| Year | Frame | 1 Brick | 1 Veneer | 1 Tile | 1 Stucco |
| 1910 | 0.0% | 9.1% | 6.9% | 10.7% | 2.9% |
| 1913 | 0.0% | 8.1% | 5.9 | ..... | 4.0% |
| 1915 | 0.0% | 6.9% | 4.9 | ..... | 1.6% |
| 1919 | 0.0% | 5.1% | 4.4% | 6.5% | 0.1% |
Face Brick Store Front, Birmingham, Ala. W. M. C. Weston, Architect
These figures represent from nine to twenty-two bids in each case, on which the average is given. Different contractors in the same place and different parts of the country sometimes show considerable divergence, but in view of the wide territory from which these bids have been gathered and the time covered, the averages may be taken as indicative of about the constant percentage of difference in initial cost.
The Face Brick House Saves Money
It should be noted, in the case of the 8-inch solid brick wall and the brick on tile wall, that they are both over two inches thicker than the frame or stucco wall. But taking the 8-inch face brick solid, or hollow tile, wall as a fair comparison with frame and stucco, you can readily calculate what you really save by paying a little more at the start for the more substantial construction. Reverting to the economies of the face brick house you will find that the maintenance and depreciation items alone on the frame construction will, in a very few years, entirely wipe out the 5 or 6 per cent excess initial cost of the brick, to say nothing of all the other items that go to make your face brick home all the time an investment of a permanent and remunerative value.
Thus, a $7,000 frame house would mean, figuring excess cost at 6 per cent, a $7,420 face brick house. Depreciation at the lowest estimate of 2 per cent annually on the frame in five years would be $700; add to this a repainting bill of $250 and you have a total of $950. For the five years under consideration there would be no depreciation at all to be calculated on the brick house, but a repainting bill of about 385 for doors, windows, and outside trim would have to be charged up. This means that the difference of 3865 between frame and brick upkeep or maintenance covers, in five years, more than twice the $420 excess initial cost of the brick. You may well suggest to your client that to be penny wise and pound foolish in building a home looks like an inexcusable folly. As you are his trusted adviser in all such important matters, you can not avoid your obligation of giving him the advice best suited to his interests.
Face Brick Primary School, Highland Park. Holmes & Flynn, Architects
Lumber Enters into the Problem