[log in to unmask] wrote:

> So, is glazed brick as it is presently made any "better" than the 
> infamous glazed brick of the 1960s? 
>  
> Christopher
> -- To terminate puerile preservation prattling among pals and the 
> uncoffee-ed, or to change your settings, go to: 
> http://listserv.icors.org/archives/bullamanka-pinheads.html 

Maybe yes, maybe no.

As the finite supply of some raw materials diminishes in quality so does 
the quality of the manufactured product. The segment of 'quality' issues 
for old growth timber is more restrictive than it is for clay or sand. 
The raw materials being used for glazed brick now may still be as good - 
as far as anyone is able to perceive -- as was available in the 1960's. 
On an infinite scale it would be easy to say that all things 
manufactured next will be qualitatively less than if manufactured now or 
yesterday. Human attention does not go that far but wakes up on occasion 
and therefore tomorrow might actually result in something better, but in 
the long run it all breaks down.

And then with technology, human intervention, there is reformulation of 
recipe, a recombining of raw materials, and that may be for the better. 
Essentially a glazed brick is a hunk of fired clay with glass attached. 
Stuff can be added to the clay to hold the glaze better. Stuff can be 
added to the glaze to hold the clay better. Stuff can be added to the 
glass to change the thermal expansion-contraction characteristics of the 
clay and the glaze. Technique can be refined. There can be an optimal 
glazed brick. Question then is does it pay to make an optimal glazed 
brick? Are contemporary brick manufacturers, the largest Australian 
conglomerates etc. more diligent or more lazy than in 1960? The brick 
industry is certainly not what it was in 1960.

Does a glazed brick made today use less non-renewable energy than in 
1960? Is a more energy efficient brick better?

The off-gassing in the process of glazed brick manufacture is it 
restricted in any manner that would affect the quality of the glazed 
brick that is manufactured? Restrictions on recipes for paints and 
sealants in respect of VOC emmissions has had an affect on the quality 
of the materials that is not relevant to optimal product and/or 
limitations in the manufacturing technology or management of quality 
control.

Is there lead used in the glazes either in 1960 or currently? If so, is 
there lead abatement for demolition of 1960's era glazed brick structures?

Better for what asks Ignatz?

][<

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