Standard red bricks cost $0.40 to $0.90 each. What makes brick expensive is the labor. Skilled masons charge $30 to $60 per hour for bricklaying, with experienced specialists reaching $100 or more per hour. Brickwork cost per square foot typically falls between $10 and $30 depending on the pattern complexity.
Installation also takes much longer. Vinyl siding on an average home takes one to two weeks. Wood siding takes two to three weeks. Brick or stone veneer takes three to five weeks. That extended timeline means more labor hours, more days paying a crew, and a longer construction schedule overall. If you’re building a new home, those extra weeks can delay your move-in date and increase carrying costs on a construction loan.
Brick Type Changes the Price Dramatically
Not all brick costs the same. Standard new red brick is at the affordable end of the spectrum. Reclaimed brick, pulled from demolished buildings, ranges from $0.25 to $2.00 per brick, sometimes cheaper than new but sometimes more expensive depending on the style and condition. True antique bricks, rare or vintage varieties sought for their character, can cost $1 to $30 per brick. A home clad in antique Chicago common brick will cost vastly more than one using standard machine-made brick from a regional manufacturer.
Pattern complexity also affects labor cost. A simple running bond (the standard staggered pattern) is the fastest to lay. Herringbone, basketweave, or Flemish bond patterns require more cuts, more precision, and more time, pushing labor costs toward the higher end of that $10 to $30 per square foot range.
Where Brick Saves Money Over Time
Brick’s upfront cost is higher, but its long-term ownership cost tells a different story. Brick exteriors require virtually no maintenance. You won’t need to repaint, and the material doesn’t rot, warp, or attract insects. Vinyl siding can crack in extreme cold and fade in sun. Wood siding needs repainting every 5 to 10 years. Fiber cement needs repainting every 10 to 15 years. Each repaint on a full house can cost several thousand dollars.
Other exterior materials also tend to need replacement every 10 to 20 years from regular wear or storm damage. Brick lasts the life of the building. The Brick Industry Association notes that homeowners frequently recoup the premium they paid for brick after the first paint job or storm repair they avoid. Over a 30-year mortgage, those savings add up quickly.
Insurance and Resale Value
Brick homes are typically cheaper to insure. Insurance companies classify homes partly by exterior construction type, and masonry construction (brick, block, cement) generally qualifies for better rates than wood-framed homes with vinyl or wood siding. Brick resists fire, hail, and windblown debris more effectively than most alternatives. In areas prone to severe weather, the insurance savings can be meaningful year after year.
Brick also tends to boost resale value. Buyers recognize it as a durable, low-maintenance material, and it carries a perception of quality that can make a home more competitive on the market. The exact premium varies by region. In the Southeast and parts of the Midwest, where brick is the dominant building tradition, buyers expect it. In the Pacific Northwest, where brick is less common, it may not move the needle as much.
When Brick Makes Financial Sense
Brick is hardest to justify financially on a starter home you plan to sell in five years. You won’t stay long enough to benefit from the maintenance savings, and the upfront premium comes straight out of your building budget. It makes the most sense when you’re building a long-term home, when you’re in a region with severe weather (where insurance savings and durability pay off), or when local market expectations favor brick exteriors.
A practical middle ground that many builders use: brick on the front facade and a less expensive material like fiber cement on the sides and back. This captures much of the curb appeal and resale benefit at a fraction of the cost of wrapping the entire house in brick. For a 2,500-square-foot home, this approach can cut the brick premium by 50% or more while still giving you the look most buyers care about.