Serious question, when did everyone switch to those thin brick veneers?

It hit me that real masonry is becoming a lost art.

4 comments

4 Comments

Used to side-eye them too, saw them as a cheap shortcut. Then I kept noticing them on new condo blocks and even some nicer downtown refurbs. You get 90% of the look for like 60% of the cost and a third of the build time. Watched a crew slap up a whole facade in a week that would've taken a month with full brick. Hard to argue with that math now, even if I miss the real deal.

iris9272mo ago

That bit about "90% of the look for 60% of the cost" is the whole story now. It feels like everything is getting lighter and thinner, just good enough from the street but hollow if you tap it. You see it with fake wood floors, those plastic stone countertops, all of it. We are swapping out real weight and time for a fast copy that looks okay in a photo.

the_linda2mo ago

I've seen plastic countertops last for years without trouble.

robert_scott572mo ago

Read an article about how that plastic stone stuff can actually get pretty hot in direct sun, which seems like a problem for a kitchen. Iris927 has a point about things feeling hollow when you know they're fake. My aunt has those fake wood floors and you can hear the difference when you walk on them, sort of a tinny sound. The math works for builders, but living with it day to day is another story. You trade off little things like that for the lower price.