Is it normal for a facing brick to do this?

[Adsibob]

I’m about to order about 2800 facing bricks for our extension. After much searching, its come down to this brick (pictured). However, two things are concerning me:

 

first, is it normal for bricks to crumble slightly at the edges/corners before they have even been handled very much? This brick was sent to me by the manufacturer wrapped in bubble wrap, by fedex, as a free sample, together with two others which were also individually wrapped in bubble wrap. On taking the brick out of the wrapping it looked to be in mint condition, but just taking the brick from one room to another and looking at it in different light it has somehow started to crumble. 
 

second, why is the facing side of the brick slightly darker than the top side (the top side being the side upon which my thumb is resting)? I asked the salesperson about this and she replied “as with every single brick on the market place all bricks only ever guarantee one good header and one good stretcher; the bricks are not coated or varnished with any coatings that is the natural finish of the facing brick” but it really doesn’t make sense to me why it looks slightly darker as if it has had some sort of sealant applied to it. I prefer the lighter side, so I’m almost tempted to lay them on their sides, but that is probably a recipe for disaster.

 

[Declan52]

You can't lay them on their side. They are made to exact measurements so each course of brick plus a bed of mortar is 75mm. So you end up with 3 courses of brick, 225mm to match the height of a block inside which will be 215mm plus 10mm of motar to give you the 225mm. 

[Russell griffiths]

Bricks are fired by being put in a kiln, depending on how they are stacked I would say they will all have a variety of colours. 

If you are after them all looking identical I think you need to look for a better quality product. 

[Adsibob]

7 minutes ago, Russell griffiths said:

Bricks are fired by being put in a kiln, depending on how they are stacked I would say they will all have a variety of colours. 

If you are after them all looking identical I think you need to look for a better quality product. 

Helpful, thanks. What about the crumbling corner/edges?

[Russell griffiths]

3 minutes ago, Adsibob said:

Helpful, thanks. What about the crumbling corner/edges?

Poor quality???

 

looks like something called a sandlime. 

 

Is it sold as a facing brick, does it have a weather resistant rating. 

[Adsibob]

17 minutes ago, Russell griffiths said:

Poor quality???

 

looks like something called a sandlime. 

 

Is it sold as a facing brick, does it have a weather resistant rating. 

Yes, it is meant to be a facing brick.  Not sure what you mean by weather resistant. It is marketed as frost resistant.

 

here are specs:

 

 

[Vijay]

Maybe they sent you a damaged one as it was just a sample??

[epsilonGreedy]

Facing brick specs usually quote "F2" and I cannot see that in your spec. Also no maximum water absorption percentage is quoted, something near 15% is typical.

 

Are you sure these are fired bricks as opposed to bricks formed from a concrete type mush that chemically sets.