Reclaimed Brick Quality

[moorsy]

Hello,

I was passing a cottage today that was being renovated, outside on pellets were a quantity of red bricks that had been removed from the interior walls of the cottage. I think the bricks would look great as part of the entrance and chimney for my WFO build. The concern I have is that these old bricks look rather porous and I am worried they wouldn’t stand up to being exposed to the elements. Any advice on how I could test them? Or protect them, spray with some sort of sealant? Or should I just buy new bricks? Spoke to the owner and he would let me have them for 50c (euro) a brick.

[bookemdanno]

From what i've worked out, porousity is not a problem so long as your mortar is Lime based, or weak to allow the brickwork to breathe and moisture to evaporate and spread out. If a strong cement based mortar is used the bricks are forced to retain the moisture individually, and freeze thaw can blow the faces off them, leaving the mortar exposed. Cement based mortars are pretty waterproof, and tough/inflexible, making the brick the sacrificial part of the wall. The old way was to make the mortar the sacrificial part, as re-pointing was all that was needed. I live in a 170 year old Flint faced house, built with Lime mortars and its fine, as Limes can be self healing also, by reacting with rainfall across the face to heal fine cracks before they grow to large. Take a look at the old cottage, it's probably got few vertical and horizontal elements these days, but the Lime mortar used can handle the movement. Cement was introduced mainly as a quicker way to build houses with walls of a thinner cross section, after the wars, because Cement is more tolerant of bad weather during the build, Limes generally need better weather, and more time to cure slowing build times. Before that Lime was the way to go and the preferred choice of builders over Cement, not Hydrated builders Lime tho, Lime Putty, or the more cement like Natural Hydraulic Lime. I will be using reclaimed Victorian Bricks and NHL Mortar for my Pompeii style Oven in the hopefully not too distant future, once the Bathroom is finished. I'd expect that Lime would have been the mortar of choice for the ill fated Venusians too, until Mt.Vesuvius blew her stack!

[moorsy]

Thanks for the info

[DuncanM]

Moorsy,

My bricks are reclaimed from a very old cottage too. I initially had some doubts about the bricks, do they look anything like the ones I've used in my build?

ukwoodfiredovenforum.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=bvovens&action=display&thread=136&page=4

I plan on building it and sealing them with a waterproofer one hot summers day. My neighbour has used it on an old reclaimed wall he has and says it acts like a ducks back!

[cannyfradock]

Mar 27, 2012 12:18:19 GMT moorsy said:

Hello,

I was passing a cottage today that was being renovated, outside on pellets were a quantity of red bricks that had been removed from the interior walls of the cottage. I think the bricks would look great as part of the entrance and chimney for my WFO build. The concern I have is that these old bricks look rather porous and I am worried they wouldn’t stand up to being exposed to the elements. Any advice on how I could test them? Or protect them, spray with some sort of sealant? Or should I just buy new bricks? Spoke to the owner and he would let me have them for 50c (euro)
a brick.

Moorsy

Interesting comments from the guys......here's my thoughts.

The bricks that were used on the interior of Victorian houses were the same as the bricks that were used outside. If they are full red bricks or bricks with a shallow frog (indent) then they should have a glazed face to them. As long as you can find bricks with an intact glazed face, then you can use them for the entrance...and stack.

I would also use lime in the mortar mix in a 8:1:1 ratio of sand, OPC cement and hydrated lime.

All the best with your build and pleeeese keep us informed of your progress.

Terry

[moorsy]

Hi DuncanM

Yes, the bricks I am concidering look exactly like yours.


Hi Cannyfradock
They are full red bricks (no shallow frog), no glazed face to them. Would you recommend a sealant?

Moorsy

[cannyfradock]

Moorsy

I haven't come across this type of brick before. They would've been originally fired to well over 1800 degrees c so they should be able to cope with all weathers........however I would go with Duncans suggestions and seal them.....There's nothing like first hand experience.

Terry