Bagging and paint, or just paint may be your only option. It could be partly rendered and painted, eg. Just render that side of house, etc.. Can you post a picture of where the addition is going? We can then get a look at current bricks, etc.. Most of us specify to match existing and leave it for the builder, client and bricky to sort out due to the numerous options available. Some brickies have contacts that can get the bricks through second hand places but it depends on era of the house, mortar used, etc.. If your budget is tight using bricks may not be the better option. Cladding may have been cheaper but it is still preferable to match existing.....

Hi all, Sorry for the slow replies and thanks for the input so far. From what I've read online a re-inforced besser block wall should be about $600 p/sqm including footings in Sydney (Hornsby shire council area). Given the wall is 1m x 10m it should be let's say $7k including design and DA or am I way off? I'd also need to dispose of the current wall + footings but I could probably give the blocks away. The paved area is about 40sqm. Would it be safe to assume $200 p/sqm for concrete base, paver supply (travertine) and install (coping and surrounds)? So the wall and and paving would cost let's say $16k + fencing + cladding. This isn't too bad considering how much better it would look and the value it would add to the house. I like the flexibility the besser would give - render, cladding etc are all options. I'm not sure how bad it is structurally it just has a couple of spots where I can see the blocks have pulled apart over time. Below are some pictures of the bad spots. Also looking at the Amber website it says the maximum courses is maximum non reinforced wall height of 972mm (6 courses). It looks like my wall is actually 7 courses un-reinforced. The wall and pool was built back in 2003. I definitely think planting in front of the wall would help, as would removing the lights but I'm in two minds about whether to bite the bullet and do it properly or just hide it.

Dr Retro House Calls, funny as I have a sample of monument here. Interesting about true black. Girlguides I have also been playing around the idea of ironstone on the garage doors. Attic Building Design you're right, the picture doesn't quite show it, they are mission brown, thinking of a grey/black. It's such a huge decision, hubby and I can only agree with no cream or green.

How old is the house? We reduced the size of a window in our 1975 brick home. We went out to the PGH yard and took a bit of our brick and just had to find something that would match in the closest to what we had. I'll include a pic for reference, you can see the difference but it's down the side of the house where we don't really go. On the inside we didn't have to match as we're plastering. So guess it depends really on what is happening outside where you are closing it up, looks like an entertaining area, so will it still be used for that?