where to buy antique bricks

My contractor needs some bricks to match our existing 1899 bricks in order to fill in an old doorway that’s now a window…

Anyone out there know of a place where they might sell antique bricks?? – or anyone want to sell me some? We just need enough to cover an area approximately 3′ x 5′.

Guest User | 4 years and 5 months ago

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Guest User | 4 years and 4 months ago

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Thanks @urbandad, I am aware of the old brick vs modern mortar problem and we got special lime-based mortar that is supposed to match the original mortar recipe.

SoSlope | 4 years and 5 months ago

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@Urbandad: That is a really helpful point about mortar. Using the wrong mortar may well have been the cause of spalling bricks.

hkapstein | 4 years and 5 months ago

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I definitely wouldn’t use that company for rear facade bricks. For front facade bricks, they may be able to make them, but it will be expensive. If the OP wants to match the old bricks, s/he needs to understand matching the mortar joints as well, and that the original mortar was a portland free lime product that is no longer available. A soft mortar should be used with the older bricks which are softer. We mixed some type N mortar ourselves down to Type O since type O is not commonly stocked, although it can be ordered.

The concept is simple. As movement structural occurs in the building over time due to temperature changes and settling, the bricks will be pressed against the mortar. The softer of the two will crack. The design goal is for the mortar to crack and give way for the bricks. The mortar can be repointed, but the bricks cannot be repaired easily once damaged. Modern masonry units such as bricks and cmus are very hard, and most mortars available today a re designed for use with these products. If you us hard mortar to point soft bricks, you will notice in a few years, maybe a decade or two, that the bricks start to spall and break, and by then little can be done.

yudashasom | 4 years and 5 months ago

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Thanks @SoSlope

SoSlope | 4 years and 5 months ago

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This is the place I spoke with:
https://www.historicalbricks.com/brick-restoration-matching/

I cannot comment on how good they are since I never actually ordered anything from them. There are others if you google terms like: historical brick custom.

yudashasom | 4 years and 5 months ago

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@SoSlope, who did you find for custom bricks?

SoSlope | 4 years and 5 months ago

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As @no-permitz said, finding an exact match is almost impossible (I tried). We only need a few old bricks and got around it by replacing some hidden bricks with modern brick and then using those old bricks in visible spots. I also found a place that would make custom bricks to match antique bricks, but didn’t end up going that route.

hkapstein | 4 years and 5 months ago

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I have a big pile in my backyard right now. Left over from building an extension and doing some repairs. They matched perfectly. I was planning to burn them off to build some flower beds or something in the yard. If you can’t find them from a supplier feel free to reach out and we can talk.

Guest User | 4 years and 5 months ago

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Thx for the advice guys! No I don’t believe he called them but I’ll look them up.

It’s for the back wall, so hopefully it won’t be too hard to match.

yudashasom | 4 years and 5 months ago

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Ordinary used red brick can be bought or found almost anywhere for .50-.55c (Kings, Glenwood, Craigslist… call around). If you are trying to match it to your front facade it is going to be very difficult, and almost impossible to get it right. Even if you took bricks from an identical building across the street, it still wouldn’t match. Back wall, used red brick will match well.

krobertson

in General Discussion 4 years and 5 months ago

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Has your contractor tried visiting or calling the store Kings? — any decent masonry contactor should know it, they have several locations in Brooklyn. I know they sometimes carry “used” brick — pretty much recycled brick from old buildings, typically looks like the old Hudson river brick.

Guest User | 4 years and 5 months ago

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@john my contractor drove by but said he couldn’t see any bricks… are they still there and do you have an approximate address, or tell me which side of the street they’re located on? Thx!

Guest User | 4 years and 5 months ago

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thanks for the tip!

JohnHancock | 4 years and 5 months ago

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There’s a big pile of bricks in someone’s front yard nearby, I’m not sure if they’re keeping them or throwing them out.
Perhaps stop by and ask.
Hancock between Tompkins and Throop