Why you should embrace your brick home
Don’t fight it. Bricks are filled with soul and tell the story of the great Australian dream. More than that, they last a lifetime with no maintenance and can build almost any home your heart desires.
Fashion and fads in building a home can come and go but it turns out that third little pig had it all worked out. Here are five reasons not to walk past a home built of bricks.
1. Bricks are versatile
Gone are the days of a boring three-bedroom bungalow – bricks have come into their own as an adaptable material to create any style of home you imagine – contemporary and sleek, rustic and industrial, classic and calm. Take another look at this chameleon-like material that can literally take any form – indoors and out.
If you've inherited a brick home but are finding the aesthetics too cumbersome, lighten things up with your choice of paints and timbers, tiles and flooring elsewhere in the home. Consider paring back to the basics by trimming architectural details to create more sleek lines. A more dramatic solution is painting your bricks, though this will require upkeep down the track.
2. Bricks are made in Australia
Australia has a long history of clay brick production going back hundreds of years and they are still the most-used material for a new home build. Sourcing locally made bricks for your home not only supports Australian manufacturing, it lessens your carbon footprint.
3. Bricks are maintenance free
What you see is what you get with bricks. Apart from an occasional hose down or a brush of the cobwebs, bricks don’t need any attention whatsoever to keep them in prime condition for your lifetime.
4. Bricks keep you warm (and cool)
Bricks are a great insulator, keeping your home warm in winter and cool in summer. This is not a system at risk of breaking down over time – even in the harsh climate of Australia, be it city, country, suburbs or surf, bricks will endure. As a bonus they’re non-combustible - so bricks are also fire resistant.
5. Bricks are sustainable
The original sustainable way to build a home, bricks are created from natural raw materials and can be recycled down the track for future use, making them a great environmentally friendly choice.
Huff and puff all you like but bricks are simply here to stay – take another look at them for your home.
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