Brick Or Stone? House Digest Survey Reveals The Best Siding Material For Your Home

Siding is an all-important feature of any home. This material gives your property strength and durability against the elements. It's particularly essential as a shield against winter chill, summer rain, and any sort of extreme weather that may occur in between (via Home Solutions Midwest).

While siding may be universally understood as a high-quality guard for your home, the best (and most aesthetically pleasing) way to construct this defensive bubble is hotly debated among professionals and homeowners alike. There are dozens of materials available for your home's siding, and home builders have used them all to craft unique and visually stunning homes across the United States. Selecting from brick or stone siding is a common choice that homeowners have to make when building a new home from the foundation up or while renovating their property and revamping the look and feel of the exterior surface.

House Digest surveyed 629 people, asking, "Which siding material would you prefer for your house?" Options included vinyl, wood, metal, fiber cement, brick, and stone. The results were clear, with a distinct preference for the more natural building materials over other options. Brick and stone came out as the clear winners, but which of the two was favored by more participants while envisioning their ideal property?

Survey respondents were heavily in favor of brick and stone siding over the other four selections included in the survey, but their preference was clear. Brick took the cake, with 26.39% of survey participants selecting the material, in contrast to stone's 20.03%. Each selection ranked highly compared to other options, with 166 and 126 selections each.

While stone is undoubtedly a quality building material, Modernize Home Services reports that stone siding costs between $30 and $48 per square foot to install. In contrast, brick siding offers an iconic visual and a curb appeal that simply can't be duplicated. And coming in at roughly $15 to $30 per square foot to install (via Remodel Gurus), it's no wonder brick won out in a landslide.

Brick facades are somewhat simple to install, as well. Brickwork is a patterned fabrication process that sees a stack of bricks continue to be mortared into place. On the other hand, stone facades often use a somewhat randomized pattern to highlight the seams, natural veins, and the raw aesthetic of the material itself. Either selection can add a unique elevation to your home's exterior, but brick remains the clear favorite.

In addition to brick and stone siding, respondents noted their interest in vinyl and wood in particular. Vinyl came in one selection behind wood, with this pair receiving favor from 113 and 112 respondents, respectively. This placed them at 17.97% and 17.81% of respondent selections overall. Vinyl is a particularly useful material for the construction of household siding and is worth diving into a little further. TC Backer Construction reports that vinyl is a durable construction material and far less expensive than other options on the market. This makes vinyl siding a favorite choice among homeowners looking for practicality and quality home defense against the elements. 

Wood siding is certainly another selection of merit. Forbes Home reports that wood siding comes in a large selection of choices, from long slats that fit together, running the horizontal length of each wall, to shiplap designs, shake, and even siding shingles. On top of this, you can select from many lumber varieties to create the visual feel you are hoping for in the property (from rustic pine to ultra-luxurious and water-resistant cedar).

In addition, survey participants also noted muted interest in metal (9.7%, with 61 selections) and fiber cement (8.11%, with 51 selections).