FADIA Home&Design

Repairing, replacing or extending a brick wall is something that everyone has to do at one time or another. Finding new bricks that exactly match those originally used is preferable, but this is not always possible. It is possible that you may get lucky and find perfectly matching bricks at your local brick merchant. It is unlikely that they will have what you want though. Unfortunately, there is no national database of brick colors and textures, but that does not mean that you have to settle for mis-matched bricks. Your first plan should be to take color photographs of the original bricks used with a good quality camera so that you capture the true color of your brick. You should email copies of these photos to every brick merchant in your city. Give them as much detail as you can about the originals, such as the year they were bought, where they were bought from, dimensions, etc. If you discover your brick is not made anymore, then you should go for a color match with one that is available. Do not let a brick salesperson talk you out of this strategy. Try to find bricks that are very close, if not identical, in color. Matching bricks by color is much preferable to matching bricks by texture. You can see texture differences when you stand close to a brick surface, but rarely can you see differences when you stand back 50 or 100 feet. Matching the mortar that keeps the bricks together should not be overlooked either. Pay close attention to the color and size of the sand particles in your existing mortar, as not all sand is the same. You will probably have to age the new mortar to match the old mortar. You can do this with a brick cleaning chemical.

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This week on the popular TV program, ‘Grand Designs’ a beautiful house in Kent was featured. This house is near Staplehurst and is owned and built by architect Richard Hawkes and his lovely wife Sophie. The house itself does not rely on much. For example it doesn’t even need mains water or central heating. Instead the house is completely Eco friendly and does not use an ounce of unnecessary energy.

The environmentally-friendly house aims to blend into its surroundings and be self-sustaining. It was featured on a double bill on the popular Channel 4 program, ‘Grand Designs’ hosted by the legendary Kevin McCloud.

The house itself in Kent features completely economical and Eco friendly materials such as wood and even earth. The house boasts a truly stunning architectures, has over four guest bedroom for friends and family to stay over, and even has its own pool and spa treatment room. The design originally resembles an Anderson Shelter, the building eventually reveals a huge, Gaudy-Esquire vaulted ceiling. The whole thing is literally topped off with tons of soil and then grassed over to look almost like an ancient house of some sort. It is truly marvelous to look at and at the same time it is extremely bizarre.  The home is effectively a couple of timber-framed boxes resting under a huge, unsupported arch built from 26,000 handmade clay tiles. This is truly a magnificent achievement for both the architects and constructor’s as there is nothing else like this around. They have built something special and very interesting. Although the house is meant to be quite old fashioned, it consists of modern fixtures and fittings, including wireless interconnected speaker systems and even ergonomic hand care door handles.

If you have never watched Grand Design before I would highly recommend it. The program makes great viewing and you can see all sorts of bizarre houses that have sprouted up around the UK and abroad. There are some great projects on there and I would strongly recommend watching it one day.

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