Frequently Asked Questions

Yes – we will always try and help when this situation occurs. We have a wide network of partners and may be able to find the rest of the bricks for you. Please contact us immediately if you find yourself in this position.

In the current climate, the answer to this is now! As soon as you have decided on which brick to use for your project, place an order as soon as you can with accurate quantities. The disappointment of not being able to use the brick that you want because you didn’t order it in time can be avoided. Please contact us if you would like to check the availability of any brick type, for any project.

We do not charge for any of our services. We hope that by offering you a great service, the right product when you need it and at the right price, you will place your order with us when the time is right.

The vast majority of samples can be ordered without incurring any costs. Most projects will be ok by starting with a standard sample panel which is normally made up of three stretcher slips and three header slips. You can then move to a 60 brick site reference panel which allows you to build 1m2 of brickwork and helps to see the overall colour and relationship with mortar colour and profile. Some manufacturers charge for site reference panels and will then refund once the order is placed. Larger projects may ask for a full size mock up which needs to be constructed on site along with other materials to represent the design intention of the building. If this is the case, there will normally be a charge for the bricks and delivery to site.

Not at all. We work with hauliers all over the country offering a huge selection of vehicles to suit every need. If you only want 1 pack of bricks and the weight is under 1000kgs, we can deliver on a courier with tail lift offload. If you have a tight site but don’t have a forklift, we can deliver using a small rigid lorry with its own crane to offload the bricks. If you have a massive site and need multiple deliveries, we can deliver to you on an articulated lorry which you can either offload using your own machinery or take advantage of the crane onboard the lorry. Please call us if you have any concerns over delivery of product to site.

Yes, you should always see a sample before placing an order. Whilst the quality of imaging has improved massively in recent years, you must receive a sample which represents current production before placing an order. Factories sometimes have to make alterations in how a brick is made and you may find that the Red Multi brick your building was made from 10 years ago is very different from the brick being produced today.

We don’t carry any bricks at office address as all products are held at storage depots or with the manufacturer. This helps us to offer a more competitive price to you by providing product on a direct to site basis.

The white powder that occurs on brickwork is known as efflorescence. These are salts that occur naturally in the bricks. It is most commonly seen when brickwork is completed over the winter period when conditions on site may be damp and brickwork could be saturated. The warm spring sun dries the bricks and draws the salts through the body of the brick to the surface. Whilst it is unsightly, it will not effect the durability of the brick. You should not use any chemical cleaners or acids as this could make it worse and possibly a permanently unwanted feature.

The best course of action is to prevent it in the first place by operating best practices on site and covering brickwork during construction. Brick Jackets are a good option for covering the bricks bumped out on the scaffold. Divert rainwater away from the face of the brickwork by using socks and ensure the detailing is sufficient to take away the water which may saturate the brickwork. If you do see efflorescence, leave it alone! It is better to leave it and let nature take its course but if you have to, use a soft brush and brush down the surface.

It is important to remember that a brick is a piece of clay dug up from a field, prepared, dried and fired into a brick shape. The manufacturers do as much as possible to ensure that all bricks from the same type, are more or less the same size. The manufacturers provide a guide to what to expect by issuing a tolerance for each brick. This will tell you how close to the expected size you can expect the brick to be. For example, a standard metric brick is 215mm long, but a T2 classification will mean that the bricks could be 4mm shorter or longer than the 215mm length. This is why it is so important to mix from multiple packs and follow the manufacturers instructions on how to take bricks from the pack (they can be different). Blending bricks will help to mix up the sizes and allow you to lay in accordance with British Standards.

Yes, there are a wide range of brick sizes available. The standard UK format is 215 x 102 x 65mm but there are and were many versions of UK format that have existed over the years. It is common in the South of England to have Imperial size bricks which are 228 x 108 x 68mmmm whereas an Imperial size in the North may be 230 x 110 x 73mm. There is a huge range of sizes available from the European factories too with Dutch bricks at 210 x 100 x 50mm, Danish bricks being 228 x 108 x 54mm and Roman style linear bricks at 490mm long!

