"Reclaimed" Brick: What the Word Should Mean When You Buy

Pick up an old brick from a salvage pallet and it tells you where it has been. There may be a fleck of lime mortar still caught in its texture, a face darkened by decades of city air, an edge worn round by weather. It was made, laid, lived with and taken down again. Now pick up a new brick made to look old. It may be tumbled, chipped and colored to match, and from a few feet away the two can look alike. Both may be sold with words like "reclaimed", "antique" or "old". So what should "reclaimed" mean when you are the one buying?

At our yard, we see more and more new bricks made to look reclaimed. They are a real product with real uses. But they are new bricks, and a buyer deserves to know which one they are getting.

Maybe you are a homeowner who wants old brick for a wall, a fireplace or a patio. You might be a designer specifying reclaimed material for a client. Or maybe you are a contractor comparing quotes that use the same words for different things. This guide breaks down what "reclaimed" should mean, how new bricks made to look old differ from salvaged ones, how to tell them apart, and the questions to ask any seller before you buy.

Table of Contents

• Salvaged vs. New-Made-to-Look-Old at a Glance
• What "Reclaimed" Should Mean
• New Bricks Made to Look Old
• How to Tell Them Apart
• Questions to Ask Before You Buy
• How We Answer Those Questions
• Is Salvaged Brick Worth It?

Salvaged vs. New-Made-to-Look-Old at a Glance

The two can look alike in a photo. Side by side, they are different products.

Note: these are general descriptions, not rules. Ask each seller what their product is.

What "Reclaimed" Should Mean

For us, the answer is simple: a reclaimed brick is a salvaged brick. It was taken from a building that was demolished or taken apart, or lifted from an old street, then cleaned and sold for a new project. The brick itself is reused. Its age, color and wear come from its first life.

That is what you are paying for when you ask for reclaimed brick: real age, a natural range of color, and the knowledge that an old building's material is being used again.

Words like "antique-style", "old-look" or "tumbled" describe how a brick looks. They do not tell you whether it has had a first life. "Reclaimed" should.

New Bricks Made to Look Old

A new brick can be given an old look in several ways: tumbled to round its edges, chipped or distressed, colored or coated to look weathered. The result can be convincing, and for some projects it is the right choice.

New bricks made to look old have real advantages. Supply can be steadier, sizes are made to a specification, and the maker can tell you how the brick is meant to be used. If you need a large quantity of one even look, or a brick made to a current specification, a new brick may suit you better.

What it is not is a reclaimed brick. It has never been in a wall. If you are matching an old building, want brick with real age, or chose reclaimed brick because it keeps old material in use, you want salvaged brick. Neither is good or bad. They are different products, and the label should say which one you are buying.

How to Tell Them Apart

No single clue proves where a brick came from, and some new bricks are made to look old very well. But a few things are worth looking at, especially across a whole pallet rather than one brick.

• Traces of old mortar. Salvaged bricks are cleaned, but small traces of old mortar often stay in the texture. A brick made to look old has never been laid in a wall.
• Size from brick to brick. Old bricks vary in size, even within a sorted batch. If every brick measures exactly the same, ask.
• Wear that varies. On salvaged brick, wear comes from where each brick sat in a wall or a street, so it differs from one brick to the next. If every brick shows the same chips in the same places, ask.
• Color across the pallet. Salvaged brick from one source has a natural range of color. Look at many bricks, not one.
• A sample in your hand. Photos flatten all of this. A sample, held against your wall in daylight, tells you most.

If something does not add up, the simplest step is to ask the seller directly where the bricks came from.

Questions to Ask Before You Buy

Whatever word a seller uses, a few plain questions tell you what you are getting. Any seller should be able to answer them.

• Where did the bricks come from? Which kind of building or street, and which region? A seller of salvaged brick should know where it was salvaged.
• How old are they? An honest answer may be a range rather than a year. Be wary of precise ages that nobody could know.
• Do they still show old mortar? Ask how they were cleaned, and whether traces of old mortar remain in the texture.
• How much does the size vary? Ask for the average length, width and height, and how much individual bricks differ.
• What wear should I expect? Softened edges, small chips and marks on the faces are normal for salvaged brick. Ask whether they come from use or were added.
• Can I see a sample? A brick in your hand beats any photo.
• What are they sold for? Ask whether the seller sells them for structural or non-structural use, and why.

How We Answer Those Questions

Here is how our New York reclaimed bricks answer the questions above:

• Where they came from: older buildings and streets in the United States, many of them in New York. Our New York reclaimed bricks were made in the Hudson Valley; our guide to the history of brick manufacturing in the Hudson Valley tells the story of the brickyards there.
• Condition: every brick is checked by hand, about a million a year, and ships cleaned of old mortar and dirt. We clean them by hand, but not so hard that we strip away the age that makes them worth using, so small traces of old mortar can remain in the texture.
• Sorting: we sort bricks by type, size and color, so each product has a consistent character.
• Size: each product page gives the average size and the number of bricks per pallet.
• Samples: most of our reclaimed bricks are available as a small sample by priority mail.
• Use: reclaimed bricks aren't tested to current structural standards, so we sell them for non-structural use.

We explain the whole process, from salvage to pallet, in how we source, sort and clean reclaimed bricks. For a wider comparison of old and new, see reclaimed vs new bricks. If you have a question we have not answered, ask through our contact page.

Is Salvaged Brick Worth It?

If you want the look, the variety and the story of old brick, yes. A salvaged brick has a surface and a color range that come from its first life, and choosing it keeps good material in use instead of in a landfill. Lay it in a breathable lime mortar, as old brick was laid; our guide to why reclaimed bricks need different mortar than new bricks explains why.

The trade-offs are clear. Old bricks vary in size and color, so a sample and a careful look are worth the time. They are for non-structural use. And if you need a large run of one even look, or a brick made to a current specification, a new brick, including one made to look old, may be the better fit. The important thing is to know which one you are buying.

To see what we mean by reclaimed, start with our reclaimed bricks guide, or visit our yard in Nanuet, NY. No appointment is needed, but if you call ahead at (718) 379-1232, we will make sure you get our full attention.