Over time, cement plaster (stucco) expands and contracta, developing cracks which must be sealed and then painted with expensive elastomeric paint.

Of the materials listed, it is the least durable, but also the least expensive.

"The ideal would be a house exterior that never needs any cleaning or re-painting and will last 100 years."

Have you found a source for the "Methuselah enzyme?"

Care to share?

Brick comes the closest!

Unpainted brick. Yes, people still build all brick homes. Yes, it cost more, but you can keep the cost down by not doing any fancy patterns with the brick, making the home square and buying local brick. I'm in SW PA zone 6 and stucco is very rairly used. It doesn't hold up to the freeze thaw of our winters.

Hi, Jellohouse,

Since you're in northern VA, why not take a research trip to Colonial Williamsburg? You can see houses clad in siding and in brick (some with true-masonry stucco accents) with a couple hundred years of age on them. You can ask the maintenance guys which cladding requires the least maintenance. To be fair, you won't see Hardie Plank on any of the homes.

While you're in our fair city, take lots of photos of architectural details on homes. Irrespective of your choice of cladding material, authentic details with proper proportions will add timeless appeal and value to your home.

We built an all brick house (not dormers or gables) for the low maintenance qualities, among other things. We used a local (within the state) brick. Sills are limestone not brick, lintels are structural steel not stamped. Gable trim is vinyl coated aluminum clad (no painting), gables and dormers are vinyl shake. There is nothing to paint. No/minimal maintenance requires thinking about more than just the main cladding material.

Let me play the devil's advocate: my current house HardiePlank. Yes it needs to be painted every 12 years. The brick was additional 60k. Just painted it for 3k including the SW Emerald paint... After the first coat ... never going to make it to the 3rd = 48 years, I will likely be dead before that.

Anyone who proposes cement plaster as a durable, maintenance free exterior material hasn't been around stucco!

The stucco that is used now is nothing like the old stucco and IMO there is no siding that does not need cleaning and are you planning on being here in a 100yrs. IMO this depends a lot on the style of house . I have a 60 yr old house with pebble dash stucco which was used and still is used a lot in Britain it stands up well but it has multi colors and I know somwe people paint it but I have not seen that paint job last very long. IMO brick is the best but I have no real experience with brick veneer.

Most of the houses I have owned have been brick, and I absolutely despise brick. First, while maintenance free it still typically has a much higher total cost of ownership. The maintenance for Hardie board is unlikely to ever catch the marginal install costs of brick even without considering the interest on money paid/saved. Put the savings from Hardie board vs. brick in any decent interest bearing account to pay for maintenance and you will likely end up with more money in the account than you started with.

Also there is a finality with brick that doesn't happen with Hardie board. My house is ten years old and I hate a few decisions made by the original owners when building the home. If I had Hardie board I would have changed the home already (it is a fairly small change of window height from floor and shrinking a too large door), however, because I can't match even ten year old brick I am stuck with the design or brick that doesn't match.

Just my 2 cents, I am sure brick has its proponents too.

There is also the factor that brick homes sell for a higher price and are desired if you go to resell.

functionthenlook, it depends on the area.

in some higher end parts in my area a brick house will not fetch as much as a stucco house,

Well...here's st least one person who doesn't prefer brick, and would never build or buy a house with brick... now, stone...that's another thing entirely...!

There is also the factor that brick homes sell for a higher price and are desired if you go to resell.

This might be an important factor if you are building the house to sell it for a profit. However, if you are looking at resale value years down the road then the accumulated savings from spending less is probably greater than the marginal resale amount.

Let's look at the marginal cost of brick that BT gave (which is a bit high for my area). Let's look at selling a brick house versus selling a siding house after 12 years if the marginal cost of brick was $60,000, and let's also assume there is some mortgage on the property. The marginal monthly payment would be about $375 (that is 4.5% interest and includes insurance and some property tax). After 144 payments he would have paid $54,000 and will still owe about $45,000 on the brick. I doubt that the additional resale value from brick would be $99,000.

Even without the mortgage you could invest the $60,000 in even conservative investments and have more money than you will likely see from additional sales price of the brick.

I feel like I should also say, lime stucco has been used for thousands of years and there are still structures standing today that are over 1000 years old that still have the lime plaster in place.

where the lime plaster was removed the stone under it is wearing away while the lime plaster stands intact.

of course lime plaster is a fringe material, but someone out there someday may benefit from reading this.

There is also the factor that brick homes sell for a higher price and are desired if you go to resell.

A house will only sell for what comparable houses in the neighborhood are selling for and brick won't command much additional.

Where I live, there are lots of brick veneer houses, and they certainly don't sell for a premium. Plus some of them have bricks that are plug ugly - tumbled brick, yellow brick, that sort of thing. There are a few genuine brick houses, and they are in a different league - but you don't often see solid brick houses built any more here.

I am going to refute a previous comment. I live in South West PA and have a stucco (dryvit) house that is 25 years old. There are no cracks at all. I'm going to sell in the spring and there is some mold and dirt so I'll need to have it cleaned but it has been very low maintenance. Perhaps I was lucky and the installer did a stellar job.

