How Much Does Brick Veneer Cost in 2026?
National ranges, materials + labor, new veneer on a prepared wall · Pricing data updated · Reviewed annually
Veneering a typical house — about 1700 sq ft of wall — in full-size brick costs $18,500 to $34,000, and in thin brick $13,500 to $30,500, materials and labor included. Labor is the larger share — roughly 62% of the installed price in RSMeans' wall assembly — which is why region and access move the number more than the brick itself. The spread is wide: an entry accent in thin brick in a lower-cost metro can start near $2,000, while a two-story natural-stone job in a high-cost metro can approach $124,000.
Building an addition onto a brick house? Skip to matching existing brick. To turn a wall area into a brick count, use the free brick calculator.
Masonry cost by system (installed, per sq ft)
Installed rates — materials plus labor, including ties, flashing, weeps and lintels — before access or detail adjusters. Sources disagree most on solid brick and stone, so those ranges are deliberately wide.
| System | Installed / sq ft | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Brick veneer (full-size) | $11 – $20 | Standard anchored veneer — the "real brick" default |
| Thin brick (adhered) | $8 – $18 | Brick slices on a backer — lighter, no foundation ledge needed |
| Solid / full-thickness brick | $14 – $30 | Structural brick wall — rare on modern frame houses |
| Manufactured stone veneer | $13 – $28 | Cultured stone — lighter and cheaper than natural |
| Natural stone veneer | $15 – $45 | Thin-cut real stone — heaviest, most variable |
Whole-house cost by system and wall size
National averages. Size is net wall area — openings already deducted — not floor area; a two-story house has far more wall than its plan suggests.
| Wall area | Brick veneer (full-size) | Thin brick (adhered) | Solid / full-thickness brick | Manufactured stone veneer | Natural stone veneer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accent / entry300 sq ft wall | $3,500 – $6,000 | $2,500 – $5,500 | $4,000 – $9,000 | $4,000 – $8,500 | $4,500 – $13,500 |
| Room addition600 sq ft wall | $6,500 – $12,000 | $5,000 – $11,000 | $8,500 – $18,000 | $8,000 – $17,000 | $9,000 – $27,000 |
| Average 1-story1700 sq ft wall | $18,500 – $34,000 | $13,500 – $30,500 | $24,000 – $51,000 | $22,000 – $47,500 | $25,500 – $76,500 |
| 2-story2300 sq ft wall | $25,500 – $46,000 | $18,500 – $41,500 | $32,000 – $69,000 | $30,000 – $64,500 | $34,500 – $103,500 |
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Matching existing brick on a home addition
An addition on a brick house is usually expected to match, and that is where the cost question gets murky: no published cost guide gives a "matching premium" — a percentage or per-foot upcharge over non-matching brick — so we don't claim one. What the data does support is the cost of the wall itself. Cladding 600 sq ft of new addition wall:
| Cladding on the addition | Installed |
|---|---|
| Vinyl siding | $2,500 – $7,000 |
| Brick veneer | $6,500 – $12,000 |
| Manufactured stone | $8,000 – $17,000 |
Against ordinary siding, brick adds about $3–$12 per sq ft of new wall — that is the masonry premium our home addition calculator applies when you choose "Brick" as your existing exterior. Three things sit on top of it and are not priced anywhere we can source:
- Finding the brick. If the original is discontinued, you may need a reclaimed or custom-run match; repair-job data shows antique brick up to about $10 per brick against $0.40 for ordinary red.
- Matching mortar and joints. A mortar color-match analysis is the one priced item (see the add-ons table below); joint profile and bond pattern are mason judgment calls.
- Tying in. Toothing a new masonry wall into the old one and extending flashing is detail labor with no published rate.
Also budget the foundation: veneer needs a noncombustible support with at least two-thirds of the brick thickness bearing on it (IRC R703.8; BIA Technical Note 28), usually a brick ledge on the new footing. Published adders conflict ($5–$15 vs $15–$30 per sq ft), so we leave that out of the ranges rather than guess — ask your contractor to price the ledge separately.
What the real-world add-ons cost
Each is priced once against a typical project and added, never stacked. Access adjusters are priced on a 2300 sq ft two-story wall; the rest on 1700 sq ft.
| Factor | What's involved | Adds |
|---|---|---|
| Two-story / scaffolding | Scaffold, lift and fall protection for walls above ladder height (RSMeans excludes staging) | +$3,500 – $7,000 |
| Difficult access / sloped lot | Tight side yards, steep grade, material has to be hand-carried | +$3,000 – $5,000 |
| Arches & decorative corners | A 6-ft arch plus quoined / decorative corners | +$1,000 – $2,000 |
| Mortar color-match analysis | Lab or mason color-matching of mortar to an existing wall (additions & repairs) | +$500 – $500 |
Cost by region
RSMeans' city cost indexes for brick veneer run from about 0.85× the national figure in Dallas to about 1.27× in New York. Mason wages spread even wider, but installed cost is narrower because brick itself costs about the same everywhere. The same 1700 sq ft house:
| Region | Typical areas | Brick veneer | Thin brick |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lower-cost metro | Dallas, Atlanta, Indianapolis-type markets (RSMeans index ~0.85–0.92) | $16,500 – $30,000 | $12,000 – $27,000 |
| National average | Most metros (RSMeans index ~0.95–1.0) | $18,500 – $34,000 | $13,500 – $30,500 |
| High-cost metro | Philadelphia, Chicago, New York-type markets (RSMeans index ~1.14–1.27) | $22,500 – $41,000 | $16,500 – $36,500 |
Brick vs. stone vs. fiber cement vs. vinyl
Brick costs the most upfront of the mainstream claddings after stone, and lasts the longest. Ranges overlap, so treat them as directional:
| Cladding | Installed / sq ft | Lifespan (years) |
|---|---|---|
| Brick veneer | $12 – $18 | 50–100+ |
| Manufactured stone | $13 – $28 | 50+ |
| Fiber cement (Hardie) | $6 – $15 | 30–50 |
| Vinyl | $4 – $12 | 20–40 |
Compare siding head-to-head on the siding cost page, or see stucco on the stucco cost page.
