Terra cotta breeze blocks aka photograph voltaic tiles from D’Hanis Brick & Tile

pam kueber – December 16, 2020, Updated: October 5, 2021

My mega evaluation on the place to hunt out breeze blocks continues — proper right here’s one different agency — D’Hanis Brick & Tile Agency of San Antonio, Texas — in enterprise since 1905 — that sells terra cotta breeze blocks.  The company calls them “photograph voltaic tiles, and there are 5 fully completely different designs. 

I actually was tipped to this agency by an e mail from the proprietor himself, John Albert Oberman. After their site I dialed him up, particularly pondering I was misunderstanding a component. Was this agency truly in enterprise doing terra cotta since 1905? Certain! he talked about.

Digging their very personal clay for 115 years

Not solely that, nevertheless D’Hanis Brick & Tile has been digging their very personal clay from their very personal fields since that time — 115 years! Their clay pits are solely a mile from their manufacturing web site. Nevertheless… nevertheless… wouldn’t they run out, I requested? Oberman replied that even after 115 years of digging,  they’ve been solely 30% into their reserve. Whoa!

The clay is critical to the D’Hanis story, on account of its properties indicate that the finished terra cotta product has a peachy solid to it and shows correctly, Oberman knowledgeable me. Together with the look of the product, Oberman cited assorted traits that differentiate terra cotta from concrete.  While you’re on the market, give the company a reputation to review additional. 
The D’Hanis site does not current pictures of these breeze blocks — so we have ’em proper right here!  As well as they’ve a spec sheet that you’d be capable to ask for with additional particulars, as an example, this clay product is not going to be helpful for freeze/thaw climates, and these normally aren’t load bearing (completely different sorts of breeze blocks moreover normally aren’t load bearing, I think about — take a look at with the companies or your private expert).

A whole lot of the agency’s enterprise is in Texas and 200 to 300 miles spherical Austin, nevertheless that they do ship — and that supply costs normally aren’t that harmful, Oberman talked about.

How prolonged have these terra cotta breeze block / photograph voltaic tile designs been spherical? Oberman knowledgeable me that when he bought the company 30+ years previously, the company had only one photograph voltaic tile / breeze block design. Since then, they added to their lineup, and as we communicate, these photograph voltaic tiles are “very extremely regarded,” he talked about.

Deservedly so! Thanks, John Albert Oberman, for sharing this data, and for the pictures too! 

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