Summary

The choice between reclaimed and new brick comes up constantly in extension, repair, and heritage work, and it's rarely a straightforward cost comparison — the two options solve different problems. Reclaimed brick exists to solve a matching problem: a house built in 1895 with handmade London stocks cannot be seamlessly extended using a modern wire-cut facing brick, no matter how close the colour looks on a sample board. New brick exists to solve a certainty problem: every unit comes with a manufacturer's BS EN 771-1 classification (compressive strength, water absorption, frost resistance, soluble salt content), a consistent supply chain, and predictable performance, none of which reclaimed material can guarantee without testing.

The mortar decision that comes with each choice is at least as consequential as the brick decision itself. Reclaimed brick, particularly anything pre-1920, is almost always softer and more porous than modern brick, and pairing it with a hard cement mortar is one of the most common and most damaging specification errors in UK masonry work — the brick face spalls because moisture that should evaporate through the joint is instead forced through the brick. New brick, by contrast, is generally manufactured to tolerate a wider range of mortar strengths, though matching mortar to brick strength remains good practice regardless.

This guide sets out the practical differences that should drive the choice — cost, structural certainty, appearance/matching, sourcing and lead time, mortar compatibility, and environmental considerations — so the decision is made on the right criteria for the specific job, rather than defaulting to "reclaimed looks nicer" or "new is cheaper" without checking either assumption against the actual property and budget.

Key Facts

Quick Reference Table

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Factor Reclaimed Brick New Brick
Unit cost Higher — typically 1.5–3× standard new facing brick Lower — standard facing brick pricing
Structural classification Not supplied — testing required for load-bearing use (BS EN 771-1) Supplied — manufacturer's BS EN 771-1 classification
Visual match to pre-1965 property Best available option Poor unless a specific heritage/matching range is used
Dimensional consistency Variable, imperial sizing common in older stock Consistent, metric (215×102.5×65mm)
Compressive strength / frost resistance Unknown until tested; assume variable Guaranteed to stated class
Lead time / supply certainty Longer, quantity-limited, especially for exact matches Shorter, higher volume availability
Required mortar Lime-compatible (NHL 2/3.5 or lime putty) for pre-1920 stock Cement:lime:sand or lime, matched to brick strength
Embodied carbon Generally lower (no re-firing) Higher (firing energy for new manufacture)
Listed building/conservation area suitability Often the correct or required choice Rarely acceptable without a specific heritage range
Waste/inspection burden before use Higher — inspect for spalling, cracking, mortar residue Lower — supplied to consistent quality
Best fit Extension/repair to pre-1965 property, listed buildings, conservation areas New build, contract housing, where classification certainty matters most

Detailed Guidance

Structural certainty — the biggest practical difference

New brick comes with a manufacturer's BS EN 771-1 classification covering compressive strength, water absorption class, frost resistance class, and soluble salt content — the specifier knows exactly what they're getting before it arrives on site. Reclaimed brick does not come with this classification unless it has been specifically tested, and BS EN 771-1 explicitly requires reclaimed bricks used in any load-bearing application to be tested and classified in the same way as new brick before use. This is not a formality that can be skipped for convenience: a reclaimed brick used below DPC, in a retaining wall, or anywhere carrying structural load without known frost resistance and water absorption characteristics is a genuine risk of freeze-thaw failure or structural inadequacy.

In practice, this means reclaimed brick should be treated in two categories: reclaimed brick sold and used as a decorative or non-structural facing (where the visual match is the priority and load-bearing performance is provided by the backing structure), and reclaimed brick intended for a structural or exposed application (below DPC, copings, retaining walls), which must be tested before specification. Conflating the two — using an untested reclaimed brick structurally because "the last batch was fine" — is a common and avoidable error.

Matching an existing property

This is where reclaimed brick earns its cost premium. New brick manufacturers do offer ranges intended to approximate older regional brick types, and these can be a reasonable compromise where an exact match isn't critical or where budget doesn't stretch to reclaimed sourcing — but a genuine match on colour, texture, size, and weathering character for a pre-1965 property is almost always achieved with reclaimed brick sourced regionally, ideally from the same or a similar-era building.

The practical process: identify the brick's colour, texture, coursing, and joint style (weathered, bucket-handle, or flush) from the existing work, then take a physical sample brick — not a photograph or written description — to a reclaimed brick merchant. A specialist merchant can typically match within two to three shades from a sample. Budget for 10–15% extra quantity over the calculated requirement to allow for selection and rejection of poorly matching or damaged bricks — reclaimed batches are inherently more variable than a new brick production run, and this wastage allowance should be priced into the job from the outset rather than discovered as a shortfall partway through.

Where the property predates 1965 and used imperial brick dimensions (nominally 9"×4½"×3", giving roughly 85mm coursing with a joint versus 75mm metric coursing), coursing will not align cleanly between old and new work regardless of which brick type is chosen for infill — this needs deliberate setting-out, and in some cases specially-ordered imperial-dimension brick, to keep coursing consistent across the junction.

Mortar compatibility — the decision that determines whether the brick survives

Whichever brick is chosen, the mortar specification must be weaker than the brick, per BS EN 998-2 and BS 5628-3 — but the consequences of getting this wrong differ sharply between reclaimed and new brick. Reclaimed pre-1920 brick was originally built with hydraulic lime or lime putty mortar precisely because those buildings have no DPC and rely on moisture evaporating through permeable lime joints. Repointing or rebuilding with hard OPC cement mortar traps that moisture, which is then forced through the brick face instead — causing spalling that is not repairable, since the damaged brick surface has to be replaced, not just repointed.