Dryvit is synthetic stucco, not cement plaster. Two inch foam panels covered with an acrylic layer.

Random thoughts:

I've never owned a house that wasn't brick, and no house I've ever owned has required any exterior maintenance (well, to the brick -- I've bought two roofs and repainted some window and porch trim).

I love the look of white-painted brick, but I'm not sure I'd want to make a maintenance-free product into something that requires re-painting every so many years.

When I was in college I lived in a rented house, and I remember standing in the garage while a hurricane through ... and seeing siding (don't know what type) blowing through the air like dandelion seeds. The next day everyone in the neighborhood picked up what was in his or her yard, and we all walked around saying, "I have some yellow here. Do you have any blue for me?"

I do buy into the idea that re-painting good siding might cost less in the long run.

I don't know stucco, but I don't like the look. At all.

Why do you care if lasts 100 years? Is 50 or 75 not long enough? If not, pray tell where you have obtained this miracle elixir that halts aging and death because I need some of that :)

Seriously, though, brick would be the best option if longevity and low maintenance are your chief concerns.

Mrs Pete,

there are quite a few different stucco finishes.

I find smooth stucco to be very beautiful , but I dont like the rough textures at all.

https://www.houzz.com/magazine/how-to-smooth-out-your-stucco-exterior-stsetivw-vs~111905831

First none of those materials will be able to go 100 years with no maintenance. All 3 will accumulate dirt overtime. Though a smoother stucco or brick will be easier to clean, and certain designs with stucco or brick can look attractive, taking on a sense of age with a layer of dirt.

Cement or lime stucco unpainted will crack overtime and need to be repaired. Getting the color of the repair to match exactly can be a challenge.

Brick walls will also develop cracks overtime that need to be repaired. Usually these develop in the mortar joints, but bricks to can weather. Chimneys, corners, and walls or parapets that are not sheltered by overhangs are most vulnerable. If brick needs to be replaced either due to wear or remodeling an exact match is typically impossible, but you can get close if you stick to standard colors and textures. But with a new house, assuming no foundation, settling issues, or water penetration issues, you probably have at leas 25 years before you have to think about doing anything with the brick.

Hardie is the most forgiving for repairs or changes. If detailed right, there should not be any issues. When my parents installed their siding it was installed to close to the roof in several locations. Those areas absorbed water and swelled up and had to be replaced. As previously mentioned it will occassionally have to be repainted.

Our last two houses have been brick. The first was 4" brick over wood framing and built in the late 40s. Our current house is three wythe (layer) solid brick construction built in the early 20s. Both houses have been fully re-tuckpointed (a process where the outer inch of mortar is ground out and replaced) at least once since construction and both required major chimney repairs while we lived there. Both had brick styles that were nearly impossible to replicate (unique textures and colors, including green bricks). Both have accumulated dirt overtime, but the brick is dark, and the effect isn't unappealing. We may eventually clean our current house to get rid of the streaks where dirt has washed off the sills of the second story windows.

If I was voting for longevity, I would still probably vote for an all brick house.

cpartist , maybe where you live but here a brick home will sell for more than a identical non brick home and faster. People translate brick homes into a quality home. If a home is brick or stone a realtor will include that in their description of the home. Brick is low maintenance, average life is 100 + years, and holds up to the elements. People here want low maintenance and will pay more for it. Even a lot of the cracker box tract builder homes put brick on the front. We have the raw material for bricks, so the bricks are made locally . In my area for homes desirability 1. stone, 2 brick, 3 mix brick and vinyl siding, 4 vinyl siding,5. painted stone, 6. painted brick and running last is wood. I didn't include stucco or hardy board. It is very rare around here.

None of us goes 100 years without maintenance.

Same for houses.

I love real brick. Hardie holds good paint for years. . Stucco is very common here in SW Florida.

Whatever you choose, research to get the very best installers you can get. Proper install is always the key to longevity, with quality materials.

Why
do you care if lasts 100 years? Is 50 or 75 not long enough?

I care because I'm building on family land, so my house will never be sold -- only inherited. Maintenance, of course, will be required of any exterior at some point.

Where I live, a lot of houses that are
less than half that age are being torn down because they were poorly
built, or poorly designed, or poorly situated or just plain ugly.

Where I live middle-class houses are torn down because the neighborhoods have become "fancy-schmancy", and those simple little houses are no longer "good enough".
I find smooth stucco to be very beautiful

Disagree.
People translate brick homes into
a quality home.

Maybe 'cause we all read The Three Little Pigs?

Huffin' and puffin'...

Earthquakes and bricks are a bad combo. So we don't have brick houses in SoCal, but we do have block retaining walls and over time they can fail. So stucco is dominant with a mix of stone or hardie board or shingle style on a range of home prices.

I care because I'm building on family land, so my house will never be sold -- only inherited.

Again, this is my biggest problem with brick in a nutshell. Brick so limits the future options that you have essentially decided that the things important to you today will be the same things important to your progeny.

I have lived in a lot of 100 year old homes that were brick, never have I been satisfied with the layout. I have restored a lot of older homes as that is where I find my zen, but not once have I ever thought the kitchen in any of those houses was adequate, and in every case brick limited my options to correct that.

