PRODUCTS

 

BRICKS

There are many different labels given to bricks, most of them derived from how the brick is made.

The most striking distinction is that between extruded bricks and pressed bricks.

An extruded brick is made by forcing a continuous column of clay through a mould and cutting the column into individual bricks one section at a time with a series of wires. The layperson will generally refer to extruded bricks as "bricks with holes in them". The holes in extruded bricks are created by the design of the mould and allow mortar to lock the bricks together when they are laid.

Some extruded bricks are also referred to as wirecut bricks. All extruded bricks are cut by wires, but the term wirecut is generally applied to those bricks with the rough textured face that is created by the wire dragging across the clay.

Pressed bricks are made individually in mould boxes. Instead of having holes through them, bonding with the mortar in the finished wall is achieved by the frog, the name given to the indentation in the top of a pressed brick.

Pressed bricks have been manufactured in Australia since the early 19th century when the first brick presses were shipped from England. There was a time, until perhaps twenty or thirty years ago, when a pressed brick plant could be found in most large country towns. Pressed bricks are a premium product renowned for their strength, character and individuality, but they are also slow and expensive to make, particularly in the old country brickworks that were scattered across Australia. The small rural brickmaker producing perhaps a few thousand pressed bricks a year has not been able to compete with the efficiency and huge output of the major city brick manufacturers, using modern automated extruders and kilns and producing millions of bricks in a single run. Most of the small country brickmakers have gone, and pressed bricks are becoming increasingly difficult to find, and ever more expensive.

The first bricks made in Australia were sandstock bricks. Soft clays were literally thrown into a timber box (the stock) which had sand sprinkled in it to prevent the clay sticking to the box. The resulting brick, sun-dried in the earliest days of colonisation but later fired in primitive kilns, had its own unique combination of lumps and folds, with a rough sandy texture. Today, these bricks are manufactured commercially by a number of Australian brickmakers, including Nubrik, PGH ("the Hand Made Sandstocks") and Austral (the "Governors").

back

 

BLOCKS

Competitive Bricklaying work with a very wide choice of block shapes, sizes, profiles, textures and colours, making them perfect for any project.
Typical Use Building Block:

• Residential, Commercial and Industrial Buildings.
• Load bearing or Non Load bearing external walls for new homes, commercial or multi story buildings.
• Acoustic and Thermal applications.
• Fire Rated Walls.
• Reinforced block walls for foundations.
• Economical alternative to pre cast panels.
• Design information available on request.
• Block Retaining Walls

back

 

STONE

Homebuilders have chosen stone for thousands of years. Stone is a sturdy building choice. It can hold up for years against bad weather and wear and tear. Stone is also a beautiful choice for a home. The colour and pattern varieties in different types of stone can create a unique look for every home.

 

Sandstone is one of the most common types of stone used for building homes. It is so common, in fact, that the famous Brownstone homes found in the northeastern part of the United States got their name from the type of sandstone used in their construction. Sandstone consists of several types of small grains of minerals including quartz, calcite and feldspar. The stones are grey, brown, red, green or cream in colour.

Limestone

Humans have been building with limestone for thousands of years. According to Alan Winston of Tour Egypt, Egyptians used limestone to build the core of the pyramids. Limestone is mostly made of calcite. Limestone is a porous rock that carves easily, making it ideal for building. The stone is often grey, off-white or cream in colour, but almost every colour of the stone exists.

Slate

Slate consists of small grains of mica and quartz. Slate is an ideal stone for home building because it is weatherproof and can last many years. Slate is typically dark grey in colour, but can range from brown to green depending on the stone's origin.

Granite

Granite is commonly used on kitchen counter tops as the stone is both scratch and heat resistant. However, granite is also ideal for building homes as well. Granite is one of the toughest and longest lasting stones available. It consists of quartz, alkali feldspar and plagioclase feldspar. Granite colours range from white to pink to light grey, but the addition of other minerals can add more color dimensions, making each piece of granite unique.

back

 

HEBEL

Block construction uses site reinforced Hebel Supercrete AAC Block to construct solid masonry walls that have excellent thermal and acoustic attributes. Hebel Supercrete Block walls require no additional lining as they easily exceed code insulation requirements. Hebel Supercrete Blocks can also be used for internal and external walls, load-bearing walls and for multi-storey construction.

 

Blocks are all 550mm long by 200mm high and are available in a range of thicknesses from 50mm through to 300mm. They are installed using Hebel Supercrete Adhesive with finished joints being only 2 to 3 mm thick. Once glued together, the Blocks effectively make up single panels as the adhesive is stronger than the Hebel Supercrete material.

Hebel Block walls are reinforced with vertical threaded steel rods installed after all the blocks are laid. Precast reinforced lintels are available in a range of sizes and thicknesses for openings up to 2.4m wide. High quality surface finishes are achieved with the use of render and acrylic coatings. Inside surfaces can be rendered, or plasterboard can be direct fixed to block walls with glue and screws.

back