Finding your perfect 'brick' match this Valentine’s Day

With Valentine’s Day approaching, you might be thinking of playing matchmaker to your single friends and setting them up on a date. We all understand the joy of finding your perfect match and the disappointment when it doesn’t work out.

Here at D.W. Nye, we’re used to playing matchmaker and offering advice on how to find ‘the one’, albeit with a slightly different flavour. And we don’t think you should settle for second best.
One of the biggest challenges in the construction industry is colour matching new masonry with existing materials. Whether you’re extending your home or repairing the patio in your garden, nothing spoils the look more than mismatched products. Sourcing bricks, stone and paving slabs is one of the most important issues in the build process – it can determine the success or failure of a project.

With such a wide variety of colours, makes and suppliers available it’s likely you’ll need to track down a specific type, but searching the internet or phoning around can be a lengthy process with no guarantee that you’ll find what you’re looking for.

Factor in time to search

If you’ve decided to do the leg-work yourself, our first piece of advice is - when you’re costing-up the project allow plenty of time to source the right match and get it delivered. Don’t leave this to the last minute, when the need is ‘desperate’, as brick supplier lead-times are much longer than many people realise – up to 14 weeks on average.

Always request a sample

When searching through the internet, remember that images of the products can sometimes give a false impression of the actual colour. Always request a sample before you place your order. Also, the name isn’t always a reliable indication of a match, as batch numbers can vary greatly in shade.

Blended bricks

When looking for bricks, consider several factors such as the age, colour, size, texture and bond. It can be hard to match older bricks for a seamless blend, as you need to find stock that has aged in the same way. Remember, old bricks are measured in imperial sizes, while modern bricks are metric.

The surprising challenge with newer bricks can be the percentage of wastage per order, particularly for popular makes, as manufacturers need to produce them quickly, which means some don’t always form properly and can be prone to breakage. At D.W. Nye, we guarantee to replace broken stock and credit our customers for bricks that aren’t needed after the build, so you can have the peace of mind of knowing the project won’t cost more than it needs to.

Help is on hand

Here at D.W. Nye, we offer a personalised matching service which means we do the hard work for you. If you can’t bring the sample to us, then one of our experienced team will visit you on site. Following years of matchmaking experience, Duncan Tidy – our resident brick expert – can identify the best possible match.

We also over-order materials used on local housing developments, so we have stock for future extensions. If the product you need isn’t stocked in our yard, we’ll call round suppliers to get samples for you and take these to your site.

If you could benefit from our matchmaking experience give us a call on 01306 628114 or get in touch via our contact form and we’ll do our very best to find a match made in heaven.