A range of special bricks is made for specific uses in fairface brickwork. These bricks are made from fine clays to control and reduce shrinkage deformation during firing. The finished bricks are dense, to resist damage by exposure to rain and cold in the exposed positions in which they are most used. Figure 49 is an illustration of some typical specials.
The two coping bricks, the half round and the saddleback, are for use as coping to a IB thick parapet wall. The bricks are some 50mm or more wider than the thickness of a 1B wall so that when laid they overhang the wall each side to shed rainwater and the grooves on the underside of the hangover form a drip edge.
The two bullnose specials are made as a capping or coping for IB walls. They are of the same length as the thickness of the wall on which they are laid, to provide protection and a flush finish to the wall.
The plinth bricks are used to provide and cap a thickening to the base of walls, a plinth, for the sake of appearance. A plinth at the base of a wall gives some definition to the base of a wall as compared to the wall being built flush out of the ground. A plinth may be formed by the junction of a solid \\ B wall built from the foundation up to a cavity wall.