Champion Brick

Southeastern Wisconsin's leader in Brick, Stone, and Landscape products.

Phone: 262-786-8260
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How to Choose the Perfect Thin Brick for Your Home

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There seem to be veneers for everything these days. You can have porcelain veneers placed on your teeth to cover damaged teeth, or you can have manufactured wall veneers placed on the outside of your home.

Thin veneers for buildings can come in many styles including stone, tile, and brick. Thin brick veneers are extremely popular because they’re a cheaper alternative to brick construction. Brick is the second most popular exterior siding material in the U.S. but can be out of reach for some homebuyers.

If you’re looking to give your home a makeover, learn more about your brick veneer options here.

man adding thin bricks to wall

What is Thin Brick, Exactly?

Thin brick veneers are 1/2″ to 1″ bricks that can be installed on nearly any interior or exterior surface. Because they are thinner and weigh less, you don’t need to worry about structural elements of your home being able to bear the full weight of bricks.

Using brick veneers allows you to add brick exactly where you want it in your home at a fraction of the cost. For example, if you have a fireplace with no decorative elements around it, thin bricks are a great option to create the appearance of a full brick chimney and fireplace.

For the most part, brick veneers are made with the same materials as full-sized bricks like clay and shale. You can also find veneers made from fiberglass, cement, and other faux materials.

Designing Your Brick Walls

Thin brick is not only flexible in where it can be installed, but also what it looks like. Brick veneers come in a variety of colors, textures, and shapes, so you can create the exact look you want for your home.

When designing an interior brick veneer wall, you want to take the existing elements of the room like furniture and lighting into consideration. For example, does the room get a lot of sunlight or not? If it doesn’t get much light, you might want a lighter brick color to help make the room appear lighter.

You’ll also have to choose the grout. White grout automatically brightens a wall, while colored grout can look a bit more natural and traditional.

You will have to consider the same things if you’re adding brick to the exterior of your home. Consider the surrounding landscaping, how much you want your home to stick out, and your personal preferences. For example, a home that sits farther back from the road and is surrounded by trees would benefit from having a lighter brick color and white grout to make it stand out. This is a typical practice in painting homes.

Make Brick Your Next Project

Adding thin brick to your home might seem like a huge undertaking, but it isn’t. There’s less labor involved and doesn’t require any alteration to the structure of your home. Brick veneers are an affordable way to quickly spruce up your home or add an element you’ve always desired in your home.

Champion Brick is your Milwaukee area thin brick experts. If you have questions about brick veneer installation or want to see samples in person, stop by our showroom in New Berlin.

The History of Brick: Part 3

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There’s a reason for brick’s longevity as a building material: its strength, durability, and efficiency are unmatched. The long history of brick’s use in construction is a fascinating subject, and Champion Brick enjoys any opportunity to talk brick history with our great customers. As your brick experts in Milwaukee, New Berlin, and Southeastern Wisconsin, we’re proud to continue our series of blog posts about the history of brick. Read on for more brick information:

The Victorian period saw revivalism in domestic architecture and industrial building. Domestic architecture sought a return to exotic building forms, differing from the common styles of the Machine Age. Industrial building, however, used bricks extensively for their properties of low cost, durability, and low maintenance.

During this period, a greater number of bricks were made and laid than during all the previous periods in the history of brick. Brick manufacturing methods had improved in all respects including quality accuracy, regularity and in range of colors available. The mid-18th century marked a change in manufacturing methods as well, towards mechanized production, and brick manufacturing methods were no exception. This enabled the use of deeper clays, pressed into dense bricks for use on civil engineering projects. With new developments in brick technology, communities were able to build more robust infrastructure and services, vastly improving the quality of life during this time of advancement in civilization.

Improvements in the production of mortar also occurred during the late 18th century through the use of washed and graded aggregates, often with coloring. Also, the development of natural types of cement including Roman cement and other hydraulic limes, which set quicker and stronger, were vital to the speed of construction that the Industrial Age demanded. Along with these advancements came the ability to distribute brick products farther due to improvements in travel and communications.

Without this rich history and hundreds of years of research and development, Champion Brick wouldn’t be able to bring you the affordable, beautiful, and durable brick products we provide. Our success is built on the work of all of those who came before us, who developed brick into the outstanding building material that it is today.

Contact Us for Your Next Brick Project!

Champion Brick is your Milwaukee, New Berlin, and Southeastern Wisconsin brick and paver experts. If you have questions about any of our products or services please call us at 262-786-8260 or submit your message on our contact form to message us.

