There’s a reason for brick’s longevity as a building material: its strength, durability, and efficiency are unmatched. The long history of brick’s use in construction is a fascinating subject, and Champion Brick enjoys any opportunity to talk brick history with our great customers. As your brick experts in Milwaukee, New Berlin, and Southeastern Wisconsin, we’re proud to continue our series of blog posts about the history of brick. Read on for more brick information:
The Victorian period saw revivalism in domestic architecture and industrial building. Domestic architecture sought a return to exotic building forms, differing from the common styles of the Machine Age. Industrial building, however, used bricks extensively for their properties of low cost, durability, and low maintenance.
During this period, a greater number of bricks were made and laid than during all the previous periods in the history of brick. Brick manufacturing methods had improved in all respects including quality accuracy, regularity and in range of colors available. The mid-18th century marked a change in manufacturing methods as well, towards mechanized production, and brick manufacturing methods were no exception. This enabled the use of deeper clays, pressed into dense bricks for use on civil engineering projects. With new developments in brick technology, communities were able to build more robust infrastructure and services, vastly improving the quality of life during this time of advancement in civilization.
Improvements in the production of mortar also occurred during the late 18th century through the use of washed and graded aggregates, often with coloring. Also, the development of natural types of cement including Roman cement and other hydraulic limes, which set quicker and stronger, were vital to the speed of construction that the Industrial Age demanded. Along with these advancements came the ability to distribute brick products farther due to improvements in travel and communications.
Without this rich history and hundreds of years of research and development, Champion Brick wouldn’t be able to bring you the affordable, beautiful, and durable brick products we provide. Our success is built on the work of all of those who came before us, who developed brick into the outstanding building material that it is today.
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Champion Brick is your Milwaukee, New Berlin, and Southeastern Wisconsin brick and paver experts. If you have questions about any of our products or services please call us at 262-786-8260 or submit your message on our contact form to message us.