The team at Cheap as Bricks are always in need of bricks for recycling. We are a recycled brick yard that specialises in bricks from houses built before the 1950's. The bricks in these houses were mostly built in lime mortar which can be cleaned off. Those built in a concrete mortar, usually after the 1950's cannot be recycled.

There are a number of ways you can test to see if your bricks are built in lime mortar and are suitable for brick recycling. The first way is if the structure to be demolished is still standing, you can use an implement like a car key and scratch away the mortar in between the bricks. If the mortar scratches away easily, it was built in lime mortar. If the bricks are set in concrete then the result we be the opposite - the implement will barely leave an impression in the mortar at all.

Another way to test the bricks to see if they are recyclable is the "clap test". You can do this by gathering a few loose bricks and clap them together. If the mortar falls off the bricks quite easily than they can be salvaged. If the mortar seems to stick to the brick or if the brick is likely to break in two before the mortar comes off, then the bricks you have are not suitable for recycling.

If you are unsure if the bricks are suitable for our recycled brick yard, please send some photos to us and we will endeavour to respond to your query promptly.

When recycled bricks are brought to our yard, they are typically delivered to us in large trucks. The reason for this is the trucks have a larger capacity, and this therefore creates less downtime on the demolition job, saving time and money for the demolition contractor.

Though we try to obtain as many recycled / second hand bricks as we can, sometimes we unfortunately have to reject brick loads from our yard due to the amount of waste in the trucks. If we inspect a brick load and find that it contains more broken bricks, timber, concrete or dirt than bricks to be recycled, then we turn the truck away from our yard. Please find below a point checklist of the right procedures for good clean brick loads:

• Are the bricks recyclable?

• Have the bricks been sived with the excavator bucket?

• Are there more than 80% good bricks that can be recycled in the truck loads?

• Is there timber, metal, concrete or dirt in the loads?