If you ever have any concerns over the suitability of a product for a project, please contact us. We will help you to understand the possible limitations of certain brick types and whether they are suitable for your project. It is far better to know now, rather than when the bricklayer is on site and can’t achieve your desired detail. Whether the brick is aesthetically pleasing is entirely subjective, but we can help with the technical properties of the brick and whether it will perform as required.

Yes, we work with numerous customers offering monthly credit facilities. You can apply online via the application form and we will come back to you with the results of the application. We also work with many customers who pay on a pro-forma invoice basis where payments are made via bank transfer.

Most manufacturers sell their bricks ‘per pack’. The pack size will vary enormously depending on the brick size and weight. The average pack size is around 500 bricks. Some factories will split packs for small quantities, so please contact us regardless of how many bricks you need and we will endeavour to help.

Yes, we can even help you with mortar too! We are working closely with Limetec and Cemex to bring you a range of mortars in various types and colours. Please let us know your requirements and we’ll provide you with the information and samples that you need.

The manufacturers don’t have a specific guarantee as such but they do suggest that the brick should last the lifetime of the building which is currently suggested as 60 years. In reality, we all know that when laid well and with the correct detailing, a brick can last for centuries.

Yes – brick matching is an important part of our role. Whilst matches for extensions and renovations form the bulk of the work, we are often asked to match existing buildings for reference. The best way to start the process is to visit our brick matching service page, upload some photos and we’ll contact you to discuss further.

Yes. The manufacturers and British Standard recommendations are to mix from multiple packs to ensure colour consistency and a spread of sizes which may differ, brick to brick, throughout the packs. Some manufacturers have specific ways of taking bricks from the packs, details of which are included on each pack of bricks. If in doubt, please contact us and we will advise accordingly. Failing to mix from multiple packs can result in unsightly banding or blocks of colour rather than an even mix.

The ‘frog’ is the indentation in the top of the brick and is designed to improve drying and firing in the kiln and to help with adhesion when built. It is important to lay the bricks with the frog up as it fills the voids, creates a complete wall and transfers pressure through the completed wall. It also means that the creases in your bricks will smile when laid correctly.

The vast majority of bricks that are currently produced are designated as S2 (Low Soluble Salts) and F2 (Fully Frost Resistant). This means that they can be used below DPC and in areas of severe exposure. Always ask for a product data sheet before making a decision on the bricks and always check with your engineer to make sure they are satisfied with the classification of the product.

The extremely popular LBC (London Brick Company) products are only moderately frost resistant which means that they are fine for building houses from but not suitable for boundary walls. Reclaimed bricks do not carry any guarantees and have not been tested, therefore they are used at your own risk.

Yes, we can take any brick and produce fabricated arches. Whether they are lightweight, structural, concrete backed, steel backed, segmental, flat gauged, semi-circular or soldier. We can collect the bricks that you are using on site, take them to one of the various factories that we work with and produce the arches that you require. We tend to leave the joints open so your brick layer can point in the same mortar as the rest of the brickwork, therefore the arches look as part of the facade. You can also have buttered joints to replicate the ‘red rubber’ style that was popular in Victorian times.

A half bat is an industry term used to describe half a brick which will be 102 x 102 x 65mm. Modern construction methods mean that we only lay brickwork to half a brick thick, which is at 102mm deep. A traditional wall would have bonded whole bricks to create a wall 215mm deep. We now use half bats to create the effect of traditional brickwork bonds like English Bond and Flemish Bond which would have resulted in ‘headers’ featuring in the brickwork. We usually create a half bat by cutting one brick in half, using one cut. This is referred to as a ‘once cut half bat’. For more precise work or where the bricks are traditionally a little larger than the normal 215mm length, you may wish to opt for twice cut half bats which is where you will always get a 102 x 102 x 65mm finished product.