[Image above] Credit: Brick Industry Association
With the weather getting warmer, it’s easy to forget we still are technically in spring—the first day of summer in the Northern Hemisphere happens this Saturday, June 20.
That technicality does not stop construction workers though—construction season is already in full swing, as several areas of construction were considered essential and never shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.
New home construction in particular has done surprisingly well. A survey by John Burns Real Estate Consulting LLC found sales of newly constructed homes nationwide were up 21% in May compared to May of last year.
Not surprisingly, a fair proportion of these new homes featured fiber cement siding. We highlighted the popularity of fiber cement siding in a CTT post last year, and that trend has continued—data from the U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey and Survey of Construction showed fiber cement is in third place for most used exterior wall material, making up 21% of the single-family home market in 2019.
Though use of fiber cement siding continues to grow, brick is by no means old hat—the survey data show brick makes up 20% of the market.
One reason brick continues to make up a noticeable portion of the exterior wall material market is because of brick’s versatility. “Unlike other exteriors with limited choices, brick offers virtually endless new options in hundreds of colors that do not fade and do not need to be replaced,” Ray Leonhard, Brick Industry Association president, CEO and CFO, says in a BIA press release.
With so many options, it is no surprise that trends regularly appear within the brick market—and those trends are captured in BIA’s recent video.
In their “2020 Brick Trends” video, BIA reports on brick trends for 2020 in home and commercial exteriors and interiors. These trends include
- Monochromatic colors, primarily whites, blacks, and grays;
- Limewashed and whitewashed exteriors and interiors; and
- Mixed materials, i.e., incorporating brick with complementary materials such as metal, steel, glass, and wood.
Check out the video below to see the whole trend list and examples—and maybe get some ideas for your next home improvement project this summer.
Credit: Brick Industry Association