METROBRICK – About Thin Brick

In September of 2019, Ironrock produced its first thin brick order using its new state of the art edge grinding equipment. The new equipment ensures all manufactured bricks conform to the tight dimensional tolerances required by the Precast Concrete Institute (PCI) Standard for Thin Brick embedded in concrete.

“We see our new edge grinder as a competitive advantage,” says Guy Renkert, Ironrock’s President & CEO and the fifth generation of the Renkert family to run the company. “While our size control has always been the best in the industry, being able to rectify oversized pieces helps improve efficiencies and shorten lead times because scrap and reruns are all but eliminated. We are very excited to have the new equipment up and running. Our precast and tilt-wall customers will see that our new ground edge bricks have tighter size control and fit even better in your formliner than before. This means faster setting, fewer eyebrows or cocked brick and less leakage for faster cleanup, which saves you money.”

Ironrock is a fifth generation, 150+-year-old producer of quality ceramic tile and thin brick under the brand names of Metropolitan Ceramics, Royal Thin Brick, and METROBRICK. The company’s manufacturing operations are based in Canton, Ohio, with close access to raw materials and clean-burning natural gas. For more information about Ironrock’s thin brick products, visit www.ironrock.com.

Here is a simple comparison between full bed brick and thin brick. This infographic was created to show potential energy and resource savings when using a wall system that includes thin brick.

This information does not contain all of the factors that come into play when comparing the complete full and thin brick wall systems. Instead, this is designed as a visual representation to show some inherent advantages in using thin brick.

80% of full brick is never seen. Thin brick allows for more building
options like added insulation and more interior space.

Are you losing energy through your walls? METROBRICK® walls
allow for continuous insulation and create lower utility bills.

Images provided by Thermomass Insulation Systems.

METROBRICK® requires 8 fewer semi trucks to deliver 25,000
sq. ft. of modular surface coverage as compared to full brick.

To fire 700,000 pieces, METROBRICK® uses nearly 1/5 the amount
of natural gas than the same surface coverage of full brick.

METROBRICK® uses 1/5 the amount of material needed to
manufacture the same surface coverage as full brick.

http://metrothinbrick.com/environment/

‘Made in the USA’ is not a phrase we take lightly – we have been saying it for 150 years.

As we look forward to the upcoming 4th of July Celebration, it is a great time for us at Ironrock to reflect on a very special anniversary -150 years of making the highest quality brick and ceramic products.

Ironrock is a fifth generation family owned company located in Canton, Ohio. We have a brick making heritage that dates back to 1866. We are the makers of Metropolitan Ceramics® Quarry Tile and two thin brick products – METROBRICK® and Royal Thin Brick®.

In 150 years, our company has seen a lot of the history that makes up the fabric of the United States, and we have made quite a bit of our own.

We are proud to have provided products along the way to help build our country, from road paving bricks that were the foundation of a budding road system, to durable and slip resisting ceramic tile used in countless buildings throughout the country, to thin brick used to clad a wide variety of buildings.

As we celebrate a storied history, we look forward to a bright future and are proud to say we are Made in the USA.

Happy Fourth of July from all of us at Ironrock.

Rob Schrock

Ironrock is pleased to announce Rob Schrock as the new National Sales Manager – Thin Brick. The National Thin Brick Sales Manager is responsible for meeting and exceeding annual thin brick sales goals, creating and growing a strong national channel of distribution and establishing METROBRICK® and Royal Thin Brick® as leaders in the thin brick market.

In his new role Rob will make presentations to architects and specifiers, distributors, precasters & tilt-wall companies, field applied systems companies and other users and influencers for both the METROBRICK® and Royal Thin Brick® product lines.

Rob has over twenty-five years of construction industry experience. He has extensive experience working in the area of thin brick sales and management, having held positions with both Tabs Wall Systems (2006-2011) and most recently Glen-Gery Corporation (2011 to present).

In his work with thin brick, he has developed new and existing sales markets, increased territorial distribution, helped create and implement new products, worked in customer training, facilitated job site resolutions, and lead numerous architectural presentations.

Rob has a complete understanding of the technical aspects of thin brick construction, having been responsible for construction details, technical management, testing plans and the coordination of ASTM testing.