Bricks and Roof Tiles at our new Barn
Friday 20th January 2012
Sahtas have provided the beautiful bricks and tiles at our new Show Barn
Bricks and Roof Tiles
Because we are building a Barn that will have a matured external appearance, we decided that the only products we would consider using would have to be made using natural materials. Clay was the obvious choice; the use of handmade clay tiles and bricks stretches back through the centuries, and many of the beautiful country houses you see throughout the UK will have been built utilising local clay materials.
Traditionally, clay dug from local ponds, fields and pits would be piled up in heaps and left to weather over the winter months. In the spring and summer, the tile makers would then form the tiles by hand, throwing the clay blocks into sanded wooden moulds, knocking the moulds to release the tiles and then stacking them up to dry in the sun.
After several weeks of drying, the tiles would then be fired in clamps or small kilns, using wood or sometimes coal if it was available locally. Until the industrial revolution saw the development of the railways and canals allowing easy transport of materials, most materials were used only within a few miles of where they were produced. This led to many different regional variations of colours and textures due to the different types of clays, moulding sands and firing methods. Modern machine made tiles struggle to create the variations in shape, size, texture and colours that the traditional methods can.
Whilst looking for a suitable supplier we came across Sahtas, a company whose production plants are based in Turkey. They have supplied over 30 million tiles in the last decade through UK merchants. Sahtas have now set up their own distribution centre in Northamptonshire, which will give more control over availability of materials and will allow them to focus even more on the ever growing self-build market. Sahtas have embraced the traditional methods of hand moulding to ensure the wonderful aesthetics of the finished products.
For the roof tiles we chose the hand made “Restoration” Mix. As the name suggests these have been used on many projects including churches, manor houses, colleges and university buildings and just recently been part of a gold medal winning display at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
For the external brickwork, in order to emulate the lime mix look of days gone by we chose the Sahtas Dark Blend brick which will be laid using a white mortar mix. This we are confident will give our new barn that matured look, a look that we hope will inspire visitors to ask “why would I want the hassle of renovating an old barn when I can build a new… old one! “
For all Sahtas enquiries contact Iain Webster on 07775 580812
or e-mail sahtasuk@sahtas.com
