Ideas and Inspirations
Helpful articles and images from the Pine Hall Brick blog.
New Home Ideas
The Old Brick House line gives you an artisanal look in a precisely engineered product
Kathy Dumas designs and specifies all materials for R&K Custom Homes. When she checked out the recently introduced Old Brick House line, she homed in on Tufts House. "When we saw it we loved it," said Dumas."There's so much white brick out there, it's nice to have...
How to get the beautiful look of old brick in a brand new home
Brick making has come a long way since the 1700s. Throughout the 20th-century manufacturing technology became increasingly precise producing bricks with sharp, crisp lines and consistent dimensions. Then homeowners started wanting the look of old-weathered brick! Good...
German smear gives new home an old-world look that will last
Brick is a versatile design choice with a wide range of colors and textures. Mortar choice gives you more latitude in color and overall effect. In a standard brick design, mortar makes up about 20% of the veneer. With a technique called "German smear" mortar plays a...
Hardscapes and Paving
Newly added Rumbled® pavers keep it real on Dunedin’s old brick streets
Dunedin, Florida, embraces and promotes its history. To that end, updating and maintaining its century-old brick paver streets is a commitment that pays off.The City of Dunedin (pronounced dah-NEED-in), Florida, takes its history seriously. That’s pretty apparent when...
English Edge® Full Range pavers boost school spirit in Greenwich, Connecticut
A recently completed $20 million stadium in Greenwich, Connecticut benefits from 4,100 square feet of Pine Hall Brick English Edge® Full Range pavers at the main entrance gate and in patios seating areas adjacent to the field. ABOVE PHOTO: KG+D Architects, PC and...
Forever home gets a forever patio
The owners call this 1933 classic in Concord, Massachusetts their “forever home.” So landscape designer Dan Gladu of Roots & Rocks Landscape Artisans designed the outdoor living space with our Rumbled® Full Range brick pavers to stand the test of time and...
Planning and Design
It’s a great time to plan a new home. Here are some tips.
A new year is here! It’s time for changes and new possibilities—perhaps you're dreaming of a new home. Though it is possible to build year-rounds, Winter is hands down the best time for planning. Start planning now and you could break ground as early as Spring. You...
Work with your builder to choose from a wide range of brick colors
The Deerview community by Ruggieri Associates is all brick, but the variety of brick colors used—along with custom design features—makes each home unique. Ruggieri Associates owner Mauro Ruggieri builds exclusively with brick, and Pine Hall Brick gives his designs a...
Pro tip: It’s Easy to Install Thin Clad Interior Brick
Interior brick can easily be added to any home and you don’t need the skills of a mason to gain the beautiful results.Using ThinClad brick can turn just about any vertical surface into a highly durable and beautiful wall that’s great for defining sections of a home...
DIY Corner
Adding drainage to your enclosed patio
Not all patios are constructed with permeable paving. For those spaces that are built with traditional pavers, you must consider drainage, especially if you have a retaining wall or other enclosure that may trap water during a downpour. One way to ensure your patio...
Tips for working with polymeric sand
If you're considering a paver project, you should probably start thinking about the type of sand you'll be using in your joints. There a few options available, including a type of sand called polymeric sand. Polymeric sand is a blend of fine sand and additives that...
Selling your home: Exterior upgrades are a good investment
One of the biggest motivators to taking on home improvement projects is how it will affect the resale value of your home. Return on investment is a great rationalizer when debating on which projects are the best to undertake. Here are a few tips to remember when...
Project Spotlight
Brick is timeless for forward looking schools
Design capabilities provide both contrast, consistency in new school construction projects The school campus that comprises Mae Jemison High School and Ronald McNair Junior High School in Huntsville, Alabama is a study in contrasts: the traditional and the modern, the...
Clay pavers complement historic brick at Asheville hotel
Ridgely Dubel had admired the 100-plus-year-old colonial revival house at 15 Clayton Street in Asheville, NC, which was just around the corner from her own home. When she learned it was to be demolished, Dubel took action, bought the home and converted into a charming...
Lincoln Park Zoo specifies water permeable pavers
Simon and Garfunkel once sang, "it's all happening at the zoo," and for generations of Chicagoans, that means their famous Lincoln Park Zoo. Founded in 1868, it's one of the few institutions of its kind that does not charge admission and has long been a tradition in...