I've heard on past posts with similar problems where the mason constructed a small sample wall, layed some brick,and gave the owner a feel for what it would look like on the house. I believe they used a 4x8 piece of plywood with a simple 2x4 frame, supported it on the bottom, and veneered the plywood with the brick.You might run this by your builder, as it helped the owner have a better feel than just looking at a few bricks laying around.Not my idea, i read it here on this forum a while back.

This may very well be one of those situations that you cannot know until it's done. sierraeast has a great suggestion.
fwiw, I went through something similar (actually several times) - gut wrenching, lying awake at night, etc. during our build.
It's fine now.

If the mortar is to be white, drywall can be used to simulate the mortar joints and the stacking process described above. For mine, I saw a house being built with a brick I really liked. I got the brick info direct from the tags on the brick bundles.

I'm confused as to how the brick guy could tell you that he was even 99% sure that it was the "same brick" when the texture was different. Have you tried asking the homeowner of the "sample" house what the name/brand of brick was? This is a huge part of your build, and you should be happy with the choice. It sounds as if they haven't started bricking yet, so you still have some time. I think it is imperative that you have a sample wall built or have someone actually find out what type of brick and mortar is on that other house. Also, make sure that they are using the right mortar...a different color will dramatically affect the look of the house. A brick supplier once told me that the mortar is 20% of the finish.

A six brick sample is a good size. But as suggested above, bricks alone are only part of the story.

A sample wall should have been suggested or requested.

My mason insisted on doing two sample stone walls for my clients last week. One with the white mortar suggested by the novice brick salesman; the other with the standard grey mortar. The clients chose the standard wall and are now thrilled.

ARE your bricks different from what you saw? Very likely. Even different runs of the same brick can differ noticeably.

Especially if you're using clay brick. Many variations can arise in the source clay, additives, baking and cooling temps. And the ambient light in which you viewed your "model" home is undoubtedly different from that lighting up the brick cubes at your building site.

Can you select throught the pallet of brick discarding the color ranges that you don't like? We have been involved with clients who have done this...brick by brick. They ended up with the color variation that they wanted instead of relying on the bricklayers to "place" the bricks. There was about 20% waste but they were happy in the end.

Charliedawg,
Can you take a few pics and show us? Is it in your budget to add stone or shutters on the house? Here is an example of a red brick house with black shutters and a black door.
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DO NOT let them lay the bricks until you are sure you will like the way they look. There's no way out after that. It's much easier and less costly to buy new bricks than it is to pay the bricklayer, knock them down, buy new bricks and pay again.

Find out the brand and color of your bricks then go to their website or find a brochure for their company so that you can see what the bricks will look like on the house. We used a Boral brick and I was able to see them on a house on their website. It gives you a good idea, but is not exact.

You could also find out the name of the house you like and find that brick on a website or in a brochure.

I liked the bricks on Raising Canes, so I called them. They connected me to their design associate and he told me the brand, name, mortar, and even the fininshing technique.

i'm sure if you ask, they'll tell you.

Doing a sample wall sounds like the best plan. How much trouble is it going to be if I hate it and want to send all the bricks back? I wonder what that will cost me. 2 of the brick cubes busted open and a few of the bricks are lying on the ground. I'm sure thats got to be a problem.

Dixie - about the 99%. Yeah, that bothered me too. I knew immediately that these weren't the exact same bricks. I had no doubt they were wrong so how could he not know that? I should not have trusted him when he said they would have the same look. Apparently he doesn't even know what they look like. Unless of course he's right...and they will look fine when it all comes together. (feel like I'm throwing up a hail mary)

Bellamy - That sounds like a good idea but probably wouldn't work for me. All my bricks look the same with a few black ones thrown in here and there. Sounds pretty, right? Yuck!

I went to the General Shale web site. They only have a sample of it on line. They don't have a picture of the house with the brick. I guess that should be a warning sign because nobody wants this brick.

My husband thinks I'm insane. He thinks I'm stuggling so much because this is such a permanant part of the house. If I get this wrong I'm stuck with it for life. Unlike everything else, I can't change this after we move in.

