Hello Sir, For an apartment building, mold shall not be much of an issue. If it is done properly and the gaps are closed then even insects/cockroaches are not a problem in the brick walls. In fact they become more beautiful after some weathering and exposure. The man-made alternatives to actual brick finish are, brick tiles, brick wall papers, brick design laminates and MDF sheet. They are a close replica but personally we prefer actual bricks for the exteriors. Thanks, Nitin Cornerstone Designs Bangalore

Thanks for clarifying Mentes. Before answering let me clarify that building materials should better be selected based on local advice, availability, cost, structural requirements. Your architect would be giving you an informed opinion based on that. Cement Bricks have more strength and are cheaper than the red bricks. They also help to complete the work faster because of bigger and uniform sizes. So, I would prefer to disagree with the reasoning given. Secondly, you are in Kerala and fyki, red bricks takes away precious farming soil layer away. We already had a bad flood. In the best interests of nature you may want to avoid doing more harm. To be fair to red bricks, they look amazingly beautiful and are good for load bearing walls, last long and are better for thermal insulation. Thanks, Nitin Cornerstone Designs Studio, Bangalore.

Hi, The exterior of my home is brick cladded (real, clay brick). The living room walls are also brick cladded (3 sides of the wall). What types of paints/finishes can be applied to accentuate the brick wall feeling? I just want to elevate the naturalness of the brick, to give a fresh look, but at the same time do not want the walls to look too red or artificial. Leaving the walls as they are is not an option, as they look unkempt and uneven in color. Appreciate detailed suggestions (including the paint brands, color codes etc). Thanks,

Exposed colorful conduit is  or a fine groove cut to size and then covered up with bricks as also an option.