An alternative to using lower
grade bricks for rendered or bagged finish construction is using a
brick specially sized and made for render finish.
Whether rendering (where bricks
are completely covered leaving no indication of the brick
construction) or bagging (where the bricks’ outline still shows
through), most people choose a lower grade brick to save on costs.
However, savings gained by using
a cheaper brick can often be lost at the render stage. In most
cases, extra time – and therefore cost – is required to achieve an
evenly rendered finish over chipped or lower grade bricks.
An alternative to using a lower
grade brick is the General Purpose Common brick, or GPC.
The GPC comes in two sizes. GPC
162 is twice the size of a common brick, the GPC 119 is 1.5 times
the size of a common brick. This makes the GPC quicker to lay –
depending on which GPC size chosen, every one laid is equivalent
to either one and half or two standard bricks.
The use of GPC can result in
considerable cost savings with reduced laying costs, and with only
half the mortar requirements, much less brick sand and cement is
required.