The History of Brick: Part 2

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Everyone knows brick construction is the ultimate in stability, longevity, and energy efficiency. Even so, the evolving use of brick throughout human history is a fascinating subject. Last time, we talked about bricks use in early civilization, and now Champion Brick, your brick and pavers experts in Milwaukee, New Berlin, and Southeastern Wisconsin, is back to present to you with more details on the history of brick. Read on to learn more about this fascinating and historical building material.

During the 12th century, bricks were once again introduced in northern Germany, as the Italians bought their methods of construction over from northern Italy. The brick Gothic Period which resulted from this new construction boom was a reduced style of architecture borrowing from the Gothic architecture of northern Europe. Fired red clay became the most commonly used brick to build buildings in this time, and brick Gothic style buildings can be found in the Baltic countries of Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Germany, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Belarus, and Russia. The architectural style is noted for a lack of figural sculptures, which had been previously carved in stone. Bulky bricks did not work well for Gothic figure sculpture. Most buildings can be identified by the use of split courses of bricks in varying colors, with red brick, glazed brick, and white lime plaster. Eventually, specially shaped bricks were introduced and used to imitate the architectural sculptures.

Renaissance architecture followed next, known for its emphasis on symmetry and proportionality in design. Simple, orderly arrangements of columns and other forms seemed to replace the more complex and irregular profiles of medieval buildings, and the use of arches and domes became commonplace. Straight courses of brick generally made up external walls, adding an orderly arrangement to the exterior of the building. In the interior, exposed brick walls became unpopular and brickwork was generally covered by plaster.

This continued through the Baroque period, with its heavy use of red brick walls. Only during the mid 18th century did visible brick walls once again regain some popularity.

Check back for our next post as we continue to examine the fascinating history of brick!

Contact Us for Your Next Brick Project!

Champion Brick is your Milwaukee, New Berlin, and Southeastern Wisconsin brick and paver experts. If you have questions about any of our products or services please call us at 262-786-8260 or submit your message on our contact form to message us.

The History of Brick: Part 1

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All of us were taught by the story of the Three Little Pigs that brick construction is the sturdiest and toughest way to build a home. Brick homes are still prized and sought after for their stability, longevity, and energy efficiency. Still, the prevalence of brick structures in our daily life leads us to take the material for granted. With this in mind, Champion Brick, your brick and pavers experts in Milwaukee, New Berlin, and Southeastern Wisconsin, is proud to present to you a series of blog posts dedicated to the surprisingly interesting history of bricks. Read on to learn more about this fascinating and historical building material.

The earliest mention of brick making was found in the Bible, and bricks dated 10,000 years old have been found in the Middle East. As the story goes, the Israelites made mudbrick for their Egyptian rulers and built them into superior structures that outperformed any building methods used previously. A mudbrick is a made of a mixture of loam, mud, sand and water mixed with a binding material such as rice husks or straw, and is very similar to the Spanish style of mudbrick construction called Adobe. The ancient Egyptians and the Indus Valley Civilization used mudbrick as well, where it is evident from the ruins of Buhen, Mohenjo-daro and Harappa.

The first sun-dried bricks were made in Mesopotamia (what is now Iraq), in the ancient city of Ur in about 4000 BC. The Romans further distinguished those which had been dried by the sun and air and those bricks which were burnt in a kiln. Preferring to make their bricks in the spring, the Romans held on to their bricks for 2 years before they were used or sold. They only used clay which was whitish or red for their bricks.

Using mobile kilns, the Romans were successful in introducing kiln fired bricks to the whole of the Roman Empire. The bricks were then stamped with the mark of the legion who supervised the brick production. These bricks differed from other ancient bricks in size and shape. Roman bricks were more commonly round, square, oblong, triangular or rectangular. The kiln fired bricks were generally 1 or 2 Roman foot by 1 Roman foot, but with some larger bricks at up to 3 Roman feet. The Romans preferred this type of brick making during the first century of their civilization and used the bricks for public and private buildings all over the empire.

The Greeks also considered perpendicular brick walls more durable than stone walls and used them for public edifices. They also realized how the modern brick was less susceptible to erosion than the old marble walls.

Check back for our next post as we continue to examine the fascinating history of brick!

Contact Us for Your Next Brick Project!

Champion Brick is your Milwaukee, New Berlin, and Southeastern Wisconsin brick and paver experts. If you have questions about any of our products or services please call us at 262-786-8260 or submit your message on our contact form to message us.

