# cost of thin bricks



## brick-man

There was a post several years ago about the cost of thin bricks.
It was suggested that you could purchase thin bricks in ca. from $1.50 per sqf. Is it possible to still do so and could i have a name of a manufacturer.

Thanks.


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## dbrons

We use a lot of Castaic bricks here in San Diego County. Not sure of the pricing though:
http://www.castaicbrick.com/products_thinbrk.htm

Dave


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## Tscarborough

You won't be getting thin BRICK for a buck-fiddy a SqFt, maybe some crappy concrete imitations. Anything that looks like a brick is going to be closer to 5 bucks, and real thin brick can go double that.


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## jomama

We've used alot of Robinson thin brick through the years, but they're about $7-8 per sq. foot. Not sure I'd want to put my name on $1.50 material.............


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## 2low4nh

agreed 1.50 a sqft way to low. Im sure half the boxes would be broken corners smashed! thin brick is super expensive material wise vs conventional brick but its also much faster and easier to se in a given situation.


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## Moneypit

I have always cut the bricks myself for the few thin brick jobs I have done. They were all small jobs (probably all around 250 sq ft.). 
The last job I did was with Glen Gery Danish jumbos which cost $0.72 per brick. Each brick gives 2 thin brick, so it comes out to around $1.89/sq ft or $0.36 per thin brick. Add around $0.50/sq ft for labor of cutting and you have $2.39/sq ft.


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## Tscarborough

Your math is wrong, and I hope you don't sell jobs on that basis.


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## 2low4nh

.50 a sqft for labor of cutting really? You must have one fast saw!


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## jomama

I'd agree.

After cutting thousands of thin brick, the $1.20 PER CUT that one of my supplier's charges doesn't seem so asinine anymore. And you're cutting them for about 1/12 the cost..........................


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## Moneypit

I dont know guys. I kinda threw those numbers together to give you a ball park but they are pritty damn close. 

Full size brick cost $0.72 each. Each thin brick is half the cost which is $0.36. 
There are approximatly 5.5 brick per sq ft. 
My guy can very easily cut 2 sides off every brick in one pallet in a day (430 brick per pallet). That equals 860 thin brick ( 156 sq ft) at a labor of $120 per 8 hour day.

$0.36 x 5.5 = $1.98 material / sq ft

$120 labor / 156 sq ft. = $0.77 labor/sq ft

Total = $1.98 + $0.77 = $2.75 / sq ft
Actual thin brick at my local yard cost $7.37/sq ft.
Tscarborough: If my math is off, which it might be, please let me know where. Also, I always price my jobs at the going rate of the thin brick. Not at my cost.


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## jomama

Moneypit said:


> I dont know guys. I kinda threw those numbers together to give you a ball park but they are pritty damn close.
> 
> Full size brick cost $0.72 each. Each thin brick is half the cost which is $0.36.
> There are approximatly 5.5 brick per sq ft.
> My guy can very easily cut 2 sides off every brick in one pallet in a day (430 brick per pallet). That equals 860 thin brick ( 156 sq ft) at a labor of $120 per 8 hour day.
> 
> $0.36 x 5.5 = $1.98 material / sq ft
> 
> $120 labor / 156 sq ft. = $0.77 labor/sq ft
> 
> Total = $1.98 + $0.77 = $2.75 / sq ft
> Actual thin brick at my local yard cost $7.37/sq ft.
> Tscarborough: *If my math is off, which it might be, please let me know where. Also, I always price my jobs at the going rate of the thin brick. Not at my cost*.


Please don't take offense to this, as that's certainly not my intention, but I see quite a few issues with the way you're figuring this. The biggest problem IMO is that your figuring this using the best possible case scenario, not the average or mean.

- I take it the guy cutting gets paid $15 an hour. Probably low for a guy that will cut for 8 hours a day w/o quitting, but that's no the issue. If you figure in approx. 50%+ that it costs to have the employee, he's making less than $10 an hour. If you work any kind of OT, he's down below min. wage.

- You're not figuring any overhead, especially the saw and expensive diamond blade that you're burning up. Much less the truck that hauls the saw there, the shop it's stored in, etc.....

- 840 brick a day seams, from my personal experience, a bit aggressive. I'm sure it can be done, but not with hard Kings.

- Your math doesn't account for cutting any corners, which take at least 4 times longer than a flat, and you can only get one per brick. Not sure about you, but I've done thin brick jobs that only used corners, but never one that only used flats & no corners. A more typical job would likely have 15-20% corners, adding alot more cutting time.

