Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jan 14, 2010 10:51 pm HI All,
I know this may have been asked before but i was wondering if anyone has built with the Boral Escura Smothh Face - Pearl Grey brick? We are looking at upgrading to this brick. *scracthes head- Please try not to confuse this with the PGH Pearl grey Brick. (was a pain when searching threads for it) Any help would be greatly appreciated Thanks and have a nice day Eric http://i868.photobucket.com/albums/ab246/zim1983/89_P__Escura_Smooth_Face_Pearl_Grey.jpg Re: Boral escura smooth face Pearl Grey-Pics/advice Help? 3Jan 15, 2010 7:41 pm Hi Mate, I presume you went to a display centre and have seen this one? We were going to get something from their Smoothface famility but after visiting the display centre we went after the Nuvo Aspire family. The reasons (to us) were that Smoothface was just tooooo smooth, if I can say that (you know, for humans it is OK to shave some parts of their body but when hair is removed everywhere it is a bit tooooo much?). Moreover, the level of smootheness between bricks in the wall was quite different (maybe if looking from the distance if was different) as well as too easy marked. The Nuvo family looked much more natural to us comparing to Smoothface. Anyhow, it was a pleasure to find that by going with Nuvo we saved about $150... But we have got some smooth - a part of building will need to be painted and our builder have chosen Smoothface for those areas So yeah, just our personal reflection. Good luck! ... built a Promenade with Clarendon. viewtopic.php?f=31&t=25104 20-10-09 - excavation and piering completed ... 12-04-10 - Basins fixed. Connecting to the electrical grid 23-04-10 - PCI 07-05-10 - HANDOVER! Re: Boral escura smooth face Pearl Grey-Pics/advice Help? 4Jan 15, 2010 7:55 pm Rusty311 HI All, I know this may have been asked before but i was wondering if anyone has built with the Boral Escura Smothh Face - Pearl Grey brick? We are looking at upgrading to this brick. *scracthes head- Please try not to confuse this with the PGH Pearl grey Brick. (was a pain when searching threads for it) Any help would be greatly appreciated Thanks and have a nice day Eric Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Hi Eric, we were very close to using Pearl Grey (yes the Boral ones) but looked at a few homes/buildings that used this and we did not like the look of the overall effect. If you look at my thread somewhere re: garage door colour you will find the pic posted is all smoothface bricks baring one of the bricks they used. We love the smoothface to bits and went with the smooth as we don't like bricks full stop. Ours haven't been cleaned yet but the brickie did an awesome job. The builder did inform us that during transport they can be fragile, however they were delivered perfect barring a few (maybe 10 from what we could see if that). We have used smooth and normal bricks and it gives a nice contrast and provides texture. I can probably post a pic once bricks are cleaned to give you more of an idea but you may be in a hurry with your selections. The house I have seen has pretty much only used smoothface bricks and it is a few years old. It looks like it was built yesterday to be honest. They provide a well uniformed neat look and that's what we loved. Re: Boral escura smooth face Pearl Grey-Pics/advice Help? 5Jan 15, 2010 10:12 pm ebyelyakov Hi Mate, I presume you went to a display centre and have seen this one? We were going to get something from their Smoothface famility but after visiting the display centre we went after the Nuvo Aspire family. The reasons (to us) were that Smoothface was just tooooo smooth, if I can say that (you know, for humans it is OK to shave some parts of their body but when hair is removed everywhere it is a bit tooooo much?). Moreover, the level of smootheness between bricks in the wall was quite different (maybe if looking from the distance if was different) as well as too easy marked. The Nuvo family looked much more natural to us comparing to Smoothface. Anyhow, it was a pleasure to find that by going with Nuvo we saved about $150... But we have got some smooth - a part of building will need to be painted and our builder have chosen Smoothface for those areas So yeah, just our personal reflection. Good luck! Hi ebyelyakov, Thanks so much for advice! I think we did see these at the display perhaps lol and tried to replicate in someway - Have to question the the Misses choices every now and then in costs . We did check the bricks out at Boral @ badgery's creek in NSW and they seemed quite nice when we went out to the back of the brickyard. I admit that the Bricks for Pearl Grey on Display @ boral was totally different in colour and the lady advised that it was an older version of Pearl grey and its had since changed. This prompted going out back to see some batches. The samples were good but i agree that could be quite delicate, mean extra care and well could get a diff looking colour batch. Else I think we could survive and get the Boral Escura Velour or Nuvo standard range of the same or similar colour and not worry about smooth face. I don't know bricks for me are hard to visualise? Ohwell will head out to look at them again and hopefully find some addresses with the same type with off-white mortar. Appreciate the feedback!! has helped me and my wife re-think about it a little! - the Cost savings will also be very welcomed too!! and btw ! - The shaving thing! - I'd hate to be around when the Winter Coat starts coming thru!! Cheers, Eric Re: Boral escura smooth face Pearl Grey-Pics/advice Help? 6Jan 15, 2010 10:30 pm Dollar Hi Eric, we