This starts at the very bottom of the building, the footing, which also must be square and level. The stone mason can depend on an artistic eye, but the brick and block mason depends on tools such as the level, square, transit and string line to bring his work up true. Curved and irregular lines are not tolerated, unless the architect puts them there by design, as in an arch. Concrete Building Supply of Plattsburgh has been supplying block, brick and assorted concrete products to this corner of northern New York for about half a century. While the concrete products are made on the company s site on the Military Turnpike, the brick comes from a supplier near Albany.
Demand is high and supplies are low.
Our supplier is back-ordered by 30 million brick. The whole industry is like that. It s all going to new commercial construction. That s why a couple of local schools have gone from brick to split-faced block because the brick is not available. One area where sales have tripled in the last year is in the sale of pavers, modular blocks that have a stone-like texture.