Worthy - If you had a client that felt the way I do how would you like her to handle it? What should I say to my builder when I call her? I don't want to sound like a obsessive compulsive psycho.

charliedawg, I'm not "worthy" (no pun intended), but I can't think your builder could be too upset if you call her and tell her that now that you see all of them together it doesn't look at all like the other brick and that you absolutely don't like them and then ask what can be done. Ask if a sample wall might help alleviate your concerns or if it is just best to send it back.

Here is a photo of my sample. The colors in this sample match the bricks delivered.

CD, I agree that, if possible, you should ask the folks whose brick you like exactly what their brick is (or, find out who their builder was and ask him.) If you can't find that out, ask the brick supplier to tell you where you can see houses built with specific brick you like. We just made our final brick selection after agonizing over it for weeks. (Well, I probablly did more agonizing than DH, who would have gone with anything! LOL!) We found that the samples look almost nothing like they do on the finished house. (I had the added problem of trying to find brick, stacked stone and siding that coordinated--quite a "pull-my-hair-out" experience!) I finally decided that I was not picking any brick that I could not see on a house IRL. Then I noticed that I really liked the brick on the last house our builder did in our subdivision and got a sample of it, and we are going with it. Because of the large area of stacked stone, for our purposes, the bricks with a wide color variation seemed too busy, so the brick we picked out is pretty much mostly the same shade of cherry red with charcoal bricks mixed in. Having seen it on a house, I know that I love it, even though I am almost certain I would NOT have picked this brick based solely on the sample--I probably also would have said "yuck!" LOL! The next best thing to seeing the brick on a house is obviously a sample wall. And I also agree that the shade can seem to vary based upon the degree of light/sunshine, so you should check it at differing times. It is way to much of your home for you not to love it. Good luck!

Since the delivered brick cannot be the same brick as the sample house, because of the texture, I suggest you have the supplier tell you where you can go to see a home with the exact same brick on it as they delivered.

You can cut up a sheet of "fuzz board/ buffalo board" sheathing into 3 inch strips, and lay up a temporary sample of the delivered bricks. Use the ones that the bundles broke.
Personally, I think the brick you have shown us, is attractive, but then again, I havent seen the inspiration house.

Is that sample called "Virginia Highlands" by General Shale? That is what we are using, and it looks a whole lot like our brick. If so, I could snap a pic for you of the house in our subdvision made in that brick so you can see what it looks like. It does not have a lot of color variation,which, as I said, was what we wanted.

"I suggest you have the supplier tell you where you can go to see a home with the exact same brick on it as they delivered."

Rollie, I want to thank you for that bit of advice. What a simple solution to my dilema! I don't care how far I have to drive....I will do it. When I asked my builder this she was a bit suprised at my worry. She thought we were all set. She again said that it will look exactly like the inspiration house. But she was still going to get the addresses from the brick guy and call me back.

Kudos to all you builders out there that have to put up with last minute brick freak outs! I don't know how you do it.

charliedawg-everyone here has given you great advice. It is very very stressful to build a house even when all goes well (and does that happen at all?). With regards to your builder, I think if you approach her calmly, say you have a few questions about the brick, she will respond in the same manner. I have had the same issues with DH about our house where I feel something is a huge issue and he thinks it will all be ok in the end. But, you have to go with your gut sometimes. I have had the most trouble picking out the stone for our house because it is so permanent and one of the biggest elements of the exterior. Your brick IS your house-please be comfortable about it.

BTW- I still cannot get my DH to get rid of that ugly sawed off column on our front porch! Any ideas for a trade off or ways to sway him? LOL!

Molly, No this is called Seneca by General shale. I looked up the samples in our area and they don't have the virginia brick listed. Maybe same brick but different name????

I would still love to see a photo of the brick you mentioned.

Thanks a bunch.

Bebe - I have ideas but I probably shouldn't post them in a public forum LOL

bebe-

Remind him that a happy wife is a happy life. I always try to keep that perspective.

And the other way to reduce building stress is to decide which one cares more about something and then go with their opinion.

Charlie, I'm sorry you're feeling so anxious about this. Do you have a photo for us to see of your inspiration house?

I think many of us had similar worries about our exterior. I can't tell you how many times I drove around searching for houses with our stone. I don't know if this happens as much with brick but with our stone, each house that had the same exact material applied looked different to me. Depends on how it was layed and what color mortar was used.

