# Forum Home Renovation Brickwork  Cost of Recycled Bricks vs new bricks or besser block

## ellahound

Hi. We are looking to use recycled bricks as a key feature of a new build. At the very least they would be the key part of the facade and feature internal and coutryard walls. Given that we would be looking at rustic-yet-nice bricks (as opposed to any old brick that will be rendered) we are wondering whether this is actually an expensive option compared with new bricks or besser block. If anyone has an opinion about this, I'd love to hear it. Obviously we aren't looking for exact quotes or anything like that, just some personal experience. 
Thanks

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## Random Username

Well, if you can get a sufficient quantity of pre-cleaned old bricks at the right price (or you are happy to commit yourself to many weekends of busting mortar off old bricks with a scutch hammer...in which case the only right price for the bricks is 'free') it can be ok, but otherwise just buying some new 'ye olde timey' looking bricks might be a better use of your time!  Have a look at some brick showyards, and hit the secondhand builders supply places and gumtree and get a feel for what's out there.

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## chalkyt

Have a look at my previous post (10 April) re the short-short course on brickmaking! For your application it sounds as though you will need dry-press (i.e. solid) bricks, as extruded bricks can be a bit brittle and tend to chip or crack if you are belting them with anything. They are also generally quite consistent in appearance which might not be what you are after. 
Brickmakers can do clever things to make bricks look old... including "rumbling" (i.e. tossing nice square, clean bricks into something that looks like a cement mixer and letting them rumble around for a bit until the edges are knocked off, the faces are a bit tattered and they look "old"). This way you can get consistently "old" new bricks with a bit of character. 
Otherwise as Random Username says, be prepared to pay for someone else's cleaning time or set too with a block hammer and scutch chisel or scutch hammer and design your own. Different brickyards will have different versions of new colonial, clinker, rumbled, etc bricks. It is worth spending a few hours doing the rounds to see what is available.

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## Marc

Second hand bricks cost more to lay or if you are lucky, the same, so no savings there. 
Depending on how many bricks you need, you can consider cleaning second hand bricks you can get for nothing, yet rather than doing this by hand...not something you would wish on your worst enemy ...  hire a machine from Kennards and do it in 1/10 of the time. 
Buying second hand bricks already cleaned ... (?) 
What is the availability in your area? 
What are the costs in your area? 
Are you happy with wild variations in colour and worst of all variations in size? 
The bricklayer may refuse to lay them if they vary in size.  
An open question really.

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## Marc

> Have a look at my previous post (10 April) re the short-short course on brickmaking! ......

  Very high tech!
When I lived in never never land and someone got married, the neighbours would get together and level an area of the backyard, (big backyard) dig up a mud pit and mix mud with horse manure or sawdust into a sticky paste. 
Mud goes in moulds and the mud brick placed on the levelled area in the sun to dry. 
Then piled up in a honeycomb pattern to dry further. 
Then piled up tight together leaving one two or three cavities under the pile to fire the "kiln". 
A final layer of bricks and mud around the kiln for insulation and after 24 hours of fire and another two or 3 days to cool down, the bricks are ready.  :2thumbsup:

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## joynz

If you do end up getting used bricks from Gumtree etc then check how easy it is to remove the mortar before you commit to taking them as some mortar is *really* hard to get off.  Other mortar is really easy and just falls off with a bit of tapping (I use a small tomahawk for this).

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