See Brick Veneer on a Photo of Your Own House

Thin brick, brick veneer and solid brick compared

The table follows Fixr's buyer's guide to brick siding. Figures are national guides, not quotes.

Fixr says full veneer is the most common approach on houses, thin brick is the lowest-cost real-brick option and suits re-siding because it needs no foundation work, and brick veneer needs very little upkeep, with repointing about every 20 to 30 years. Fixr also gives this example of a full job: thin veneer on a whole 1,500 to 2,000 square foot house from $12,000 to $40,000.

One caution: sources do not agree on what thin brick is. Fixr calls it real fired-clay brick sliced thin, while a manufacturer-sponsored article in Pro Builder (December 2024) describes its thin brick as made from Portland cement, lightweight aggregates and mineral oxides. Ask the maker which one you are being offered.

Sources: Fixr, "How Much Does Brick Siding Cost?" (fixr.com, updated March 7, 2025); Pro Builder, "6 Things Builders Should Know About Thin Brick Veneer Exteriors" (probuilder.com, December 6, 2024, a sponsored article).

Where brick veneer can go on a house

This part is general guidance, not taken from the sources above. The picture usually settles the question quickly, so try two placements on your photo.

• A low brick base (wainscot): brick on the bottom of the front walls with siding above. It is the smallest change and the lowest cost of the three, and it is the first example.
• The first floor only: brick below, siding above, a common look on two-story houses. As the third example shows, ask for the exact edge, for example "up to the bottom of the second floor windows", and check where the AI puts it.
• The full front: brick on every front wall, as in the second example. It is the biggest change and the biggest cost.
• Accents: brick on a chimney or at the base of porch columns. Pro Builder lists chimneys and columns among the places thin brick is used. For a stone look instead, see our stone veneer visualizer page.

Brick and mortar color

Mortar fills a large part of a brick wall. General Shale, a brick maker, says mortar covers roughly 18 to 24 percent of the face of a brick wall, so the mortar color changes the look as much as the brick. It pairs red brick with gray, white or red mortar, and white or gray and black brick with gray, white or buff mortar, and says to order a real mortar sample or visit a showroom rather than trust a picture. Pro Builder's sponsored article lists thin brick colors from white and gray to black, brown and red. In your prompt, name both: for example "red brick with light gray mortar", as in the first and third examples.

Sources: General Shale, mortar color guide (generalshale.com/mortar); Pro Builder, December 2024.

How to try brick veneer on your house

The examples on this page used the same idea, one photo plus one written edit, but were run directly on an image model, not through this tool, so your results will look different.

1. Photograph the front in daylight, straight on, from far enough back that the whole house fits in the frame, from the ground to the roof peak.
2. Open the photo enhancer, upload your photo, keep Standard Enhancement and click Generate Enhancement. This gives you a sharp copy of your house as it is.
3. Click Edit (the pencil button above the result) and paste one of the prompts below into Edit Instructions, or write your own. Say where the brick goes, its color and the mortar color, and name what must stay: the windows, the trim, the roof and the doors.
4. Check the whole image. Compare the windows, the trim, the roof and the doors with your photo, and check how far the brick spread. If it went too far, run it again with clearer words.

The enhancement and the edit each use credits, so this route uses both free renders. To restyle the whole outside at once instead, use the exterior designer.

The exact prompts behind the examples

These are the edit prompts used for the three examples, word for word. Paste one into Edit Instructions and change the brick color and the area to suit your house.

Prompt 1: red brick base

Change only the bottom third of the front walls: add a red brick veneer base with light gray mortar along the bottom third of the walls, including the bottom of the garage wall, with a flat top edge. Keep the gray lap siding above it, the white window trim, every window, the roof, the garage door, the front door and stoop, the house's exact shape, every window, the front door, the lawn, shrubs, sky and camera angle exactly the same.

Prompt 2: tan brick on the front

Change only the wall siding: replace the white horizontal lap siding on every front-facing wall with tan buff brick veneer with light mortar joints. Keep the black shutters, every window, the white window trim, the white front door and portico, the gray roof, the walkway, the house's exact shape, every window, the front door, the lawn, shrubs, sky and camera angle exactly the same.

Prompt 3: red brick on the first floor

Change only the first floor walls: replace the beige vinyl lap siding on all first floor walls with red brick veneer with light gray mortar, up to the bottom of the second floor windows' level. Keep the beige lap siding on the whole second floor, the white window trim, every window, the white front door and stoop, the charcoal roof, the house's exact shape, the lawn, shrubs, sky and camera angle exactly the same.

To write your own, keep the same shape: "Change only the [area]: replace the [current siding] with [color] brick veneer with [mortar color] mortar. Keep the siding everywhere else, the window trim, every window, the roof, the front door and the camera angle exactly the same."

Before you start

• Ask what is behind the brick. Fixr says full veneer can need a shelf angle or foundation work, and that thin brick may go over sound sheathing. Ask the installer what your wall needs and how water is kept out behind it; this is general advice, not from a specific code.
• Get real samples. Hold a brick and a mortar sample against the house in daylight.
• Choose the roof color with the brick in mind. A new brick wall changes which roof colors fit; see our roof shingle colors guide and the roof visualizer guide.
• Get two or three local quotes for the same area of wall, and show the installers the render so they know which look you mean.

Who this is for

Homeowners who like the look of brick but live in a vinyl or wood-sided house, people comparing a brick base with a full brick front, and anyone who needs a picture to show a mason or the rest of the family.

More exterior ideas

Compare brick with the other materials in our types of siding guide. For a full list of updates for a dated home, read how to update your house exterior.

You can also read the exterior chimney ideas page.