For new brick on modern (typically post-1950) cavity construction, a cement:lime:sand mix such as 1:1:6 or 1:0.5:4.5 is standard and appropriate, because modern bricks and modern wall construction (with a DPC and cavity) are designed around that harder mortar performing correctly. The rule to apply on every job, regardless of brick age: identify the existing mortar type before repointing or tying in new work (a simple scratch test — lime mortar scratches easily with a blade, cement barely marks), and never introduce a harder mortar than the brick and the existing wall construction can tolerate. See mortar mixes and repointing lime vs cement for full mix ratios by period and brick type.

For listed buildings specifically, using cement mortar where lime is required is not just a technical error — it can constitute an offence under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 if done without Listed Building Consent. Always confirm listed status and consult the local conservation officer before specifying mortar (or brick) on a listed or conservation-area property.

Cost — reclaimed carries a real premium, but the comparison isn't always straightforward

Reclaimed brick's unit cost premium over standard new facing brick — commonly cited in the range of 1.5–3× — reflects the labour involved in salvage, cleaning old mortar residue, sorting for quality and consistency, and (where required) testing for structural classification. ****, as this varies significantly by brick rarity and local availability. The comparison narrows, however, when new brick has to be sourced from a specific heritage-matching range to get anywhere close to an old property's appearance — heritage-range new brick is itself priced at a premium over standard stock brick, meaning the true cost gap between "closest available new match" and "reclaimed" is often smaller than the headline reclaimed premium suggests.

Hidden costs also apply on the reclaimed side beyond the unit price: cleaning mortar residue where the merchant hasn't already done this reduces effective yield and adds site labour, and the wastage allowance for selection/rejection (typically 10–15%) should be included in any quote comparison rather than compared against a new brick order with minimal expected wastage.

Sourcing and programme risk

New brick is generally available to standard lead times, in consistent volumes, from stock or short manufacturing runs — a predictable input for a programme with a fixed completion date. Reclaimed brick sourcing for an exact regional match can take considerably longer, and quantity is never guaranteed in the way a new brick order is; a specialist merchant may simply not have enough of a specific match in stock, requiring either a longer search, a mixed-source approach (accepting more shade variation), or supplementing with a close new-brick match for less visible areas. On any project with a hard completion date, confirm reclaimed brick availability and quantity early, ideally before the programme is fixed, rather than assuming supply will be available on demand.

Environmental considerations

Reclaimed brick generally carries a lower embodied-carbon footprint than new brick because it avoids the firing energy required to manufacture new fired clay units — the brick's embodied carbon was effectively "spent" when it was first made, decades or centuries ago. This benefit can be partially offset by transport distance where a specific match requires sourcing from further afield, and by any processing (cleaning, cutting) required before use. For a customer with a genuine sustainability priority alongside the visual matching case, this is a legitimate additional point in reclaimed brick's favour, though it should be presented as a secondary benefit rather than the primary driver of the recommendation, which should remain matching requirement, structural certainty need, and budget.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I mix reclaimed and new brick on the same extension?

Yes, and it's common practice where an exact reclaimed match can't be sourced in sufficient quantity — reclaimed brick is often used on the most visible elevations (street-facing) with a close new-brick match used on less visible elevations (side/rear) to control cost. This needs to be planned and agreed with the customer at quoting stage, not discovered as a compromise partway through the job when reclaimed supply runs short.

Is reclaimed brick always weaker than new brick?

Not necessarily, but it's unknown until tested — that's the core issue. Some reclaimed brick (particularly reclaimed engineering brick or Staffordshire Blues) is very strong and dense. Others (soft London stocks, early handmade brick) were never intended for high structural loads even when new. The classification uncertainty, not an assumption of inherent weakness, is what requires testing before structural use.

Do I need Building Control or conservation officer approval to use reclaimed brick?

Not specifically for the brick choice itself in most cases, but if the property is listed or in a conservation area, the choice of brick and mortar for any external work is very likely to require Listed Building Consent or fall under Article 4 Direction controls in a conservation area — check with the local planning authority's conservation officer before ordering material, since using the wrong brick or mortar without consent can require costly remedial work even where the visual result was intended to be sympathetic.

Why does my new brick extension look wrong next to the original wall even though the colour matches on the sample?

Colour match alone rarely produces a convincing result — texture (wire-cut vs handmade vs pressed), size (metric vs imperial coursing), joint style (weathered, bucket-handle, flush), and mortar colour all contribute to how a wall reads visually, and modern wire-cut brick with a cement mortar joint against a handmade Georgian or Victorian brick with a lime joint will look subtly (or not so subtly) wrong even with a good colour match. This is the main reason reclaimed brick, sourced and laid to match the original construction method as closely as possible, remains the more reliable route for a genuinely seamless extension on an older property.

What should I check before buying a batch of reclaimed brick?

Inspect for spalling (surface delamination — reject these, they will continue to fail), cracking, and the amount of old mortar residue remaining (affects both appearance and cleaning labour cost). Confirm the brick's likely age and dimension against the property being matched, and where the brick will be used structurally or below DPC, confirm it has been tested and classified under BS EN 771-1 rather than assuming it's suitable because it "looks the part."

Regulations & Standards