New Orleans Brick & Stone marks four decades of salvage-based restoration supply

New Orleans Brick & Stone is leaning on an A. Hays Town lineage to supply reclaimed brick, slate and other period materials for restoration work across the Gulf South. The family-run business says stocked blends, fast turnaround and mortar guidance help historic repairs disappear into the original fabric instead of standing out.

Why it matters: - Historic masonry repairs in New Orleans and across the Gulf South often require period materials that modern production no longer makes. - The wrong brick, slate or mortar can make a repair visible and can also damage historic structures over time. - New Orleans Brick & Stone says its salvage-based supply model helps restorations match original buildings more closely and preserve historic character.

What happened: - New Orleans Brick & Stone said it is entering its fourth decade as a family-run supplier of reclaimed building materials. - The business traces its approach to A. Hays Town, the Louisiana architect known for using salvaged materials in Southern residential design. - Debbie Bourgeois founded the company with her husband Timothy after being mentored by Town. - Their daughter, Hays, now runs the business with her brother Ben.

The details: - The company stocks four house blends instead of waiting to source material for each project. - Soft Reds and New Orleans Hard Tans make up most of the material sold in the metro area. - Paid orders usually leave the yard within 48 hours, while many competitors quote six- to 12-month lead times. - Matching depends on size, colour range, texture and mortar. - A daylight photo with a coin or tape measure helps start the match, but a loose brick is better. - The company compares candidates against the actual material, not a catalogue. - Physical samples ship in about two business days and are free to trade customers. - Once a blend is chosen, the quantity is confirmed and reserved for the project. - The company says pre-1900 brick is smaller, softer and more irregular than modern modular brick. - Historic brick was laid in lime mortar for a reason: mortar should be the sacrificial layer that lets moisture move out of the joint. - Hard, Portland-rich cement mortar can trap moisture and force damage through the face of the brick. - Written mortar and jointing recommendations go out with each order. - The slate inventory includes salvaged Vermont, Welsh and Pennsylvania slate. - Common slate sizes range from 18 by 10 inches to 24 by 14 inches. - Slate is ring tested before shipping, and delaminating pieces stay in the yard. - Customers can buy reclaimed roof tiles by the square for full scopes or by the piece for patch work. - The company supplies material rather than labor. - Larger roofing and slate scopes are handled by a related reclaimed roofing and slate operation within the same family of businesses.

Between the lines: - The business model is built around making repairs disappear into existing buildings, not around selling generic replacement products. - The emphasis on mortar, jointing and physical sample matching suggests the company is selling expertise as much as inventory. - The sourcing network stretches beyond Louisiana, reaching demolition contractors across the Gulf South and Midwest, plus reclamation yards in England and France. - For historic district projects, the company provides material descriptions, source period details and photographs of reserved stock for review boards. - Representative jobs are often small, such as a few hundred brick, a few dozen slates or even a single coping, sill, quoin or threshold.

What's next: - New Orleans Brick & Stone says it will continue shipping reclaimed brick, stone, flagstone, pavers and roofing slate nationwide from yards in New Orleans and in Dallas and Fort Worth. - The company will keep relying on stocked blends, rapid turnaround and reclaimed sourcing as demand for historically accurate restoration materials continues.

The bottom line: - For historic restoration, New Orleans Brick & Stone is betting that the fastest way to make a repair invisible is to use material with a history of its own.