Concrete blo
Concrete blo
Apr
30
Clay pavers 
admin , 15:07 , Concrete blocks and bricks , Comments(0) , Trackbacks(0) , Reads(256) , Via Original 
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Large | Medium | Small
Many of the "house brick" manufacturers produce their own ranges of clay paving bricks. These are generally available as typical, rectangular bricks, although there are now a good choice of size variations, from 60x60mm 'cobbles', 150x150mm 'setts' and 300x300mm squares. Custom shapes can be made for specific projects by some of the more co-operative manufacturers.
Clay paviors in differing sizes and colours
The most usual size is 100-105 x 200-215 x 60mm; this means that, with some bricks, there are less than 50 bricks per square metre, and that not all clays are interchangeable. Unlike the concrete blocks, most clays are manufactured with 2 presentable faces, allowing them to be inverted to replace stained paving.
Clay paviors on my own patio The colour of clay bricks is completely natural, not a chemical dye, and so these bricks are not subject to fading as are the concrete types. This use of natural colour also means that the range of colours available is almost limitless; reds, browns, buffs, greys, blues and a mass of multi-colour blends. If colour is an important factor in your project, clay bricks are probably the solution.
From a contractor's point of view, clay bricks are much harder to cut with a conventional block splitter than are concrete blocks, and it's worth hiring-in a diamond-bladed bench-saw if there are a lot of cuts to be made.
Note that 'house' bricks, 'facing' bricks or 'commons' ARE NOT SUITABLE for paving. They were never designed for that purpose, and often fail when wrongly used as a pavior, by flaking or cracking or just disintegrating in damp conditions. Conversely, paving bricks are not designed to build walls or pillars. Horses for courses, as they say.
Clay paviors in differing sizes and colours
The most usual size is 100-105 x 200-215 x 60mm; this means that, with some bricks, there are less than 50 bricks per square metre, and that not all clays are interchangeable. Unlike the concrete blocks, most clays are manufactured with 2 presentable faces, allowing them to be inverted to replace stained paving.
Clay paviors on my own patio The colour of clay bricks is completely natural, not a chemical dye, and so these bricks are not subject to fading as are the concrete types. This use of natural colour also means that the range of colours available is almost limitless; reds, browns, buffs, greys, blues and a mass of multi-colour blends. If colour is an important factor in your project, clay bricks are probably the solution.
From a contractor's point of view, clay bricks are much harder to cut with a conventional block splitter than are concrete blocks, and it's worth hiring-in a diamond-bladed bench-saw if there are a lot of cuts to be made.
Note that 'house' bricks, 'facing' bricks or 'commons' ARE NOT SUITABLE for paving. They were never designed for that purpose, and often fail when wrongly used as a pavior, by flaking or cracking or just disintegrating in damp conditions. Conversely, paving bricks are not designed to build walls or pillars. Horses for courses, as they say.