Rollie is right to have you search for a house with the same brick sample you just got. Just be sure the ones you are viewing also have the same mortar color because boy..it makes a difference. Here's 3 pics of the same stone but different mortar colors.

Lindybart has shown well that different mortar colors are going to make a difference. And, I think having the mason do a brick board so you can visualize the finished product is a good suggestion. But, just like "dye lots" in other products you also have to realize that even if the brick is the EXACT same as the inspiration home it is NOT from the same "lot". There will be variations between the inspiration and what you've received.
Another thought is possibly your builder can do a special order of gray brick to blend into the red and black to soften what you've already purchased.

IMHO, charliedawg, this scenario is important to you and one of the reasons that you "pick your battles"....

red bricks from bee hive kilns (where the bricks nearest the fire are almost black) are traditional here in New England and the Southeast. They have always been my first choice. I really don't like orange or brown bricks. But don't choose too light or too cold a mortar color. Sealants should match the brick. If the range is severe the bricklayers must disperse the darker ones more carefully than usual. It should be fantastic.

The brick samples shown in an earlier post have a range of colors. If it happens that the masonry crew encounters several of the darkest ones, lays them, then encounters several lighter ones, lays them, the results will not be attractive. The dark ones will be grouped, the light ones grouped. "Shuffling" the brick will yield the best appearance. Masonry crews know this, but it is more effort to do.

charliedawg asked "What should I say to my builder when I call her?"

"My husband is right. I was obsessing about nothing." ?

Have her do a sample board. If you still don't like it, you may be able to send the balance back--at a cost of up to 20%. But beware. Some orders are not returnable. Oh, and don't expect the builder to foot the cost.

I'm doing the HAPPY DANCE, the HAPPY DANCE!!!!

I drove by the house with the actual bricks that were delivered to my lot. I really liked it. It certainly doesn't look exactly like the inspiration house but it's very rich and pretty. I really like the texture of these bricks much better than the inspiration so it all evens out in the end. If I had to look at both houses and pick a brick, I would pick what was delivered. :)

And yes worthy "My husband is right. I was obsessing about nothing." LOL

Plop, plop, fizz, fizz oh what a relief this is!!!!!!

Thanks to everybody here for helping me thru the most stressful point of our build. Everything else will be a piece of cake (knock on wood)

Yay! I was wondering what your outcome was! So happy to hear you like it. Post pictures when it's all up okay!

Lindy

I went through that gut-wrenching worrying when choosing paint for our Hardiboard, so I can totally relate, Charliedawg! I'm so happy for you that it's what you like!!!

Whoo Hoo!
I love it when a plan comes together!!!
:)

I often found that delays and "problems" ended up turning out even better than what we first intended. Sometimes a delay made it possible to re-think and come up with a better solution.

Great news charliedawg,

Here's hoping that is the worst experience on your build and that it will be all downhill from here.

Have a great weekend!

I really agonized over the color of our tile roof--so many choices. Its been up a year and nobody cares about the variation of color (including me) it looks great, doesn't leak. what more could I ask? It may be the same thing with your brick after 3 years.

Wonderful news Charliedawg!!!

Great news Charliedawg, I'm so happy this worked out for you!

Hey, charliedawg, great news! Good luck with the rest of your build!

Hey CD, that is awesome! BTW, you didn't happen to snap a pic of that house when you went by, did you? I'd love to see that color brick! As I mentioned, it seems SO close to our brick, but one difference is it seems to have more texture, which I really like. I may have to see if our local store has it available and do another comparison!

I think the brick you chose looks fabulous. I'm happy that you're comfortable now with your choice. It's going to be a gorgeous house!

Hey Molly, here's the photo :) This house has standard mortar but others have a little bit darker. One house had chocolate mortar with a brown roof and it didn't look too good.

The brick looks fine. Just hope you put in some detailing that adds distinction and interest.

Hey Charliedawg, thanks so much for taking the pic for me! That brick looks darn close to the brick we chose! I really love it! It is so rich and looks GREAT with black accents and white trim! The next time I go to our build site, I'll try to remember to take my camera and take a pic of the house that has our brick, just so we can compare! I am sure that will look great on your home! Thanks again!