Make Your Home Look Historic with Antique Brick

Jeffrey Anderson

How about a siding product that makes your home stand apart and at the same time makes for a great story at dinner parties? Not a story like the time you nailed your glove to the wall while installing a door--a story your guests might actually be interested in, such as the brick on the front of your home once being part of a Chicago shoe factory.

Make Antique Reclaimed Brick a Part of Your Home's Exterior

Antique brick is, you guessed it, brick that is very old. Perhaps it was part of a Pennsylvania schoolhouse, a Chicago factory, or even a brick fence in New England. Companies specialize in collecting brick when an old building is taken down. Specialists examine each brick, keeping the salvageable units. Old mortar and dirt is removed from the brick, and it is ready to be installed again.

Reclaimed brick is more expensive than modern brick due to the process of salvaging, shipping, and cleaning it, but you are purchasing a part of our country's history. Due to the cost, you may want to use antique brick as an accent combined with another siding. It can be installed by any qualified brick mason using modern mortar.

Antique brick is available from several companies across the country, such as Gavin Historical Bricks of Iowa and Vintage Brick Salvage of Illinois. Some companies ship within a designated area and others ship nationwide.

Entertain your guests with the history of your antique brick, and explain how you're contributing to our environment by using reclaimed building products. That's a far more impressive story than the one about the nail in the glove.


About the Author

Jeffrey Anderson has a Degree in English from V.M.I. and served as an officer in the Marine Corps. He worked in Residential and Commercial construction management for 25 years before retiring to write full time.

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