What is Concrete Brick?

Concrete brick is made from solid concrete. These bricks are used to cover the facade of a home, build fences, and enhance the overall beauty of a home's exterior. Bricks that are made from concrete come in a number of styles and colors making them extremely popular amongst homeowners. Aside from aesthetics, concrete bricks also have many other appealing attributes.

While regular brick does a fine job of insulating a home, concrete brick tends to be a better insulation option. Traffic, airplanes, and other outside noises are effectively muted, thanks to the solid concrete that these bricks are made from. Other benefits of concrete brick include better fire protection, less exterior home maintenance, and lower energy bills.

Bricks that are fashioned from concrete are available in a number of different styles. Consumers can select from a smooth, rough, textured, glossy, sandblasted, or stone finish. Various manufacturers may also offer customized bricks according to a consumer's specifications. In addition, hundreds of different color options are available -- most manufacturers will customize bricks to meet a homeowner's needs.

Professional installation of concrete brick is usually necessary, though modern non-mortar brick can be installed by anyone with elementary carpentry skills. Non-mortar brick does not require any type of mortar in order to complete installation. Instead, these specially shaped bricks simply fit snugly inside of each other creating a solid structure.

Concrete bricks are quickly becoming a popular alternative to other home facade materials. While the cost of installing this type of brick may be higher than the cost of installing other materials, concrete brick will last a lot longer than most other substances. In fact, concrete brick tends to mature with age creating a desired timeless look.

While durable and attractive, these bricks are not indestructible. Bricks made from concrete will generally last up to twelve years. After this length of time has passed, small bits of brick may begin to break off of each piece. At this point, certain bricks will have to be replaced, though this can be done on an individual brick basis.

There are many positive aspects of these bricks, but there are also some negative aspects. Concrete may shrink once it has been installed. This often results in gaps between bricks, which can allow outside water to seep into a home. Also, there is no way to prevent color from leaking out of concrete, which may result in faded bricks.