ᐅ Ytong and Brick Veneer Options

I believe the clinker brick version is similarly priced to the brick slip version. The brick slips are cheaper than full clinker bricks, and the 17cm (7 inches) Ytong blocks are less expensive than the 36.5cm (14 inches) ones. The wall will be slightly slimmer, providing a bit more interior space. The labor involved is comparable in terms of hours. Whether you glue and grout brick slips or build with clinker bricks, only the installation of the glass wool insulation would be an additional task. That goes quickly and is usually done by the apprentice.

blackarrow1990 schrieb:

For us, both clinker slips and full clinker bricks look good. Naturally, real clinker brick is better, but you want to build more economically.

They can’t look different because it’s the same material, just sliced in one case. We’re not talking about fake leather or salmon substitutes. It’s the same genuine clinker brick in both thicknesses. Identical except for the thickness.

blackarrow1990 schrieb:

For this reason, the question is whether there is a significant difference in price and durability between the two options:
1. Ytong 17.5cm (7 inches) + insulation 6cm (2.5 inches) + cavity 1cm (0.4 inches) + clinker brick 11.5cm (4.5 inches) (total 36cm / 14 inches)
2. Ytong 36.5cm (14.5 inches) + exterior render 1.5cm (0.6 inches) + clinker slips 1.5cm (0.6 inches) (total 39.5cm / 15.5 inches)

Any difference in durability can logically only relate to the insulation layer, because in this specific comparison there are no other differences. If the contractor sells the two options in a 60:40 ratio, you could flip a coin or use a counting rhyme to decide; if it’s 90:10, it’s probably clear that I would recommend the more common option. Or are both options rare because three out of four houses have rendered façades?

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Nordlys schrieb:

Brick slips are basically just a makeshift solution. They imitate bricks where there are none. They don’t save on labor costs compared to real bricks. So why not use 24 cm (9.5 inches) Ytong blocks, insulation, and brick cladding? That’s definitely the better system.

Nordlys schrieb:

Exactly. Why use brick slips for new construction? It doesn’t save anything.

That’s not quite true; it definitely costs less.
Brick slips are cheaper than full bricks, and installation is also simpler. The bottom row is carefully leveled, and for the following rows, there are installation aids like spacers, over which the next row is just glued. It’s definitely easier than aligning a brick in a thick bed mortar.

11ant schrieb:

Brick slips on render are nonsense, as they are meant to be a surface alternative to render and are used where the wall thickness issue has already been fully satisfied monolithically.

Brick slips on render are not nonsense at all but a best practice, both in new construction and facade renovation. The render layer serves technical functions and provides a fairly flat and smooth base.

You can see this in any development area if you look for ETICS (external thermal insulation composite systems) facades that have brick slip accents, to give one example.

11ant schrieb:

Brick slips as a facing shell don’t work because you can’t build them like masonry, but rather only “tile” them in a way.

They don’t work alone as a facing shell, just as a top coat doesn’t alone. However, underneath you can build various constructions, for example, 11.5 cm (4.5 inches) calcium silicate blocks with brick slips applied on top (which can actually be found in the neighborhood as accent features).

11ant schrieb:

Therefore, if ETICS is used in new construction, then in my opinion it makes more sense to use brick cladding as a masonry facing shell,

But then it’s no longer ETICS; it becomes a cavity wall. ETICS involves only an insulation layer and nothing else.

11ant schrieb:

A durability difference here can logically only affect the insulation, since there are no other real differences in a direct comparison.

The two options are fundamentally different wall constructions. To point to just one component to explain differences is somewhat simplistic.

If I understand correctly, the second option (Ytong 36.5cm (14.4 inches) + exterior plaster 2cm (0.8 inches) + facing bricks 1.5cm (0.6 inches)) should work and be somewhat more cost-effective, right? We want to keep the construction simple and, if possible, avoid external thermal insulation composite systems (ETICS) or insulation with cavity walls.

Then stop calculating.

blackarrow1990 schrieb:

If I understand correctly, the second option (Ytong 36.5 + exterior plaster 2 cm (0.8 inches) + facing bricks 1.5 cm (0.6 inches)) should work and be a bit cheaper, right?

Why are you asking us—did your contractor not provide you with any prices?
Note: I would only choose the option that is less common if there was a really significant difference! (However, it is rare that the cheaper option is less frequently used).

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