were very close to using Pearl Grey (yes the Boral ones) but looked at a few homes/buildings that used this and we did not like the look of the overall effect. If you look at my thread somewhere re: garage door colour you will find the pic posted is all smoothface bricks baring one of the bricks they used. We love the smoothface to bits and went with the smooth as we don't like bricks full stop. Ours haven't been cleaned yet but the brickie did an awesome job. The builder did inform us that during transport they can be fragile, however they were delivered perfect barring a few (maybe 10 from what we could see if that). We have used smooth and normal bricks and it gives a nice contrast and provides texture. I can probably post a pic once bricks are cleaned to give you more of an idea but you may be in a hurry with your selections. The house I have seen has pretty much only used smoothface bricks and it is a few years old. It looks like it was built yesterday to be honest. They provide a well uniformed neat look and that's what we loved. HI Dollar, Thank you for the help! - Its very tempting, and i like effect of the brick aswell with the clean lines, contrast and yes the uniformed neat look!. We are getting a variation / quote done for these bricks - so will see what the costings are. its in a Cat C with our builder betting $3500+ and extra for off white. I think we may need to change due to variance in colours in batches and after the bricks getting cleaned are our biggest worry. Especially reading that some of them seemed to be a little too much on the orange side? The reason for the lighter brick is due to the house facing North, so we want to capitalise on the light? I guess we can go a darker tone if needed - bleh but thats new colour selections again lol. If you do get a chance to post a pic that would be awesome. Incidentally which brick colour did you end up choosing? ohwell will be trekking out to look at bricks again. I tried to find the pics on your Garage door colour thread but I think I couldn't find it. Anyway ! thanks for the help, it was greatly appreciated, Hope you have a great weekend. Cheers, Eric Re: Boral escura smooth face Pearl Grey-Pics/advice Help? 7Jan 16, 2010 12:07 am Howdy Eric, I'm using the Boral Escura Smooth Face brick in Pearl Grey for my house. I was supposed to get a colour called 'Frost' which was lighter and more grey, but it was discontinued and replaced with Pearl Grey. It does have a very smooth finish and looks OK, however they seem to have a LOT of cracks in them. Apparantly, they crack very easily. Also, the bricklayers have done a very average job on my place and the bricks don't quite sit flush in some areas, with a few peaks. Make sure the brickie knows what he's doing, because if they aren't flush, it looks really *******. There's some photos of the brick on my blog if you're interested. Re: Boral escura smooth face Pearl Grey-Pics/advice Help? 8Jan 16, 2010 2:01 pm Eric, we used Cinnamon and love them. They are more a brown colour. I could probably source the Pearl Grey colour too for you but would have to go visit the site and take a photo. The photo was taken the day they were done. Mortar colour looks much, much darker compared to real life and the brick looks lighter in actual life. They haven't been cleaned yet either. Have you been to Boral yet/seen the Pearl Grey brick used somewhere? Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Boral escura smooth face Pearl Grey-Pics/advice Help? 9Jan 16, 2010 2:15 pm pharley Howdy Eric, I'm using the Boral Escura Smooth Face brick in Pearl Grey for my house. I was supposed to get a colour called 'Frost' which was lighter and more grey, but it was discontinued and replaced with Pearl Grey. It does have a very smooth finish and looks OK, however they seem to have a LOT of cracks in them. Apparantly, they crack very easily. Also, the bricklayers have done a very average job on my place and the bricks don't quite sit flush in some areas, with a few peaks. Make sure the brickie knows what he's doing, because if they aren't flush, it looks really *******. There's some photos of the brick on my blog if you're interested. Just had a peak of your home. Looks fantastic! Re: Boral escura smooth face Pearl Grey-Pics/advice Help? 10Jan 16, 2010 11:21 pm Hi Eric, best of luck with selecting the bricks! From my point is is very different to advise on such things as we do have different tastes and preferences. Did you try going to different estates (like Nelsons Ridge, Stokland Lakewood and whatever other close to you?) - smootface bricks are quire popular so you will see the bigger picture plus any weather effects. As I've already mentioned we were very keen on Smoothface when looking brochures however, after visiting the display centre somewhere near Parklea we deserted towards Nuvo.. You could see a comparison between Nuvo and Smootface in my thread (see my signature) however the bricks have not been washed yet so a bit hard to visualise ... built a Promenade with Clarendon. viewtopic.php?f=31&t=25104 20-10-09 - excavation and piering completed ... 12-04-10 - Basins fixed. Connecting to the electrical grid 23-04-10 - PCI 07-05-10 - HANDOVER! I would probably render it and then paint it as per your other advice, or gyrpock over the top. 1 3551 Versaloc is a mortarless besser block system that still needs a properly engineered footing. If you just do a 400x200 footing it will fail in time. At 17m long you need it… 1 21699 Yes, unless you are in a low intensity rainfall area or the area is protected from rain. Do you have access to NCC Part 2 or can you download it? I can email you a copy… 10 12860 |