If you love the rustic, classic appearance of brick homes, but you aren't looking to purchase a new home anytime soon, then you may wonder how you can add a little of your favorite building material into your current home without spending a fortune. Thankfully, there are many home projects you can complete with just a few items and, of course, plenty of attractive bricks. Instead of purchasing brand-new bricks, you can use affordable salvage brick that is just as attractive (or even more-so) than new brick, all-natural, and better for the environment. Using reclaimed materials whenever you can is a great extra way to help you do your part to preserve the earth. Read on to learn about 2 eco-friendly home DIY projects you can create with salvage brick. 

1. Brick Flooring

If you have a room (or several) in your home with flooring that needs to be replaced or that you just want to change up a little, then you can use reclaimed brick to create rustic-looking flooring. Made of a mixture of clay and shale, clay brick flooring is a great option if you are conscious of the VOCs, or Volatile Organic Compounds, that are emitted by carpeting, vinyl flooring, and virtually any other type of flooring that is not all-natural like brick. However, if you choose to use another type of brick due to the love of its color, don't worry, because aside from concrete brick, all other types of brick are made from natural clay as well. 

Salvage brick tiles (also often called brick pavers) are created when a full brick is simply sliced into thinner tiles, and it makes installing brick flooring easier. After you order enough salvage brick tile to create your brick flooring, you will also need to purchase thin-set mortar, grout, and brick sealer. 

To install your brick tiles, you first have to remove the existing flooring and expose the clean sub-floor. Next, simply mix up the mortar to create a thick paste and smooth it on your sub-floor. Then, lay the brick tiles and press them firmly into the mortar. Once you lay all of the brick tiles, coat them with brick sealer and let everything set for about 24 hours before applying grout. Finally, apply grout between all brick tiles and let set. 

Don't worry that your flooring won't be eco-friendly due to having to use VOC-emitting grout, mortar, and sealant; there are more and more eco-friendly building materials released onto the market, and you can find low-VOC mortars, grouts, and sealants today. 

2. Brick Outdoor Fire Pit

If you love nature, then you likely spend a lot of time outdoors in your back yard when the weather is warm. However, when the temperatures drop, you may spend much more time indoors than you wish you have to just to stay warm. A great, earth-friendly solution to this problem is to build your own outdoor DIY brick fire pit in your back yard. When you light a fire in the winter, your family can sit around it and stay warm while enjoying nature. You can even roast marshmallows on the fire and tell ghost stories!

There are many ways to create a brick fire pit, but before you build one, check your local building codes to see what the regulations are for them in your town or city; you can then find fire pit building instructions to keep them in mind when building. 

When ordering your bricks to create your fire pit with, you want to make sure to choose salvage firebrick for at least the interior lining of your fire pit. Choosing firebrick is important, because this is a special type of very dense brick that will not get damaged by heat or open flame. If you decide to follow a DIY fire pit tutorial that uses two types of bricks, then you can choose any type of brick you love to line the exterior of the pit. 

If you love the beautiful appearance of natural brick, then you can take advantage of it affordably by installing salvage brick flooring in your home or creating your own DIY brick fire pit in your back yard. Both are very eco-friendly projects, and while brick flooring can minimize the VOCs your family is exposed to in your home, a brick fire pit can help your family enjoy nature in the fall and winter. 

For more information and options for salvaged brick, contact supply companies, like Alliance Demolition Services Inc.