The positive aspects of going back to Hardie panel

My original pool house plan was hardiepanel.  Then, when contractor said real brick wouldn't cost much more, I decided on brick.  Now, fearing cost overruns, contractor inexperience with brick, and worse, I've decided to go back to hardiepanel.  Well, those are the "negative" aspects of the choice, I'm going back to hardie mainly because I was fearing the brick plan could become (or was already becoming) a nightmare, and as the contractor himself recommended cement board as the better choice, that seemed to be his preference/skillset/comfort-zone/etc., as in fact has already been proven on a previous repair project he did for me.  But there are positives also, which is the point I'll make here.

1) Lower construction cost, even under the best circumstances (possibly as much as $2500 cheaper for this project, or more if brick has unexpected overruns or repairs, and I never actually did get a brick cost estimate, so those are serious concerns also).  I can think of many other ways to spend the money that might be more important to me.

2) More interior square footage (in this case, something like 15% more interior square footage), very useful also here, square footage was already in short supply.

3) Matches house, and I will have panels painted and trimmed to match house, which itself has hardiepanel in front and similar appearing but inferior pressed wood boards--eventually to be replaced--elsewhere.  The pool house will now look like an extension of house, and to backyard neighbors will even look like part of the house.  While a good and well designed brick outbuilding *might* make the house itself look more glorious, and that had been my dream, a mediocre one might stand out like sore thumb, and/or make the rest of the house look cheap or inconsistent.  I might add that I personally don't like the trend toward use of multiple materials for variety, especially the combination of brick wraparound facades with hardipanel (or worse yet, vinyl) elsewhere.

4) Simpler to modify and repair.  As future needs change, I may need to add more windows, plumbing, electrical service, ventilation, telecom, etc. openings, or even small extensions or inclusions like battery shed.  With brick, every small change is serious and needs to be done by a good brick mason, or you could find yourself under a pile of bricks.  Likewise repairs (though that is a "negative" consideration, it's worth mentioning in this context, any small brick repair could be very expensive, as well as requiring specialized expertise).

*****  And just a few more negatives (that is, negative aspects of the brick choice)

1) Construction of a building with 9 foot brick walls during intense summer heat could lead to construction errors or medical emergencies.  I was fearing my moral responsibility for such things.  The transport of 13 or so tons of brick through gate would at minimum cause lots of wear and tear on my grass, with the potential of destroying gate or fence as well, along with potential heat stroke on the part of the workers doing the transporting.

2) Inadequate brick wall construction or design could lead to cracks, loose mortar, or collapse.  And if there's anything you don't want, it's to be buried under a wall of bricks.  If a hardipanel cracks (or even falls off, which is nearly unimaginable), it's not likely to require a call to 911.

3) Even though foundation has now been professionally engineered to handle 9 foot brick walls, no engineering (or construction!) is perfectly capable of dealing with any possible contingency (such as conversion of San Antonio to arid zone, which almost seems to be happening already).  Being much lighter, hardie panel walls allow foundation to ride through soil expansion and contraction cycles or permanent shifts more easily, with more safety margin.  The most important part of the building, and the least easily repaired or replaced, is the foundation.  The highly expansive clay soil, and incresingly severe droughts, create issues for brick construction where I live.  Even for non-brick construction.

4) Time to complete project.  Including substantial difference in construction time, design time, material gathering time, those are beyond question even in the best circumstances.  Also learning curve and courage building time (if applicable, to those relatively inexperienced with brick construction).

The brick detour has been an interesting experience, I've learned a lot about brick and other things in the process.  Brick (as modern veneer wall) is not the magic I had previously thought (I thought brick walls were brick on both sides, didn't realize all the complicated issues with wood framing, moisture shedding, lintel weight supporting, draining, venting, and so on).  Plus I had no idea how much even brick veneer walls weigh...many tons!  In the end, a brick veneer wall for an outbuilding for a middle aged childless homeowner is mainly an exercise in vanity, and I have enough of those already.

So now it is time to move on, and get a nice building actually built.