Advantages of Using Handmade Bricks
You have probably heard the term ‘handmade bricks’ being used sporadically if you work in the construction industry. However, if you’re not familiar with the term, you may be interested to know that handmade bricks are a unique type of brick. It certainly isn’t just a fancy term.
Handmade brick products might just be the exact thing you’re looking for, so what exactly are they? What makes them so special to use for commercial buildings? Modular Clay Products have outlined all you need to know about these bricks and their advantages.
But firstly, it’s essential to know the difference between handmade and machine-made brick.
What are Handmade Bricks?
Handmade bricks aren’t entirely hand-crafted in the same way that someone would paint a picture or sculpt a model. Instead, handmade bricks refer to bricks that have been hand thrown into sanded moulds, with no machines used to compact or cut them.
Due to this unique brick manufacturing process, handmade bricks have wavy creases and marks on their faces. Machine-made bricks don’t have these unique textures, which gives their handmade counterparts some individuality and versatility.
Brick manufacturers can produce handmade bricks in whatever size they want them to be, whether this is in the standard UK brick size, European size, long format dimensions or something else that is completely bespoke.
Once they’ve dried in a controlled environment, the water in the clay evaporates, and the handmade bricks are fired in a kiln, in the same way that machine-made bricks are.
Why Do People Use Handmade Bricks?
While clay facing bricks offer tremendous benefits for construction, civil engineering, and many other industries, handmade bricks are proving increasingly popular in various situations.
These include:
- Conservation – handmade bricks are often used for heritage projects, to replicate the original look of a building.
- Achieving particular aesthetics – some people like the rustic, archaic look and feel of handmade bricks, as well as the creases, unique sizes, irregularities and other characteristics that machine-made bricks don’t have.
- Brick matching – older bricks are often sized differently to modern, standard clay bricks. Rather than searching far and wide for reclaimed bricks in the hopes that you’ll find an exact match, getting bricks handmade to match the original specifications is a far more proactive and efficient solution. At Modular Clay Products, we can help find and supply bricks that have been replicated to match older bricks. Get in touch with us to find out more.
Pros and Cons of Handmade Bricks
While handmade bricks have many advantages, the reality is that they aren’t for everyone. So it’s worth considering the pros and cons of these bricks before placing an order for thousands of them.
Benefits:
- They offer incredible flexibility.
- These bricks can be made to any specifications you want.
- Brick manufacturers can use different brick blends, clays, shapes and sizes to make something genuinely handmade and bespoke.
- Using handmade bricks over reclaimed bricks saves you time and money when replicating and matching.
- You can get them manufactured to look older to match existing legacy brickwork in the commercial building’s environment.
Drawbacks:
- Handmade bricks aren’t as manufactured en masse as standard facing bricks, so they sometimes come with a higher price point per unit.
- They occasionally take longer to manufacture, so it’s worth factoring this in when figuring out project timescales.
- Each handmade brick has a unique texture and face, so if you’re looking for something uniform and consistent in your exterior wall, you may not like the inconsistencies in these bricks. However, this is preferential to some commercial architects.
It’s clear to see that handmade bricks offer certain benefits that machine-made bricks cannot match. However, to get a clearer picture of how your brick building will look, we’d recommend trialling, sampling and testing a handful of bricks, so you’re going to be fully happy with the look of your building. Once built, it’s much harder to change the appearance.