A salvage match is reclaimed brick or stone sourced to match the size, color, texture, and weathering of an existing structure, used on repairs or additions where newly manufactured units won't blend in with what's already there.
Brick dimensions and color runs have changed over the decades, and a lot of older stone and brick simply isn't made anymore in the same form. When a wall needs a handful of units replaced, or an addition has to tie into an old facade, the closest option is often reclaimed material pulled from a demolished building of a similar age rather than anything off a current supplier's shelf. Matching by eye at a salvage yard, checking size, color, and texture side by side, is standard practice on this kind of repair.
On older homes around Independence and Fancy Gap, hand-molded or low-fired brick from decades back can be tough to match with anything currently manufactured. A close salvage match keeps a repair from standing out as an obvious patch, and just as important, it avoids setting a mismatched hard brick next to soft historic brick where the two expand and weather at different rates.
More masonry vocabulary from the glossary.
The services where this term comes up.
Chelo's Brick & Stone serves Hillsville, Galax, Wytheville, Fancy Gap, and Independence, VA. Call for a straight answer and a free on-site estimate.
