Got a weird request to match some 100 year old bricks in an old part of town

A homeowner wanted me to fix a section of their garden wall but the bricks were these tiny, dark red things from like the 1920s. I spent a whole morning hitting up every yard in the city and came up empty. Out of ideas, I grabbed a handful of the old bricks, took them to a local pottery place, and asked if they could fire me some clay to match. The potter mixed a few samples and we baked them in her kiln. After three tries, we got the color and texture almost perfect. I cut the new 'bricks' to size with a masonry saw and they blended right in. The homeowner was thrilled. Has anyone else ever had to make custom bricks from scratch for a repair job?

3 comments

3 Comments

young.nora2mo ago

My buddy had a similar nightmare with his chimney. The original bricks were this weird, pitted yellow that you just can't find. He ended up mixing concrete with sand and pigment in a mold, then hitting the faces with a wire brush to rough them up. It took a bunch of test batches in his garage before the color was right. You could only tell the difference if you were up on the roof looking for it.

tara7932mo ago

That garage must have smelled like a weird craft project for weeks.

janarivera2mo ago

Man, that sounds like a ton of work, but it's so cool you got it to match.