Using old bricks that have been lying around in our garden for years

[Wandle2]

Can one do this, even if they are have been left out in the rain?

We are having a new boiler put in and will need to fill a small gap in the back wall of our house because the old boiler had a much larger flue than the new one.

We've been told that we should buy bricks as using the old ones will make our wall damp.

 

[John D v2.0]

Doubt it, you should make sure the bricks aren't soaked for the internal leaf, but for the external leaf it'll get wet anyway. It'll cost less than a tenner in New bricks anyway.

 

[JohnD]

external bricks need to match as they will be on show. They need to be reasonably clean.

They have to be fairly dry to provide suction for the mortar.

I'd bring them in, scrub them, and give them a couple of weeks to start drying indoors. Or put them in a warm place to speed it up.

 

[Wandle2]

Thank you very much, JohnD, for your answers!

 

[noseall]

They will likely effloresce for a while after they have been laid, if they have been in contact with the soil.

 

[Wandle2]

Thanks for letting me know. They've actually been lying on concrete, underneath a shed, but are quite wet because the rain can get at them.

 

[^woody^]

One can use them.

Almost every brick on the outside of every house is outside. They get wet, they dry out. That's how they roll.

 

[Wandle2]

True! Silly of me, I hadn't thought of that.

 

[JohnD]

it's rare to see a sodden brick above ground.