My Uncle wanted to farm his entire life and inherited a traditional farmhouse from my great grandfather and then handed it down to his son, it was originally wood siding, then vinyl for a short time and now cement fiber board. Each of those changes occurred with a layout change to make the house more functional to each generation. I vaguely remember an outhouse when i was small and them tearing off the siding in places to add running water. Not sure that would be quite so easy with brick. Just saying...

Mrs Pete - "those simple little houses are no longer "good enough," That's true, and exactly my point.Many of the houses being demolished were badly thought-out, badly-built 60s concoctions. The house that previously stood on the lot now occupied by ourselves and our neighbors was an entirely undistinguished house with small, dark rooms, an awkward layout and one bathroom. That it was a brick house didn't make it anymore worth saving than the clapboard or fiber-cement teardowns around it. They were all poor houses, brick or no brick, and cheaper to replace than renovate.

architect designed houses get torn down too. even famous architects.

"Many of the houses being demolished were badly thought-out, badly-built 60s concoctions."

Um, yes, this ^^^^. That is totally what we are dealing with now but built in the early 70's. It was my husband's aunt's house and it sits in the middle of the "family farm." We really should just tear this one down and start over but since she's still living, it probably wouldn't go over so well with her or our neighbors watching us tear down a "perfectly good" house :/ It would certainly come back to bite us in the rear in the future :(

I was watching a home being built near my parents home. They did a poured cement basement and main floor. Cement was poured into forms that were styrofoam type forms. It was then covered in a stucco finish. Besides cracking I can't imagine much going wrong.

Concrete. They poured concrete...! :-)

7000 psi concrete. Ridiculously low maintenance. No "trim" per se, just metal roofing. Formed openings for windows.

Even worse than bring to "change" in the future.

But ya gotta love grey....

We are in the deep South, in a brick house that was built in 1973. Still looks as new as the day it was built! However, we have dormers that we had redone with Hardi-plank about 10 years ago. The north side of the house has collected mold and mildew on the planks, but the brick remains clean!

I understand stucco is supposed to be painted as per the earlier comment.
But I have seen some awful colors that are reminiscent of sprayed-on tans.
What were these people thinking?

We built 4 years ago in Missouri and did an all brick exterior with king-size bricks. It's a two story 3,000 sq ft home with approximately 17,000 bricks. It cost $19,000 for the brick, mortar, and the labor. Costs definitely vary depending on your location. And around here, brick gets you more on resale.

Many brick companies warrant their brick for 100 years. Since there are brick buildings in Europe that are many hundreds of years old, and one brick home in America that is 350 years old ( https://www.dailypress.com/history/dp-fea-bacons-castle-350-20150314-story.html )... I don't know of any other man-made products that can do that. Some of the other sidings have had numerous lawsuits over product failures and voided warranties.

lol there are stucco structures that are over 1000 years old

How do you think the synthetic stucco holds up?

I dont know, but I do know it has a bad reputation(thats slowly getting better)it doesnt breathe, and it needs a good rainscreen detail.

quick stucco history

http://www.oren-usa.com/about/plaster-a-history/

"...stucco structures over 1000 years old..."

And never repaired or replaced. Just the sort of comment we've come to expect.

Sure, there is probably building 1000 yrs old with stucco, but it is not the original stucco. Stucco only last 50 to 80 years with proper maintenance before needing replaced. The brick in old buildings is the original brick.

One shouldn't compare durability of old brick buildings to current residential practices. Old brick is usually structural, three bricks thick or more. The weakness of brick is in the mortar and old professional work usually featured better sands with sharper, more varied particle sizes. Masons these days usually just stick with cheap, readily available masonry sand. Unfortunately, masonry is a dying trade.

The biggest problem is that most residential brick work is a masonry veneer, covering wood-based construction. Along with stone and stucco, most brick veneer projects use inadequate vapor barriers and flashing. The masonry may look great from the outside, but the finishes are hiding mold, mildew and deterioration of the wood structure. Sometimes, this happens surprisingly fast.

Masonry is considered a moisture reservoir cladding. It will soak up moisture from rain or sprinklers and send it towards the inside as the sun comes out. This makes it a more risky cladding than wood, metal, composite or vinyl.

Masonry is one of my favorite exterior finishes but it takes extra effort than what is common in current construction practices. If you go with masonry, ensure your construction team understands the details like minding the gap and weatherproof window installations.

When I was in Germany, there was a lot of troublesome renovation happening to the very old timberframe structures that had been stuccoed during times when stucco was considered more fashionable. The lime stuccos inhibited the drainage and drying of the wood, speeding up the timbers deterioration.

Brick.....period!!

I admittedly haven’t read all the comments, but has anyone mentioned climate change, when we might eventually have a category 6 hurricane? i have a brick over block house, where every few courses the brick turns to hook into the cinder block. I’m building an addition, and I’d rather shrink the addition than build with anything other than brick and block. I (actually my daughters after i die) can sell the house as one that will last, with a metal roof and lines that minimize wind damage. And you all know that brick can be stained, right?