Before the reels stop versus after the wolves open the houses
Six scatter symbols start the free spins, but nothing tells you when they will land or how many spins a session holds. Each round is played from a fresh random draw, so a long dry patch can follow a quick bonus, and the return figure describes averages over enormous numbers of spins rather than what your balance will do tonight.
The return figure printed for Brick House Bonanza is the one the game rules list, and that panel is the only place that states which build is loaded. Two rooms can offer the same title at different settings, so read the rules screen inside the game before you commit a session's budget to it.
The advertised ceiling of x10,000 is a stop line on the paytable, not a target. Reaching it calls for an extreme run in the free spins, with the marked positions turning into houses and the wolf revealing a top prize behind them, and most sessions finish far below that figure.