Imperial Bricks

Discussion in 'Builders' Talk' started by Dr Who, Oct 31, 2003.

  1. Dr Who

    Dr Who New Member

    Can you still get imperial bricks from builders merchants?

    I ask for two reasons...

    1. when my old boiler is to be removed it will leave a largish hole in my wall (Square flue type). I am slightly worried that when the heating engineer bricks this up they will use metric bricks which may look messy when compared to the imperial shiney face plain brick.

    2. I am considering bulding a porch on the front of my house which uses a 'pinhead dappled' face brick which is a greeny beige colour. I would dearly like the porch bricks to match as it the porch would look a pigs ear if the bricks were different!

    thanks in advance,

    Dr Who

    PS The house was built in 1950.
     
  2. pachyderm

    pachyderm New Member

    Sorry I don't have an answer, but it does remind me..

    About 10-15 years ago a colleague from East Africa was visiting the UK for the first time. Having spent his first week in London I was driving him to the West Country for some meetings. As we were leaving London we were talking about his impressions of England. He mentioned he was interested to note that how all the house bricks were the same size. I explained about there being a standard, then how it had been changed from imperial to metric a few years before, resulting in a smaller standard brick size.
    Then the devil in me cut in. I went on to explain to him that we had a long traddition of reducing the standard size of our bricks and was able to illustrate it by pointing out "examples" around us. (Fortunately there was nothing tudor around and he wasn't able to tell for sure if some were older than others). After a couple of minutes of this the conversation moved on, but I was confident that I had convinced him of the facts. So on we went out of London, on the M3 then the A303. As the the A303 became single carriageway and we drove up a slight gradient I was able to remind him of our earlier conversation ending with "...and that's how large our house bricks were 3,500 years ago" just as we came to the top of the hill and Stone Henge came into view.
    For some curious reason I don't think he ever believed anything I've said since then.
     
  3. ALLACON

    ALLACON New Member

    the only suggestion is if there is a local reclamation yard close to you which may be worth a visit, or regarding your porch, if you can not match the bricks then use a contrasting brick, as a feature
     
  4. Dr Who

    Dr Who New Member

    Thanks chaps for the story and help. I have thought about the reclamation yard but I expect they charge a premium, that I may end up having to pay if that is what I want

    cheerio

    Dr Who
     
  5. susie

    susie New Member

    Ibstock do a number of bricks in imperial sizes; they call them 'restoration bricks', and they are made specifically for the refurbishment of older properties. The ones I have seen tend to be of the victorian/edwardian era (smooth)type, but they may well do them in more recent finishes (i.e. 'dappled'). Ibstock also have excellent showroom facilities (at Ibstock, near Leicester), and their website is very useful. You can also order their catalogues online at their website: www.ibstock.co.uk, and they will send you samples of as many bricks as you like (in boxes, 3 of each brick). Hope this helps....
     
  6. Dr Who

    Dr Who New Member

    Thanks Susie,

    Leicester is just down the road from me! I will order their catalogue and see if my bricks are in there.

    many thanks

    Dr Who
     

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