Brick Insights

:: Choosing a Boral brick

Before you do anything else, think about where your
property is located and the conditions it is subject to.
Coastal environments and areas classified as having
harsh soils will determine your need for exposure grade
bricks and mortar joints - so it's best to know what you
need from the start.

Exposure

grade bricks are made to withstand
severe coastal conditions, including homes subject to air
borne salt spray. These bricks have enhanced durability if
your home is located up to 1 kilometre from a surf coast
or 100 metres from a non-surf coast, on land with high
saline soil, or is near a polluted atmosphere (such as
near an industrial site).

General Purpose (GP) grade bricks are suited to all other
external wall applications.

Escura Fusion: Blue Rio


The colours and textures now available in brick open up endless opportunities to be creative. Recent trends have been towards lighter and cooler tones, which are naturally offset by brickwork's inherent warmth and earthiness. New shades of cream and off-whites have become favourites, with popular neutral internal colour schemes now flowing to outside the home. Colours such as Pearl Grey, Taupe and softer shades of Moss and Mist are good foundation colours that are well-suited to complementary materials such as glass, timber and metal. Look to the Escura® smooth face and Nuvo® ranges for a more refined brick texture designed to achieve these mute tones. For a dramatic effect, try deep blues and chocolates as effective feature panels either internally or externally.		Look at the big picture and think about roof colour, the guttering and fascia finish of your home, along with doors and window frames. But keep it simple on the colour front by limiting your selections to one or two trim colours. Focus instead on textural detail and decorative effects to take it from there. Importantly, considering the long-term visual impact on your home, the investment in upgrading bricks is small. And when you compare it to the upfront and long term cost of surface finishes such as painting and rendering it becomes even smaller. It may be well worth choosing your favourite brick and keeping your walls beautifully bare.

Minimalism is on the decline, which means out with the clinical and in with character. A shift away from housing developments full of boring render is the latest sign that consumers need more than flat colour to create an inviting living environment:

•	A move toward smooth face bricks provides sleek elongated lines and crisp clean finishes. The look is balanced with accents of timber, glass or stone for textural highlights.
•	For a cool coastal feel, choose light coloured bricks in new shades of neutrals, steely blues and greys with matching mortars.
•	Once built, brick remains weatherproof and age proof, so you can forget sealing and repainting - great news in Australia's harsh climates.
•	But it's not just skin deep, with strength, durability and the benefits of thermal mass inherent in brick. That's why if you're looking to build or buy a rendered home, ask what's underneath. Many homes made from materials such as rendered fibre cement or board simply won’t last the distance.

•	Natural materials are increasingly sought after as awareness of toxic emissions from man-made products such as particleboard, fibreboard and paints grow. When it comes to surfaces, go natural for a healthier home.
•	Mostly, home owners want to simplify their life. Any painted surface will usually need repainting every five to seven years. Aside from the large initial investment of render, that's an ongoing regular cost of approximately $7,000 for an average-size home.

From here it's all about creating a certain style and essence for your home. There are six different ranges of face bricks by Boral and new sizes, colours and surface finishes mean now more than ever you can inject your home with good looks.

You can add another dimension to the design of your home just by changing the size of a brick while still maintaining colour continuity. Options other than the standard brick size are Boral's Double Height, Slimline and the larger Modular size brick - or why not combine different sizes to create a random cobblestone pattern?

Woodstock: Rose Gold DH

Elan Slimline: Toorak Blend
50mm

Elan: Florentine Limestone

Escura Fusion: Victorian Blue

Elan: Florentine Limestone

Elan: Slimline Cleveland 50mm

Escura: Smooth Face Slimline Red 50mm

Woodstock: Winter Gold DH


Escura: Smooth Face Red		Woodstock: Drysdale		Woodstock: Sandstone Gold DH

Natural or grey was once the most commonly used mortar colour.

White or off-white has taken over in popularity to highlight the true brick colour.

Use cream or buff mortar to tone in with lighter bricks.

New matching mortar can be applied for the ultimate in solid colour.

Planning your brick and mortar selection together is key - and it may surprise you how different mortar joints and colour can alter the look of your bricks.

Mortar colour can be changed by adding tints or simply by using a different coloured sand.

Choose tones that are either in harmony for a relaxed feel (such as a cream or buff mortar with sand-coloured bricks) or contrast (such as bright white mortar with smooth chocolate bricks) for a more formal crisp effect.