January 5th 2021
You've got a building project on the way and you're using bricks. Good choice.
There's just one thing missing. The bricks.
Even though your extension or house build may be completed by a professional builder, it's still up to you to choose the right bricks.
The question you may have is, where's the best place to buy them?
If you search for bricks on Google, you'll find there are many places that sell them.
But they're not all necessarily going to give you the best service or outcome for your building project.
Here we have a look at the different places you can get bricks, what's good and bad about them and what we think the best brick buying solution is (not-so-subtle hint: it's us!)
If you're ready to buy bricks, check out our brick library here.
The obvious places to go for bricks are your popular builder's merchants like Travis Perkins, Jewsons, Wickes and even DIY stalwart B&Q. You can find branches in most towns and as such you know what you're getting.
One of the main pros is that they are generally fairly affordable. Because they're big national companies that are shipping large quantities of materials, they'll often have deals and loyalty schemes. This is certainly attractive to buyers looking for a budget option.
Like many big retail businesses, they'll also be able to deliver your materials quickly and efficiently to your door.
You may find that the one you go to knows a thing or two about bricks, however...
With builder's merchants you need to be aware that bricks are just one of the many, many things they sell. They're slotted in along with a range of other building tools and materials.
There's no guarantee that they'll be specialists in brick. Whether or not the staff at your branch are going to be able to help you with your brick questions is pretty much the luck of the draw.
There's also likely to be less choice. Their margins are dependent on stocking the most popular bricks. If you want a specific kind of brick there's no guarantee that they will ever have it in stock.
After all, you may not want new bricks. Reclaimed and handmade bricks are often just as popular and these are not generally sold by builder's merchants.
The best place to buy your bricks is often dependent on the type of brick you're after.
Many of the traditional places will have a good selection of the most popular bricks but if you're looking for something a little more unique you might want to try some other options.
Reclaimed bricks are pretty popular due to the worn and rustic effect they can give.
It can sometimes prove a cheaper way of buying bricks due to the fact that there isn't as stringent quality control and you're not paying directly for the manufacturing.
With building manufacturing changing all the time, there are plenty of reclaimed bricks out there. You can visit big reclaimed yards across the country which have a wide selection of different kinds of bricks. The only downside to that is you often have to travel quite far to have a look.
For handmade bricks you would usually need to go to a specialist supplier. They're obviously more time consuming and require specialist skills to manufacture so will most likely command a higher price tag as a result.
But they can add a lot of character to your build and be manufactured in bespoke sizes and colours.
So how do you get hold of the right bricks for your project?
There are specialist brick merchants dotted around the country, so this could be a viable option. It may be that you have one nearby.
These would be the obvious place to go and do have the benefit of allowing you to look and touch the bricks in question, there and then.
They're better than your national builders merchants as they do have that specialism.
Of course, the downside is that these days they are fairly few and far between. The rise of big consumer traders has meant that the demand for specialist traders has decreased and many will have disappeared over the years.
So, you're relying on there being one near you or traveling a long way to have a browse. Alternatively, you don't need to travel far at all.
Fortunately for you, you've landed in the right place. Your quest for brick suppliers needn't go any further.
We're a brick specialist which means not only do we offer all the different types of brick we mentioned above but it's also the only thing we do.
Our whole team at Brickhunter is dedicated to selling, sourcing and supplying bricks and bricks alone. You can guarantee that you're going to get the most knowledgeable and reliable service.
And we're online. If you head to our Brick Library, you can browse a wide selection of bricks, including reclaimed and handmade bricks, from the comfort of your home.
There's also no commitment. Being able to order a sample to be delivered to you means you can check first before purchasing a particular brick. The best bit - if you have any questions, we're here to help.
Just drop a message in the chat box over there.