How to Make Bricks | This Old House

Mark McCullough travels to Bridgewater, MA to see how local bricks are made
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The bricks that Mark McCullough is using for the Arlington Arts & Crafts house chimney are the same bricks that grace much of historic Boston. He meets Lincoln Andrews in Bridgewater, MA and gets a tour of the factory where these bricks have been made for over 100 years. They watch raw indigenous clay get milled, mixed, pressed into molds, dried and finally heated in a round kiln to almost 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. After several days, the bricks are sorted and strapped and ready to send to the jobsite.
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How to Make Bricks | This Old House
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[@cerberus1595]

I still got pictures of my grandpa making bricks back when people made it themselves. It's fun to see how it's done these days. My own house now holds these large chambered brick blocks for its walls.

[@brianholt3567]

great video. wish our school systems would teach these concepts. it may inspire people to want to pursue other careers or at least dive deeper into the subject.

[@bobbymancini9069]

20+ year mason here and I'll tell we can use more young blood in the building trades. I wish schools would push the trades as much as they push college or at least show that it's a viable option to make a living these days.

[@Denver10215]

Watch on KZbin ...when the. Buildings cried ...part 2.... !!! You can start with part 1 the first 20 minutes are slow ... If you start when the buildings cried part 1..start at 20 minutes in..

[@paulhawkins3763]

Nah bro, we need more accountants 😆

[@kayakMike1000]

​@@bobbymancini9069they paint the bricks...

[@lemuelseale1640]

Watching this during my morning dump is quite appropriate

[@ahassan3557]

Hahahaha

[@will6258]

That’s so cool that they use the heat during the cooldown period of the kiln firing to dry new bricks. That must save a lot of energy.

[@edwardwood6532]

I love the Boston accent, it sounds like he is being rubbed the wrong way by some chucklehead at a local bar no matter the context.

[@KJEThompson]

I've seen the "kiln" and have learned the process that they use at Colonial Williamsburg! They make one kiln and one batch a summer for Williamburg Foundation restoration projects and buildings. Same process from the 1700s!

[@hem8515]

85,000 bricks?? Meh... They clearly haven’t seen me on the basketball court.

[@PaulPatrickRogueMissionary]

Well played playa!

[@rjhayes8856]

😂😂😂💀💀 you need help

[@rosecarter344]

😂

[@jordanbabcock9349]

Hey, you aren't a quitter!

[@belltopcone]

great vid mate enjoyed watching the production of the Bricks.

[@jrcotton3483]

That is awesome,watching how bricks are made so they be used to make houses and schools and buildings....

[@lewisp417]

I remember making 34000 bricks per hour. This company is using 18 century technology and i am surprised they are going strong.

[@plantmanstudios]

How do you make a brick?

[@littlejoe9381]

Muy interesante. I was actually thinking about building a brick oven to use outside my home. However, evidently there is a stone/ brick shortage where I live according to Lowe’s.

[@Basement_crusader]

“…wow, unreal”

[@Peto111222]

Great...

[@wesleybusbin]

I worked in a brick plant. An stacking them when they where still wet was a good fun job

[@kubtastic]

At least the video editor knew how to title the video

[@tambarlas5248]

That was cool. They don't add anything to the clay? PS: TOH videos are still not showing up in my Subscription feed.

[@hmzapata665]

Same problem here

[@sgvpotter]

anything they add will be done when the clay is processed before they add it to the pug mill. In the video they did add some grit/grog/sand (yellow looking stuff) which reduces shrinkage since not as much water can be absorbed.When you first see the clay it's also brown so they probably add some Red Iron Oxide (fancy rust) to make the red stand out. If you see one side of the brick has a white side, that's more than likely a power clay they add to the bottom of the form so that when new clay is stamped it wont stick. It's like when you kneed dough and you put flower on the table.

[@dereksmalls6238]

Same they're not showing in my subs feed.

[@ShakespeareCafe]

just googled cost per brick $1.45/ea...definitely an energy-intensive construction material

[@theloneviking9145]

The host was saying that these bricks are used throughout New England for sidewalks, etc., as well as façades of building. It’s my understanding that these Boston City Hall pavers as they are called are only used for paving, am I correct? or do people actually use these pavers for facades of buildings? I thought that these pavers, I’ve used thousands of them, are slightly smaller than a building brick. Please correct me if I’m wrong.

[@Denver10215]

Red brick lovers .... KZbin when the buildings cried part 2..... It's 4 part documentary .. part 2 is where I started then I watched part 3 then part 1 ..then 4... Start with part 2...

[@ryanmiskolczi58]

Nice bricks

[@artinauto2771]

I like it!

[@chrisroberts6860]

2:08 hand made too!

[@heroknaderi]

Interesting

[@defective6811]

Brick is apparently the plural of brick

[@bob8289]

thanks for the video. What is best for chimney rebuilds, solid brick or cored brick?

[@DavidMayer-xg4td]

The best brick is a very hard brick the hardest brick you can get they have solid bricks that are soft cement bricks reserve a lot of water freeze and crack, very few cord brick are hard. And the ones that are very hard have three big holes in the so there's not enough clay to make a strong unit the unit itself cracks very easy, you need to celebrate the frog in the bottom

[@sminthian]

I thought you were going to tell me how to make bricks, but 2000 degrees? Yeah, never mind...