Why Pavers are a Better Choice than Stamped Concrete

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When it’s time to put in a patio to beautify your outdoor living space and add new functionality and opportunities to your yard, you may be tempted by the wide variety of styles offered by stamped concrete contractors. While this technique has been around since the 1950s, it has recently gained ground in the outdoor surfaces market and has grown in popularity. However, many homeowners who have invested in stamped concrete for their patio find themselves less than satisfied a few months or years down the line when compared to homeowners who invested in brick or stone pavers for their project. Champion Brick, your brick and pavers experts in Milwaukee, New Berlin, and Southeastern Wisconsin, are happy to provide you with some information that shows that real pavers are always a superior product for your outdoor space.

One of stamped concrete’s advantages is its ease of installation. It is far less labor-intensive to install a stamped concrete surface than one made of pavers, because each paver needs to be hauled and set. Installing stamped concrete is a matter of mixing, pouring and stamping. With the ease of installation, however, comes a large room for error. Concrete is a mixture of water and cement powder, and If the mixture contains too much water, the cured concrete will have rough edges and a poor finish because the concrete adheres to the stamp too easily. Bulging and premature cracking is a problem with stamped concrete if the mixture is too dry.

When each brick or stone paver is laid with care and precision, you’re almost guaranteed a surface that will stay flat, even, and pristine for many years. Sure, a paver installation takes more time, but that extra time pays off a few years down the road when your pavers show their superior performance and durability over stamped concrete.

Although stamped concrete may be simple to clean and requires no maintenance to retain its patterned appearance, one of its major disadvantages is that it lacks durability compared to pavers. It is important to be careful where you install stamped concrete because it easily cracks and scratches under a heavy load. Stamped concrete is a poor choice for a driveway and any area on which cars are driven or parked. On a footpath, walkway or patio, stamped concrete is less likely to crack under pressure; however, it is still susceptible to cracking with weathering and time.

With cracking comes the need to repair. It is difficult to match color and surface consistency when patching a normal concrete slab, and stamped concrete makes matching color and consistency on the surface even more difficult. Although it is less expensive than other surface choices, stamped concrete may end up costing you more in the long run if you are bothered by unsightly cracks.

Pavers offer extreme durability, but also easy repairability. A cracked paver is quickly remedied by the replacement of one paver. In the rare event that a bulge occurs in a paver walkway, a repair is relatively simple. For these reasons and more, you can see that pavers are superior to stamped concrete. For the best pavers available for your project, visit Champion Brick today.

Contact Us for Your Next Paver Project!

Champion Brick is your Milwaukee, New Berlin, and Southeastern Wisconsin paver experts. If you have questions about any of our products or services please call us at 262-786-8260 or submit your message on our contact form to message us.

Pavers vs. Concrete: Which is Better for Your Project?

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When considering a hardscape project, whether it’s a walkway, patio, or another feature, you’re faced with a decision between the myriad types of concrete applications available, and the large range of sizes, colors, and materials of pavers. It can be overwhelming to consider the sheer volume of choices available, but the first decision is between paver blocks or poured concrete. At Champion Brick, we offer the best selection of Clay Pavers, Pavers by Belgard, and Pavers by Techno-Bloc in the Milwaukee, New Berlin, and Southeastern Wisconsin areas. This makes us partial to pavers in general, but we sincerely believe that the beauty and durability you can add to your outdoor living spaces with pavers far exceeds that of concrete. Read on to learn more about what pavers can do for your project.

One thing to keep in mind about all materials on all projects is that poorly installed products will function poorly. Your hardscape, paver or concrete, is only as durable as the quality of its installation. That is why you should not only choose your hardscapes and outdoor living products carefully, you should use just as much scrutiny when choosing your contractor.

While concrete offers a competitive price, ease of installation, a smooth surface (at least initially), and a variety of finishes due to new stamping methods, its lack of durability may leave many homeowners disappointed a few years down the line. Poured concrete excels in compression strength, but is not as strong in terms of tensile strength. This means that it’s an excellent choice for foundation walls, but that it will undoubtedly develop cracks when used as a slab or walkway surface. Just take a walk on any city sidewalk and you’ll see the evidence you need to make the conclusion that concrete is prone to cracking.

Particularly in our Wisconsin weather, where we reach extremes of temperature within just a few short months, concrete performs poorly. Large slabs will crack under the pressure of temperature changes, and small sections will heave and become misaligned. Also, because of the nature of poured concrete, it’s virtually impossible to repair damage and movement caused by weather changes, the only solution is the labor-intensive process of demolition, removal, and replacement.

