Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
Mate is having some garden walls built after the storms blew some fences
down.

Single brick about a meter high with 9" pillars with wood panels between.
Doing the entire garden - so must look good to neighbours too, as
obviously one of the walls is 'theirs'.

He wanted bricks to match the sort of red ribbed ones used on his 80s
house. But the ones the contractor has brought are only a match on one
face. The backs are a sort of sandy colour. The contractor says the only
option is to go for 9" walls all round - an extra 1000 quid.

Any comments? I know absolutely nothing about bricks. ;-)


Sounds to me like faced commons, which are often used to reduce costs
on houses. Garden walls are wet for ages and easy to frost damage. I'd
look for some stock bricks of a suitable colour which will outlast
commons by a millenia! The worse the shape on stocks and the nearer to
blue, the longer they last. London yellow stocks are a bit soft, I think
that's because they are fired at lower temperatures to reduce costs, but
they will still outlast commons.