A bigger brick that builds a wall in fewer courses

What maxi bricks are and the types

A maxi is a big brick rather than a block: solid, frogged or with small holes, and laid in mortar like an ordinary brick.

• Cement maxi bricks: the common one, cement, sand and water pressed and cured. Many small yards make them on an egg-laying brick making machine with a maxi mould.
• Hollow or cored maxis: lighter and quicker to handle, with holes through.
• Clay maxi bricks: fired in a kiln, less common.

Maxi bricks size and how many you need

Take the wall area in m², less openings, and allow about 33 maxi bricks per m² for a single skin with 10 mm joints. Add about 5% for breakage and cuts. A garage 6 x 6 m with 2.4 m walls has about 58 m² of wall; with a door and window out, say 50 m², you need about 1,650 maxis plus 85 spare. Check with your plans or builder whether a single skin maxi wall is allowed where you want it. They suit outbuildings, boundary walls, extensions and low-cost housing. For a wall you want to leave bare, choose face bricks.

Laying maxi bricks well

Lay them like normal bricks, with 10 mm mortar joints, brickforce in the bed joints and a damp-proof course at floor level. Cement maxis must be properly cured at the yard before they come to site; fresh ones crack and crumble. Ask the yard for the strength and whether the bricks are tested to SANS 1215. On new buildings, SANS 10400 sets the wall and foundation rules, and a new house needs an NHBRC registered builder. Common mistakes are mixing standard bricks and maxis in one wall without planning the courses, and skimping on mortar.

Maxi bricks price and what to ask

Cement maxi bricks usually cost about R4 to R8 each, roughly R3,800 to R8,000 per 1,000. Fewer bricks and less mortar per m² often make a maxi wall cheaper than a standard brick wall, so compare per m² rather than per brick. Ask the supplier:

• the exact size and whether the brick is solid or hollow;
• the strength and how long the bricks have cured;
• how many maxis are on a pallet and the pallet price;
• the delivery cost and how the load is offloaded.

What to include in your request

• Give the number of maxis or the wall size
• Say solid or hollow maxi bricks
• Ask for the strength and curing time
• Give the delivery address and site access
• Ask how many maxis are on a pallet

Maxi Bricks for different clients

• Homeowners: maxi bricks for a back room, a garage or a plastered boundary wall
• Builders and bricklaying contractors: faster walling on extensions and low-cost houses with fewer bricks to lay
• Housing developers and complexes: maxi bricks ordered in bulk for social and RDP housing phases
• Brickyards and block yards: yards adding a maxi mould to make a bigger, faster-selling cement brick
• New brick-making businesses: a small egg-laying machine with a maxi mould supplying local builders
• Farms and smallholdings: quick maxi brick walls for stores, workshops and staff houses on the farm
• Municipalities, schools and public works: maxi bricks for community halls, ablution blocks and housing projects
• Landscapers and paving teams: plastered maxi brick garden walls and screening walls around yards and bins

Frequently asked questions

Maxi Bricks by province and city

• Gauteng
• Mpumalanga
• North West
• Limpopo
• Northern Cape
• Free State
• KwaZulu-Natal
• Eastern Cape
• Western Cape

• Johannesburg
• Pretoria
• Centurion
• Midrand
• Sandton
• Randburg
• Roodepoort
• Krugersdorp
• Randfontein
• Germiston
• Boksburg
• Benoni
• Kempton Park
• Alberton
• Vanderbijlpark
• Vereeniging
• Durban
• Pinetown
• Pietermaritzburg
• Richards Bay
• Newcastle
• Ladysmith
• Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth)
• East London
• Kariega (Uitenhage)
• Mthatha
• Cape Town
• Bellville
• Paarl
• Stellenbosch
• George
• Worcester
• eMalahleni (Witbank)
• Middelburg
• Secunda
• Mbombela (Nelspruit)
• Rustenburg
• Brits
• Klerksdorp
• Potchefstroom
• Mahikeng
• Polokwane
• Tzaneen
• Kimberley
• Upington
• Bloemfontein
• Welkom
• Sasolburg

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