[@kevinmencer3782]

Actually, that's not as crazy as it sounds. Steel smelting occurs at much higher temperatures, and the Vikings could do that in a clay kiln and bellows

[@artbautista7987]

Homeboy is right! My dad actually makes his own bricks using a bonfire to fire them, after the bricks have been dried. There's a bunch of KZbin video showing how kzbin.info/www/bejne/m2LFnpmojL-fsKs

[@Philadelphia19147]

Lincoln? What year is this

[@willsheehan2975]

How did they make the brick for the lid of the kiln without use of the kiln 🤯

[@thedoubleboiler6971]

Making a small kiln, out of mudbrick/ bricks that have not been "fired". By firing the kiln for the first time, it will allow a structure to make brick, to make a stronger kiln, such as the one seen in this video. The bricks tend to be made of a mixture of Clay (which can be harvested from dirt just about anywhere) and by mixing straw from dried glass clippings in with the clay, it becomes cob. If mixing sand with the two, you get an even stronger brick, but clay and straw should be fine (have yet to do this myself, but I will do so very soon in the warmer weather).

[@logand6697]

Very interesting stuff

[@Coldkill2001]

85,000 bricks is a wicked retahded numbah o bricks

[@zomalfa4363]

He didn't say anything about the comment section. I have one, where's all that clay come from?

[@turtledab8795]

I got so scared at 2:19 cus I thought it was gonna be a cake.

[@poland_stronk3044]

Pick up this brick... What a joker!

[@truthsearcherforever3211]

They should start making houses out of bricks

[@omoroseikponmwosa2332]

Pls where can we purchase the machine for moulding the bricks.

[@johnnyguyda1996]

I'm getting the notification

[@camdenstillwell4186]

Johnny Guyda same

[@johnnyguyda1996]

I mean I am not getting them. Sorry

[@dereksmalls6238]

I'm still not sadly.

[@The13point1]

I always thought that the plural of ‘brick’ was ‘bricks’

[@Peto111222]

You is wrong men

[@fazeeti2692]

@@Peto111222 get ur spelling correct bro

[@ericschmuecker348]

@@fazeeti2692 Ewe two ! Speel chex!

[@roybuda1485]

What does Rodger have, and how is he?

[@ctswampyankee8688]

I've been there before...its way down some back roads... and I'll tell you what try to lay a smoke stack with those curvy mofos...

[@peoplez129]

Yeah uh....I've seen 3rd world bricks better molded than these. Trying to make excuses like "it's local and artisan" does not excuse the lack in quality, especially in America. And they're painted too, which means they're using subpar quality material and trying to make it look better. Brick should never need to be painted when it's brand new. And painting a brick actually traps in moisture, which results in degradation. And since you're using mortar to cement the bricks, you'll be introducing moisture. And since the brick is painted, it will absorb and trap that moisture from the cementing, and it'll be stuck in there with nowhere to go, causing the brick to become much more brittle and crack easier. So all these bricks will do, is ensure that any project built with it, will degrade much quicker. You'll be having stuff 5 years old that looks like its been degrading for 50 years. And since that moisture is from the inside, it will cause the paint to chip, guaranteeing you have to repaint the brick very soon, further increasing the cost.

[@benjaminharrisongray9079]

Thank you for this information. I've since learned that the shale mixture used to make quality bricks is usually either left to its own color or its dyed while mixing it, instead of being painted red which would it does seem consititute cheap and less porous brick, aka. planned obsolescent trash. A pity TOH decided to not explain that to curious learners, and that they went to a company that would rather produce low quality bricks to show people this how bricks are made. It shows a lack of concern upon what they view. I suppose however, it does give viewers a grim idea of what is being put out there by a less considerate market.

[@peoplez129]

@@benjaminharrisongray9079 The paint even makes any structure built with it dangerous. Using paint insulates the mortar from the brick, which means they don't bond properly. The whole point of brick and mortar is because mortar cements to the brick because of the chemical reactions that occur.

[@chippydog2]

Why so negative? I’m sure you can make better! ?????

[@Whohah-s2p]

U.S family buisiness need to reinvest in modern machinery to keep up germans japanese way ahead

[@bobbymancini9069]

Yes but unfortunately the government things it's better to import than to keep jobs here

[@rathourd322]

I am currently working sare work is very fast and very nice I am old house bracket successful working tell me visa in your country my experience for 5 years old

[@jdm1066]

See how the brick isn't perfect....we have poor quality control...but great salesmen.

[@heroshyma69]

This wasn't a tutorial but more of a "how it's made". I wanted to learn "how to make bricks".

[@alablakelock78]

Check Townsend's channel if you are looking into DIY brickmaking

[@Bonzi_Buddy]

These guys are shooting each other smirks and looks which makes me think there were some vulgar jokes or friendly insults exchanged between takes or things that were edited out.

[@gakoro3393]

now just to find an unsuspecting homeless person.

[@HarlemGreatest]

THIS IS A RERUN

[@user-ft3dp7kp4i]

in my village the brick still handmade not using technology like this. this sound expensive

[@thejamesasher]

so bricks are artificial sedimentary stone

[@carltonthesponge]

I just found 12 bricks

[@Soulseeologia]

How did the horse and buggy people make so many bricks in the 1800s without any modern technology??

[@morgunz5365]

"See how our bricks aren't semetrical and made sh*t. That's what makes them so great." Okay, buddy. Settle down.

[@joegoins9894]

You could build a two story house 5 layer's thick like my house with 80000 brix

[@mokiicustoms]

Show the Vintage Trips not these new boring ones

[@superlaw4611]

Dear Sudan land badly need to set up company for red brick by electcity machines oven now 1 doller =700 1 pound uk = 900 about Thank you so much

[@mediamattersismycockholste562]

Normal people: That's awesome, I like brick roads and walls. Leftists: Ammo for the next Biden Rally!

[@keradasilva2509]

😂 of all the areas in the United states...the ones not known for brick houses..or anything brick related 😂😂😂😂

[@bogey19018]

Guaranteed the material isn't the same from 120 years ago.