ᐅ Bricklayer

Hello,
we are currently looking for a good and affordable bricklayer specializing in facing bricks. These are not easy to find in our region of Franconia. I received a list of contractors from a brick manufacturer and started making calls. The first one no longer exists, and neither does the second. A colleague on the phone told me they had to close their business because they couldn’t compete with prices from competitors in the East. I have often heard that there are good and inexpensive bricklayers in the East. Now my question is: how can one find these companies from the East? I haven’t been able to find anything through online searches. Does anyone in the industry have experience or can recommend someone?
Thank you very much in advance!

Regards, helpless Horst

Do you mean Eastern Europe or the former GDR by "the East"?

In general, everyone tries to get the best quality possible while also paying as little as possible. We ourselves are certainly no exception. But this is exactly where the problem lies. Because of this mentality, many local companies go bankrupt and unemployment rises, as people hire craftsmen from who knows where simply because they are cheaper. Then, when something needs to be fixed, the big search begins. For example, if you want to replace a few bricks, you certainly can’t hire someone who lives hundreds of kilometers (miles) away—so what do you do? If you want to have an entire house faced with brick veneer, it’s more feasible to hire someone from farther away. But as you’ve noticed, these workers are hard to find.

Furthermore, I wonder what happens if they do poor-quality work—how can you make them fix it then?

If they are based abroad, this is likely very difficult or even impossible.

Try asking building material suppliers or the trade association. They might be able to recommend craftsmen to you.

Thanks for the response. I feel the same way. I hope that companies from the Middle East were meant. I would also have my doubts about foreign companies. In the end, the workers simply disappear and never come back. I was hoping that someone here has experience with this topic and might even be able to recommend a company to me. I’ll gladly consider the idea of contacting a building materials supplier.

In Bavaria, using clinker bricks is rather uncommon and quite expensive – and there’s not always expertise available everywhere. What is the cost per square meter for you?

I have heard prices ranging from 150 to 280 euros per m² (10.8 to 26.0 sq ft). The lower end would be perfectly acceptable, but I would not spend 280 euros.

Incredible, but it confirms what I said – here in NRW it costs about 70-80 euros, although I have also heard of 45 euros.