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Brick vs. StuccoInterview with Dean Luland, co-owner of PeriodHome Pointing

Interviewed by Deana Becker

Interviewer: How do environmental factors affect the longevity of brick? How do they affect stucco?

Dean: Atmospheric salt in coastal areas is the biggest culprit in damage to oldbuildings with brick or stucco. Especially if lime was used in the mortar or thestucco. Bricks last longer that the mortar that holds them together. And stucco ismuch more similar in makeup to mortar than to brick.

So, while brick walls can be damaged by salt in the air, it is just the mortar thatneeds to be replaced (a process known as brick repointing). Whereas the entirestucco can be affected by the same salt air.

Interviewer: Which is costlier to repair: brick or stucco?

Dean: This is dependent on so many different factors! The age of the home; if ithas been repaired before; if the stucco needs repair or complete replacing; thecondition of the bricks; and so on.

The best thing to do is call a reputable brick pointer and they will easily be ableto help you understand your particular project.

But if you want a rough guide to start, then basically stucco is the right optionfor if the bricks are ugly, or the existing stucco is in reasonable condition, or if

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the bricks are sturdy but have been defaced or painted.But as a simple persquare meter rate, if you were to compare a straightforward brick repair with astraightforward stucco repair, then brick repair, or brick pointing, is the cheaperoption. (Though there are times, like removing stucco to reveal heritage brickand then restore them, where brick repair is more expensive than stucco repairs.)

Interviewer: How do brick and stucco compare in energy efficiency?

Dean: Stucco is generally applied onto a brick wall. So, in that sense, stucco has slightly better insulation because it has additional thermal mass to just a brick wall. In saying that, bricks are much denser than mortar or stucco, so the real insulation benefit is in the bricks themselves.

Interviewer: What are the typical construction methods for brick? For stucco?

Dean: Bricks are laid fairly traditionally, in rows of bricks. Starting on a concretefooting. A bricklayer will apply mortar to two sides of the brick and place it inposition. This leave the exposed two sides free of mortar and ready to acceptanother brick that does have mortar. Excess mortar is then removed and cleanedwith a trowel.

Stucco is installed as a render against an existing wall. The wall could be brick,concrete, even cladding of some kind. It is smeared on with a trowel in agrowing area of the wall. Like brick, stucco typically needs scaffolding to beerected surrounding the entire wall so that construction workers can access it.

Interviewer: How long does brick take to install compared to stucco?

Dean: This all depends on the wall type that stucco is being applied to. If it is apre-fabricated concrete wall, then stucco can be applied very quickly comparedto brick. The actual stucco process can be likened to a slightly slower paintingprocess.

If, however, the stucco is being applied to brick, then it cannot begin until afterthe brick has been installed.

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Interviewer: When it comes to aesthetics, which is more popular?

Dean: The popularity of brick versus stucco depends on the fashion of otherbuildings in each area, and also upon the decade. There is no doubt that thepopularity of each goes through cycles.

In Sydney there are bricks in old heritage homes that are beautiful even 80-90years later. Too nice to cover over with stucco. So, these buildings are typicallyrepointed to repair the brick, rather than rendered over with stucco. In the samecity there are buildings just 30-40 years old that have ugly brick that has notaged well. So, these are often treated with stucco as part of a renovation project.Whether using stucco render or brick mortar repair, the mortar itself can becoloured to give the aesthetic of the building undergoing repair an entirely newand fashionable look.

Improvements in the design of bricks (brick textures, and mortar colourcombinations), have meant that brick has remained popular despite it goingthrough those ugly decades! If done right, bricks provide more visual interestthan a wall of stucco. If done wrong, then it can look cluttered and busy.

Dean Luland

Dean Luland is apprentice of the Year, for Brick andBlock Laying, Group Training Awards, NSW & ACTin 2015. He and His father, Kelvin Luland, foundedPeriod Home Pointing, determent to build acompany providing 100% quality services when itcomes to restoring the integrity, structure and valueof your home whilst returning it to its former glory.Period Home Pointing provide brick repointing andtuckpointing in Sydney, Newcastle and CentralCoast.

Period Home Pointing | www.periodhomepointing.com.au