Why is brick more expensive?

[William]

Why is brick more expensive then dry wall or any other common building
material?

[george conklin]

Post by William
Why is brick more expensive then dry wall or any other common building
material?

It adds about 7% to the cost of a typical house, based on data we examined
at RDU when it was clear that brick lowered noise levels by about 10 db.

[Amy Blankenship]

Post by William
Why is brick more expensive then dry wall or any other common building
material?

For one thing, because each brick has to be put in place by someone who has
to be paid.

[rotten]

Post by William
Why is brick more expensive then dry wall or any other common building
material?

I don't know but I'd guess "shipping costs". It's heavier to ship.

[Pat]

Post by William
Why is brick more expensive then dry wall or any other common building
material?

I think you're making the wrong comparision. Brick is typically used
as an exterior finish while drywall is used inside. The better
comparision would be brick to vinyl or wood. siding. That aside,
there are a number of reasons.

First off, brick is heavy. That means you need a place to put it so
you need to extend your footer 4" or so to give the brick a ledge to
sit on. That's more concrete and more work on the forms/finish of the
flatwork.

Second, it's more expensive to buy.

Third, you can side the average house in about 3 days using semi-
skilled workers. For brick, it's going to be over a week and you need
at least one really-skilled worker.

Fourth, you need more workers to keep the mud coming, carry bricks,
put up scaffolding, etc.

Fifth, you generally need to make some mods to your window/door trim.

Sixth, there are times of the year you can't do it without really,
really expensive building techniques. So you need to make sure you're
done by the time winter rolls around.

There are more, but that's the biggies.