Cottage challenge: use a whole boatload of bricks?

16 years ago

Well a pickup truck full anyway! I am so excited I can't stand it!! DH and DS brought home 671 antique bricks that I found on Craigslist.Yeah,they counted but what sports! It was 95 and very humid in downtown Baltimore yesterday.

They are from a rowhome in Fells Point built in the 1880s and they are clean of mortar but have a bit of grey paint on some of the edges. Which I don't mind a bit.

They are also larger than modern bricks and actually look a lot like what Trailrunner is using for her mowing strip.

Other than garden edging, anyone have great ideas?? I know you do. We have an old house and maybe can use them for a sitting area. What did you do? what would you like to do??Let me see your cottagy ideas pretty please. Please play with my bricks!! TIA Sue

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Comments (11)

FlowerLady6
16 years ago
Wow ~ What a haul and I think a patio would be a great idea. Check out Steven and Brian's brick patio and other's brickwork around here also. I'm sure once they see this thread, they'll post pictures or links to their projects. That is really exciting and you did great getting that haul of antique bricks.

FlowerLady
User
16 years ago
Yehhhh Sue ! It takes about 500 bricks to do a 10x14 patio...so that gives you an idea as to what you can expect. You have enough for a path and the patio !! I still have a huge pile. I started with 3000 bricks !!! All of them are antique. I can hardly wait to see what you do with yours. I Googled a lot of pics on Google Images and got ideas there. Good luck. Caroline
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lousit
16 years ago
An outdoor fireplace comes to my mind. Lou
cooperbailey
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks for the ideas. I got so excited I completely forgot I could do a search! I still would love to see fellow CGer pics and ideas tho.
I would love an outdoor fireplace too. aaack I will have to choose wisely... so many ideas and only 600+ bricks.I want everything...and more plants to go with them!
Trailrunner where did you get 3000+ antique bricks?? wow. Is there a missing historical building in AL?? LOL
my 600+ bricks weighed 3000 lbs we unloaded them last night.
Take it easy Caroline- you have about 15,000lbs there!
User
16 years ago
Hey Sue: takin' a break from tilling . The bricks are form a salvage yard in Phenix City...they were rescued from a bldg that was being demolished I don't know what one.

This is all that is left...and it includes the ones I had in the backyard from a chimney we took out 4 yrs ago.

{{gwi:691200}}

We have the 2 walkways now and the patio and the terraced landing out of the french doors. Then I did the mower strip along all the beds in the front . I am going to do a single strip of bricks on the beds out in the yard and a small area around the outside faucets and the pool pump and then I am done with bricks !!

Patio and the plants sitting on a table w/ bench that a friend made for me from salvaged Heart Pine years ago. I am getting ready to put the Bluestone plants in the newly tilled and amended beds...workin' on this today:

{{gwi:691201}}

mower strip on R front of house (did yesterday):

{{gwi:691203}}

and this too:

{{gwi:691205}}

walkway ( 60 ft long x 32" wide)

{{gwi:691208}}

other walkway and another view of patio/landings:

{{gwi:691211}}

Kitty Boots is helpin' his Momma...sorta!!

{{gwi:691214}}

I can hardly wait to see your bricks and what you do with them !! Caroline
loree-2007
16 years ago
Oh how I wish I had pictures to show you of the greenhouse, fireplace,patio and walkway that my husband and I made with a dumpster full of bricks!! We used nearly every single one including the broken pieces and I am pleased as punch every time I am in my back yard. I know you will be too when you have finished whichever project you decide on.
glad to be back here, by the way. I had forgotten how much I enjoy the gardening community. Loree
lavendrfem
16 years ago
Loree - if you ever get photos of those, I'm sure we'd all love to see them! (that husband of yours is a keeper!) How did you find someone getting rid of all of those bricks?
angelcub
16 years ago
Nice haul! I don't have any bricks nor pics, but if I did I'd lay them out in a large circle and put a white gazebo smack dab in the middle of them. Of course, I'd leave pockets of planting holes for roses and other cottage type plants. : )

Caroline, all your hard work is really paying off. It looks fabulous!

Diana
spiritual_gardner
16 years ago
I came across a bunch of bricks a few years ago, similar to what you have. They were part of an old patio, owners had them taken up for a new one, and they sat stacked for a few years. I INNOCENTLY asked if I could have them (never dreaming that I would ever get them) and presto, I had bricks.

I didn't have enough for edging or a patio. I made a back-drop for my pond. Staggered and placed in different directions, they look really great! I have all types of potted plants around the pond, the water cascades from a brown plastic drainage thing I found at HD. Everyone says it looks great, and I agree!

I'll post a photo as soon as I can figure it out.

SG
loree-2007
16 years ago
Lavendrfem,
we drove by a demolition site and asked what they were doing with the dumpster-full of bricks and they dumped them right in our back yard a couple of summers ago. It was an absolute mountain! My dh has a real talent and vision so between the two of us, we sweated out there for hours and now have a really lovely little area out back. The greenhouse is built entirely out of salvaged materials from here and there which makes it that much more special in my opinion. Yes, I am blessed to have such a talented man willing to make my wishes reality :)
If any of you have suggestions for what grows best in there, I would appreciate them. It's HOT in there in the daytime (96 today, 60ish at night)and this is my first experience with such a thing. Loree
cooperbailey
Original Author
16 years ago
ooooh, more great ideas! I can't wait to see all of the photos of your brick work.
I have been searching the internet for photos but havent seen anything noteworthy so far. Not like Caroline's anyway and I have a feeling that lavendrfem and Lorees' brickwork will be awesome as well.
Annette, I also would love to have a white gazebo, but right now with DD in 2nd year of college, it is out of the question -even if we DIY it.
Sue

Cottage challenge: use a whole boatload of bricks?

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