- Most importantly, you're not figuring in any profit in the cutting. I understand that you said you estimate the manu. cost in the bid rather than you're actual, but I just don't want someone reading this to get the wrong idea.


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## Tscarborough

We cut thin brick on site. I am not familiar with the particular brick you are using, but assuming that it is a 2 faced brick, I figure it like this:

For a normal modular, it is about .70 cents for the brick, plus 2 cuts, $2.00 (buck a cut), so the price is $1.35 per brick-face. This is about in line with a Robinson brick factory cut brick for 250 SqFt including freight, if not a tad cheaper. At 6 per Sqft, that is $8.10 per SqFt material cost. 

My guy can cut about 3 cubes a day (1500+/-) without working too hard, and we get about 10% breakage in the process of cutting and cleaning them. Blade and saw costs are significant as well for this type of use.

Every brick is different though, for example when we cut Mexican brick, he can cut a lot more and they are cheaper, but breakage is almost 20% and they eat up blades. Some brick are single faced, and those cost more as well. 

We would not bother to go through the effort of cutting brick for free, nor should you.


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## Moneypit

jomama said:


> Please don't take offense to this, as that's certainly not my intention, but I see quite a few issues with the way you're figuring this. The biggest problem IMO is that your figuring this using the best possible case scenario, not the average or mean.
> 
> 1. I take it the guy cutting gets paid $15 an hour. Probably low for a guy that will cut for 8 hours a day w/o quitting, but that's no the issue. If you figure in approx. 50%+ that it costs to have the employee, he's making less than $10 an hour. If you work any kind of OT, he's down below min. wage.
> 
> 2. You're not figuring any overhead, especially the saw and expensive diamond blade that you're burning up. Much less the truck that hauls the saw there, the shop it's stored in, etc.....
> 
> 3. 840 brick a day seams, from my personal experience, a bit aggressive. I'm sure it can be done, but not with hard Kings.
> 
> 4. Your math doesn't account for cutting any corners, which take at least 4 times longer than a flat, and you can only get one per brick. Not sure about you, but I've done thin brick jobs that only used corners, but never one that only used flats & no corners. A more typical job would likely have 15-20% corners, adding alot more cutting time.
> 
> 5. Most importantly, you're not figuring in any profit in the cutting. I understand that you said you estimate the manu. cost in the bid rather than you're actual, but I just don't want someone reading this to get the wrong idea.


I take absolutly no offense since I respect your thoughts, and am willing to learn.
1. I dont quite get what your saying here (maybe I'm just sleepy, its past my bedtime). If it matters, its 8 hours work with 1 hour 15 mins lunch/break time. But yes, he gets paid $15 an hour.
2. As far as other expenses, your right about the blade, but the truck and shop are there anyway. Those things get calculated with the job estimate.
3. I know it sounds extream, but he can make the 860 cuts in one day very easily on the glen gery danish jumbos.
4. Your right. Making the corners takes longer but I was just comparing square foot prices of flats. If I were to compare prices on corners I am positive my way will still be much cheaper.
5. I was not looking to calculate profit. I was just figuring my cost on making thin brick. 

I hope this does not come accross in an argumentative tone. I know I have much to learn and thank you all for your thoughts.


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## Moneypit

Tscarborough said:


> We would not bother to go through the effort of cutting brick for free, nor should you.


When did I ever say I cut brick for free? I said that I still use the going rate price of thin brick in my estimates. I gain extra profit by cutting them in house.


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## Tscarborough

If you make money at that price, I say go for it. We did about 20,000 brick last year and not only did we make good money, we saved our customers money too.


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## Moneypit

Sure, the last job was only 250 sq ft. My cost of $2.75/sq ft vs the manufacture cost of $7.37/sq ft made me an additional $1155 just on materials.


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## Tscarborough

So you are stating your estimated costs here, not what you sold the brick for?


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## Moneypit

Correct. All the numbers I am showing are what it cost ME. I am in no way passing this on to the home owner. They get charged whatever it costs to purchase the thin brick from the local supply. 
I was originally just trying to suggest that it may benifit you to cut your own brick. In my limited experiance, it has always worked out very well in my favor.


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## Tscarborough

I still think your assumed costs are low, but as long as you are charging a realistic price then you will do well.


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## Diamond D.

Just wondering one point.

Forget about the labor for cutting, the full size brick. 

But, where are you getting these bricks with faces on front and back.
IMO, they are very rare.

Granted, I do more stonework than brick, but I've done my share of trying to match brick, and special order shapes to know, that most bricks have only one face.

Just curious, D.


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