Integrating masonry into your home, either in the form of a fireplace, a wall or a paved pathway through your garden is a great way to add value and beauty to your environment, but masonry is more than adding an attractive décor element or a functional component. Here are a few things that you probably didn’t know about masonry – until now:

• Masonry is resistant to earthquakes, floods and fires – extreme weather leaves no or very little damage on masonry;
• Brick is the oldest man-made building material – masons started using bricks made from clay and baked in the sun around 6,000 years ago;
• Masonry is not only one of the the strongest, but also the most environment-friendly building material available today, and masonry restoration is exquisite;
• Masonry has excellent thermal qualities – it takes long to heat up and when it has absorbed all the heat it could, the heat is released very slowly. These qualities make masonry walls great barriers against heat in summer and will make heating the home cheaper in winter;
• Masonry does not emit toxic gases when they become exposed to fire and they do not emit any volatile gases either, so the houses built from masonry walls are healthier than the homes that use other materials.