Pavers are great at taking those loads, in fact the sheer strength of a paver surface is surprising to many. Properly installed traditional pavers are able to give and move with temperature changes, and the interlocking functions of manufactured pavers allow them to resist movement while maintaining a smooth and flat surface.

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Pavers are also extremely low maintenance – just a few cleanings a year with a blower will keep them looking great! Properly installed pavers will resist weed growth and maintain their unique and beautiful appearance year after year. Also, in the event that pavers become misaligned, cracked, or shifted, repairs are as simple as removing the affected area, replacing the substrate, and then replacing the pavers.

Contact Us for Your Next Paver Project!

Champion Brick is your Milwaukee, New Berlin, and Southeastern Wisconsin pavers experts. If you have questions about any of our products or services please call us at 262-786-8260 or submit your message on our contact form to message us.

Fire Pits add Beauty and Fun to your Summer Nights

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Wisconsin winters are long, so when the nice weather arrives, it’s critical to take full advantage and maximize enjoyment for you and your family. Summer nights in Wisconsin are a perfect time to lean back and relax, and enjoy time with family and friends. With a quality, beautiful fire pit in your outdoor living space, you’re set to enjoy summer nights to their full potential. In Milwaukee, New Berlin and all over the Southeast Wisconsin area, the best fire pits are built with great products from Champion Brick.

As a family-owned business that was established in 1971, our focus and motto has been and always will be “Excellence in Customer Service.” With each passing year, we are continuing to grow our areas of expertise and expand our product lines. This gives homeowners, do-it-yourselfers, masonry, hardscape professionals, and everyone in between access to a huge and diverse line of high-quality products, designed and constructed to withstand many years of use.

For the do-it-yourselfer, we offer a wealth of knowledge and experience that can help you get the most out of your fire pit project. For project ideas, be sure to visit our Project & Idea Gallery, where you’ll find tons of great pictures showing our high-quality products built into interesting and beautiful features for homeowners all over Southeast Wisconsin. Also, our full-service showroom and highly trained sales staff are here to assist you with all of your product selection and supply needs.

Contractors will find a highly fruitful relationship with Champion Brick. Our vast selection and expert knowledge of the products we offer will assist you in delivering the very best to your customers. Whether you are a professional mason, landscaper, hardscaper, chimney repair company, fireplace shop, builder, or architect, we strive to be your one-stop shop for all of your important product needs.

Contact Us for Your Next Brick Project!

Champion Brick is your Milwaukee, New Berlin, and Southeastern Wisconsin brick experts. If you have questions about any of our products or services please call us at 262-786-8260 or submit your message on our contact form to message us.

How to Match Brick

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Even the best brick repair or addition job can be greatly hindered by a poor match of the existing brick. When enclosing an open area, repairing damaged brick, or filling in a removed door or window opening, we want to match the existing structure so that the new brick matches seamlessly with the old. This is truly one of the most difficult tasks for a bricklayer, but with a few careful considerations and techniques, and the guidance of an expert, you can match your existing brick nearly imperceptibly. Champion Brick has become the premier source for brick matching in the New Berlin, Milwaukee, and Southeastern Wisconsin areas.

It’s important to start your search early. As soon as you’ve decided that you’re going to embark on your brick build or repair project, it’s time to start looking for your match. The best strategy is to speak with the experts, and for expert brick advice, look no further than Champion Brick. Contact Us today, and we’ll work with you to match your brick as closely as possible. Alternatively, you can fill out our Brick Match Request Form to enter your details and get the ball rolling on finding your match.

Take some detailed pictures of your existing brick from multiple angles and in multiple lighting conditions. Feel free to stop in at our showroom and speak face-to-face with a brick expert who can guide you towards the perfect match for your project.

Our experts know that it’s not only a matter of finding a brick material that is a match, but it’s important to capture the subtle details and variations among the existing bricks. To achieve this, we can recommend a mix of two or more different brick to help better integrate the new brick into the existing structure. There is careful thought involved with mixing brick. We’ll help to ensure that the different bricks are not only a match in terms of colors and proportions, but that they also work together in face height, length, and bed depth.

Although Champion Brick has a vast catalog of available brick, and we have deep resources and experience to find matches effectively, there are situations in which an existing brick is so unique that it can be hard to match it convincingly. In these situations, there may be alternative options such as masonry staining or other treatments to more closely approximate the look of the original brick. Being brick experts, Champion has seen and done it all, and we have the knowledge and expertise to guide you and find your best solution.

