[KevinFromTexas]

It's funny because I haven't been back down to Waller Creek in at least 25 years to gather brick. After my dad finished the driveway, patio and walkways with it, there wasn't a reason to go back. When they announced they were building the Waller Creek flood tunnel and would be keeping the creek at a constant level, I have to admit that I was a bit bummed out to hear that since it meant no more creek adventures.

So since then any brick that we've needed for projects has had to come from elsewhere. When a friend of my mom passed away in 2007, she gave my mom some rights to her estate, basically to say whatever was on the property she could take. Years back, her house had to be bulldozed because of major foundation damage from the shifting soil on the property. Anyway, the brick from her house was all over the property. So we loaded up as much of it as we could, and I held onto it for a few years before using it for the floor of one of the storage sheds I built. And then I used the rest in 2019 to pave a dog run that my mom wanted me to build. That brick is pretty good, - strong enough, but the old brick in the driveway and our patio is crazy solid. One type of old brick, in particular, is called Thurber brick. They're bigger and denser than the others. I think those are the ones they used to pave the streets in Austin with. One single brick of those probably weighs close to 20 pounds. When we got some more modern stuff last year for our larger storage shed we built last year, most of it was house brick they use in suburban homes. That stuff is ridiculously lightweight and brittle. I'd never touched the stuff until then, but I was kind of shocked at how lightweight it was, and it doesn't take much to break it. You actually have to be very careful not to break it. Meanwhile, one of the best ways to move the old brick rather than loading it up in a wheelbarrow is to chunk it. lol Those old bricks are indestructible.