How to keep the cost down
Use masonry where it shows. Brick on the front elevation and siding on the sides and rear is common, and cuts the clad area sharply. Thin brick or stone on an entry accent is the cheapest way to get the look.
Skip the arches and decorative corners unless the house calls for them — each is a fixed-price detail on top of a straight wall.
Bid it with the foundation. Ask for the ledge and flashing as separate line items so you can compare a thin-brick bid, which needs neither, against full-size veneer fairly.
Get the wall area right first. The brick calculator turns wall dimensions into a brick and mortar count to check bids against.
What these ranges don't include
National ranges, materials + labor combined, new veneer on a prepared wall (ties, flashing, weeps and lintels included). Excludes foundation ledge / footing work, structural repair, scaffolding on tall walls beyond the two-story adjuster, and any premium for sourcing a matching discontinued brick.
- Foundation ledge or footing widening — published figures conflict; priced by your contractor.
- Sourcing discontinued brick — no published rate.
- Structural or sheathing repair found behind old cladding.
- Window and door replacement and sill / header changes.
- Demolition and disposal of existing cladding.
Where these numbers come from
Ranges reconcile HomeGuide, Fixr, Angi and HomeAdvisor installed costs with the one primary-data source — RSMeans, commissioned by the Brick Industry Association (September 2023, which excludes scaffolding) — and the BIA and IRC rules that drive the ledge, tie and flashing requirements. Where sources disagree by more than 30% (solid brick, stone), the range is kept wide rather than averaged. Every figure is rounded to the nearest $500 on purpose. The model is reviewed annually; this page was last computed from data updated . The only numbers that matter more than these are those in a written bid from a licensed local mason — get at least three.
Ready to price the actual job?
The free brick calculator turns your wall dimensions into brick, mortar and tie counts — a takeoff you can hand to a mason. No signup.
Open the Brick Calculator →
Don't forget disposal in the budget
A project this size usually needs a rolloff dumpster, and rental plus overage fees are a real line item. See the right container size and what disposal typically adds to the budget.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How much does brick veneer cost per square foot?
Installed — materials and labor — full-size brick veneer runs about $11–$20 per square foot of wall, with $15 as the working midpoint. HomeGuide and Fixr both publish $12–$18, Angi averages about $15, and the only primary-data figure (RSMeans, for the Brick Industry Association, 2023) is $10.84 with no scaffolding included. Thin brick runs $8–$18. Price your own wall with the free brick calculator.
How much does it cost to brick a whole house?
A typical single-story house (about 1700 sq ft of wall) runs $18,500 to $34,000 in full-size brick veneer, or $13,500 to $30,500 in thin brick. A two-story house (about 2300 sq ft) runs $25,500 to $46,000, and the scaffolding / access adjuster adds roughly $3,500–$7,000 on top.
How much more does brick cost than vinyl siding?
Per square foot, installed brick veneer ($12–$18) is roughly double vinyl ($4–$12). The Brick Industry Association's RSMeans study puts the whole-house difference at about 5.8% of total construction cost for a two-story, 2,700 sq ft home — brick's wall system costs far more per foot but the wall is a minority of the house. Brick lasts 50–100+ years versus 20–40 for vinyl.
How much does it cost to match existing brick on a home addition?
No published source gives a dedicated "matching premium," so we don't invent one. What we can price: a 600 sq ft addition clad in new brick veneer runs $6,500 to $12,000 ($8,000 to $17,000 in stone), of which the part above ordinary siding — about $3–$12 per sq ft over a standard siding finish — is the masonry premium our home addition calculator adds when you pick "Brick" as your existing exterior. Extra, unquantified costs: hunting for discontinued brick (antique brick can run up to about $10 per brick in repair-job data), matching mortar color and joint profile, and toothing the new wall into the old one. Order every brick for the job from one lot.
Is thin brick cheaper than real brick veneer?
Slightly, and mostly on structure rather than material. Thin brick is adhered to a backer, so it needs no foundation ledge, no wall ties and a lighter wall, which can matter on an addition or remodel with no existing ledge. Installed it runs about $8–$18 per sq ft against $11–$20 for full-size veneer, and it lasts shorter — typically 20–50 years depending on its adhesive system.
Does brick veneer add resale value?
Brick veneer is not a project in the Cost vs. Value report, so there is no recoup figure for it. The closest masonry project is manufactured stone veneer, which Zonda's 2025 report ranks #3 of 28 at about 207.9% of cost recouped — against 113.7% for fiber-cement and 96.5% for vinyl siding replacement. That is a small entry-accent job, so treat it as directional, not as a promise for a whole-house brick job.
Do these ranges include labor?
Yes — every range on this page combines materials and labor. In the RSMeans/BIA wall assembly, about 38% is material and 62% is labor and equipment, and the national median brick mason wage is about $29.87/hour (BLS, May 2025). National ranges, materials + labor combined, new veneer on a prepared wall (ties, flashing, weeps and lintels included). Excludes foundation ledge / footing work, structural repair, scaffolding on tall walls beyond the two-story adjuster, and any premium for sourcing a matching discontinued brick.