Container Hire: Maximising the Role of Containers in Your Business

Even though they might have been in place for quite some time, old bricks have an aesthetic appeal because of their weathered appearance. In fact, some modern brick manufacturers try to duplicate how old bricks look to make their products unique in the flooded brick market. The good thing is that you don't have to look for such duplicated products because you can salvage old bricks and use them again for construction. Here are some of the important steps you must follow in this process:

Get Your Brick

The first step is to identify the source of your old bricks where you can get a good number of them for salvaging. Common sources include demolition sites, landfills and old chimneys being refurbished or brought down. After identifying the source of your brick, get rid of the badly broken and damaged bricks and remain with what you need. Note that this is a time-consuming process requiring careful selection, and it should not be done in a hurry.

Remove Excess Mortar

During construction, you use mortar alongside bricks to set up structures. You need to get rid of this old mortar when recycling bricks. Here, you need a chisel and hammer to knock off excess mortar and leave behind the material used to make the bricks. Lay the chisel's cutting edge on the seam (the point where the mortar meets the brick) and strike off the mortar from the surface of the brick in a cleaving action. In most cases, the mortar will drop off and leave the surface of the brick quite clean, especially if the brick has a smooth texture.

Remove Stubborn Stains and Materials

Before the recycled bricks are ready for your next project, you must deal with stains and stubborn materials stuck on the bricks. Such materials include mould and algae forming coloured stains on the surface of the bricks. Identify all the affected bricks and scrub them using an abrasive rubbing rock. These rubbing stones are available in construction supply stores and they are composed of a rubbing stone affixed to a plastic or wooden handle for ease of handling.

Wash the Bricks

The last step involves washing the bricks to give them the ultimate sparkle before you can use them on your project. Here, you need a mild solution of muriatic acid mixed with water at around ten percent concentration. For instance, ten litres of water should be mixed with a litre of muriatic acid.  After washing the bricks with muriatic acid, stack them gently in the open air to dry. The recycled bricks are now ready for use.