# Favorite Brick to work with?



## stacker (Jan 31, 2006)

i have a customer who has been working on her house for about 4 years now.her house is a mix of limestone and used brick.she has been getting the brick and stone in okc and paying anywhere from 400 to 750 a thousand for the used brick.she has to pick it up,and she brought home 2 pallets one day and i would say 40% of the brick were utility brick(the soft brick artisian is talking about).not only were they the softer brick,they are a little thinner and sometime longer than the harder face brick.and at 400-750 a thousand they should be clean as a whistle:whistling,but they arent.the place she buys them is close to downtown okc,where there is a large homeless population,and the company hires alot of them as day labor to clean brick.im sure the get so much a pallet or brick to clean.they will make sure the outside brick and top brick are cleaned good,and everything you cant see is cleaned half azzed.i get so p.o.ed when i open a pallet and have to pay my man to clean what should have already been clean.


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## AustinDB (Sep 11, 2006)

back in the mid 90's we were buying used brick in KY for $450/1k, and they firsts and clean. Got to imagine the cost has gone up since then.


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## Tscarborough (Feb 25, 2006)

A little more information on those "pinks" mixed in with the face brick on used brick pallets.

Before there were motorized or tunnel kilns, brick would be stacked into "clamps" or kilns made of rejected brick. They would be stacked so as to distribute heat as evenly as possible, but even in gas fired kilns, the brick on the outer edges would not reach a high enough temperature to vitrify. The brick, known as "salmons" for their color, would be sorted out and used as fill brick, and sold for a lesser price than the face brick.

As noted, they worked fine for inner wythes and as fill on masonry fireplaces, etc, but they are basically just hard mud. The funny thing is that they are often in demand because of their color, and sell for a premium, but in 80% of the United States will not last 5 years if used as face brick.

They are easy to spot, no matter what the clay body color, as they will be lighter in color than the face brick and soft. The irony is that they are often in better initial shape than the face brick because of their protected usage and ease of cleaning.

Edit-those brick in my avatar are Used Chicago salmons. Note how clean and sharp edged they are for 80 year old used brick.


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## Tommy C (Jul 11, 2005)

I like Belden and Robinson.


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## Tommy C (Jul 11, 2005)

Tscarborough, what are your thoughts on Belden?


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## Tscarborough (Feb 25, 2006)

I have no expereince with them.


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## masonking02 (May 13, 2007)

i like any brick thats not straigth or square so i can blame it on the material . :thumbsup:


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## kylemfk (Nov 1, 2006)

Belden? :thumbdown

Direct selling punks. Always snooping around trying to steal a job with there General Shale lookalikes


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## Tscarborough (Feb 25, 2006)

Most brick companies do that.


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