There are many different types of materials to consider for the exterior of your custom home. Dark and moody exteriors have been really popular lately. At Springhouse, we’re currently designing a spec home with black brick. If you’re thinking of doing the same, here are a few things to consider…
Black Brick & Mortar Color
When we initially chose black brick, we knew there would be a lot of details to take into consideration—the most important one being the mortar color. Traditionally, mortar color looks more like concrete. As you can imagine, combining black brick with the color of concrete would make your home look very segmented; you’d be able to see every single brick on your house! For our spec home, we knew we wanted to do more of a mass of black color to act as a base. So, we chose black mortar, which has been perfect.
Black Brick & Exterior Materials
The next element to consider when using black brick is how to combine it with the other exterior material selections you’re using for your custom home. For example, wood and stone are excellent contrasts to black. But when it comes to accent trim colors, things get a little tricky. Before you choose a trim color, make sure you’ve chosen the color of your black brick first. Keep in mind, there are many different shades and tones of black paint to choose from. Since we chose a warm palette for the black brick of our spec home, we decided on something warm and rich as our accent trim color—something to stand out against the brick.
Black Brick & Base Color
Speaking of paint colors, you need to know the base color of your brick, especially when you’re going with black brick—be it red, pink, cream, gray, brown, or tan. Black brick can often reveal small imperfections where you can see the body color of the brick coming through. The truth? You’re not going to be able to get around this. You won’t be able to fix it or touch it up. It’s imperative to understand that when you commit to black brick, plan for the natural materials to read through and give it character. If you know this going into it, you’re going to love it!
Have any questions?
Although we covered a lot in this post, you may still have some other questions about black brick as the exterior material for your custom home. Whether you’re involved in the custom home process now, or even just considering it, we’ll help you answer any questions you might have! Also, feel free to invite anyone that you think would benefit from this collaborative. You’ll not only get advice from me, but from other people who have been through this, too.
Start the process.
When it comes to designing and building a custom home, nothing beats having a trusted, experienced team of architects on your side. Let’s set up a call to meet, discuss your goals, and answer your questions. Start the conversation – tell us what you’re building.