Saw something wild at a historic hotel in St. Louis last weekend

I was visiting the Lemp Mansion down in St. Louis last weekend, just checking out the place for fun. They had this old brick wall in the basement that was clearly original from the 1800s, but someone had patched it with modern red brick that looked completely different. The old bricks were all handmade and had that rough, uneven texture with bits of shale in them, while the new ones were perfectly smooth and a different shade of orange. It really hit me how much the quality and character of brick has changed over the years, and how hard it must be to match old work without tracking down salvaged materials. Have any of you had to match historic brickwork on a job and found a good source for reclaimed stuff?

2 comments

2 Comments

nancy1547d ago

Be careful with reclaimed brick though, you really gotta inspect it piece by piece because old stuff can be crumbly or have old mortar that's a pain to clean off. I've had decent luck with a couple of architectural salvage yards in the Midwest, but their inventory changes all the time so it's hit or miss. Your best bet is to plan way ahead and buy more than you think you'll need so you've got good options to pick from.

abby_martin287d ago

Oh come on, it's really not that serious. I've been grabbing reclaimed brick from random Craigslist posts and dumpster sites for years and maybe one in twenty has a crack. The old mortar actually adds character if you just leave it on there instead of spending your whole weekend scrubbing. @nancy154 is making it sound like you need a PhD in brick inspection or something. Plus buying way more than you need is just gonna leave you with a pile of dusty bricks in your yard for the next three years like my neighbor has. I say grab what looks good, don't overthink it, and if a couple crumble you just call them "rustic" and move on.