I'm going to post here about what I discovered...
I just added one block, and changed another.
Redpower two, with the thermopile has a concept of temperature difference. If you max this out on a stone brick block, it cracks, eventually. It also has a recipe to convert stone brick into Chiseled Stone Brick. Just put 4 into a crafting grid, like making the brick.
With so many blocks that you can use, the amount of excuses for things being ugly, is lower and lower.
What else are you going to do while you wait for the machines to do the work?