Contact Us for Your Next Brick Project!

Champion Brick is your Milwaukee, New Berlin, and Southeastern Wisconsin brick experts. If you have questions about any of our products or services please call us at 262-786-8260 or submit your message on our contact form to message us.

Retaining Wall Dos and Don’ts

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Frequently, the need to install a retaining wall stems from the desire to prevent erosion, hold back soil, separate two areas of your yard, or create a raised garden bed. These utilitarian functions make retaining walls a highly functional addition to your yard, but they can also serve a decorative purpose, and add beauty and interest to your outdoor spaces. Champion Brick is your retaining wall expert in Milwaukee, New Berlin, and the Southeastern Wisconsin area, and we have a few dos and don’ts to keep in mind as you plan your retaining wall project.  

Do: Be Creative

Think of the aesthetic potential of your retaining wall. If it’s purpose is purely utilitarian, you can greatly increase its visual appeal by choosing a brick that compliments your home or other structures on your property. Be creative with your material choice as your retaining wall will be a dominant feature of your space for many, many years.

Don’t: Forget About Structure

Smaller retaining walls, such as those less than four feet, can be easily planned and created without worrying too much about structure. Larger walls above that height may need an engineer’s touch. They’ll need additional reinforcement to stay solidly in place, without risking eventual leaning or sagging, and ultimately becoming a safety hazard. Also, be sure to check with local codes before starting one more than four feet tall.

Don’t: Skip the Base

A retaining wall installation is only as good as the base upon which it’s built. Remember to plan properly and spend considerable time on your substrate. Make sure the ground is level and that you’re using sufficient solid fill, and spend considerable time on this part of the project. You’ll thank yourself down the line.

Contact Us for Your Next Retaining Wall Project!

Champion Brick is your Milwaukee brick, paver, stone, pergola, and hardscape product supplier for commercial and residential projects. If you have questions about any of our products or services please call us at 262-786-8260 or submit your message on our contact form to message us.

Stone Veneer: Get a look indistinguishable from real stonework, anywhere!

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A natural stone facade adds a gorgeous texture to any room. These stone accents create a highly-desired and aesthetically pleasing look that is timeless and always in fashion. In the past, natural, full-thickness stone walls, fireplace surrounds, and accents were expensive due to the materials themselves and the weight and labor involved with the installation. It’s only been in recent years that the quality of thin stone veneer materials have begun to match the look of real stone. Champion Brick, your stone veneer experts in Milwaukee, New Berlin and all of Southeastern Wisconsin, is here to answer your questions about stone veneer.

Manufactured stone, which is cast into molds produced from the contours of real stones, has never been more authentic or affordable. The colors, textures, and contours of these imitation products are nearly indistinguishable from real, full-thickness stone.

These lightweight veneers are incredibly versatile. Our products are widely used in interior as well as exterior applications. Backyard kitchens constructed with stone veneer create an authentic-feeling backyard oasis without the exorbitant cost of traditional stone construction. Plus, these materials can closely replicate rare and aged stonework that would be expensive and impractical for outdoor applications.

Inside the house, our lightweight and flexible stone veneer products are installed on accent walls in rec rooms, great rooms, and kitchens. A plain fireplace surround can be upgraded quickly and easily with stone veneer to create a true centerpiece that your family will love for many years to come. 

Although the installation process of stone veneer is relatively straightforward, it takes a trained eye and skilled hand to complete an installation that looks natural and is highly durable. Careful installation procedures should be followed to avoid mistakes that could shorten the lifespan of the installed veneer, especially in high-traffic areas.

Champion Brick is your Milwaukee brick, paver, stone, pergola, and hardscape product supplier for commercial and residential projects. Champion Brick is located in New Berlin and serves all of Milwaukee and Southeastern Wisconsin. We are a family-owned business that was established in 1971, and our focus and motto has been and always will be “Excellence in Customer Service.” With each passing year, we are continuing to grow our areas of expertise and expand our product lines. Champion Brick is equipped to service homeowners, do-it-yourselfers, masonry and hardscape professionals, and everyone in between. Our full-service showroom and highly trained sales staff are here to assist you with all of your product selection and supply needs.

Contact Champion Brick for your project today!

Champion Brick is your stone veneer expert in Milwaukee! If you have questions about any of our products or services please call us at 262-786-8260 or submit your message on our contact form.