[war1025]

Are there still places where brick construction is common?

Any semi-modern building I've seen in my area is wood-frame with maybe a decorative brick facade on part of a wall.

I can't imagine the cost of building a brick house makes any financial sense when compared to more modern construction methods.

Am I wrong in this?

[MetallicCloud]

I'm no expert, but anecdotally in Australia I see lots of brand new brick houses.

[bioipbiop]

As an Australia who grew up in a neighbourhood while under construction, they’re all just brick facades.

[frosted-flakes]

In southern Ontario, Canada, the vast majority of houses are stick-built with complete brick facades on all sides of the house. This is even the case on "cheap" subdivision houses that are 4 feet apart.

[morsch]

I think it's very common in Germany, though I can't find any source to confirm my intuition.

[SEJeff]

Many parts of the US prefer the aesthetics of brick. It isn't about the cost.

[war1025]

> Many parts of the US prefer the aesthetics of brick

At least around here, if you want the aesthetic, you go for wood frame with brick facade.

How does brick work for modern wiring, plumbing, insulation needs? Most of that stuff is traditionally routed at least partially through load bearing walls.

[serf]

>How does brick work for modern wiring, plumbing, insulation needs? Most of that stuff is traditionally routed at least partially through load bearing walls.

it's not much different other than the addition of a masonry drill bit.

in the case of very large plumbing, sometimes whole bricks are left out and the area filled/finished with a conrete mixture and left to set around the pipe.

[SEJeff]

Yes. Modern brick buildings generally have load bearing frames and then brick in place of vinyl, but they're still called brick houses :)

External walls being load bearing is generally not a thing anymore since the "invention" of sensible construction methods and steel re-inforced cement / concrete.