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Frequently Asked Questions

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Brick Markers USA FAQs

Why do a brick fundraising program?
Engraved bricks make a permanent connection between the donors and fundraising organizations, which has proven to significantly raise revenue and impact.
Everyone! We provide our products to:
  • Organizations looking for a profitable fundraising idea
  • Organizations looking to create a lasting memorial
  • Organizations looking for promotional gifts
  • Organizations looking for employee or donor recognition
  • Architects and developers needing continuous designs (arrays) for borders, driveways, entrances, centerpieces, and more
  • Individuals who need it for various purposes like a new home, wedding, gift, memorial, or pet grave marker

It’s easy! Just call 1-800-634-8948, email us at info@brickmarkers.com, or visit our website at www.brickmarkers.com and submit an inquiry on our Contact page. A customer service/sales representative will then contact you and send you our brochure within 48 hours. We will help you determine:

  • Optimal donation levels to maximize your revenue potential
  • How many bricks or tiles can be placed within your designated area
  • Which brick or tile is best for your project
  • What level of service is appropriate for your program
We cannot determine your specific cost as it depends on factors unique to your program. However, we can suggest ways to help keep expenses low. For instance, when creating a flyer or brochure for your brick campaign, consider partnering with a local printer. They may offer discounted services if you provide a free brick acknowledging their contribution, giving you a discount on printing while offering the printer a valuable source of visual advertising.
The answer is indefinitely. Think about how many brick surfaces you’ve seen that are worn down — not many! While bricks installed in the ground for hundreds of years can show signs of wear, they generally maintain their integrity. For example, brick streets, buildings, and walls in Philadelphia have stood the test of time for centuries, even enduring constant wear from horse-drawn carriages. Bricks made in the past relied on the skills and resources of that era. However, with today’s advanced technology and computer-controlled high-temperature kilns, modern bricks are of much higher quality and durability.
Since 1997, we’ve been providing the ultimate fundraising products with tailored strategies to meet your unique needs. Using our patented processes, which represent the ultimate green technology, we guarantee that our engraving will not fade, chip, oxidize, peel, or separate from the brick, paver, or tile for its entire lifespan. In fact, since our founding, none of our engraved products have ever needed replacement.
It is simply not necessary with our patented Vitralase® and Vitrix® laser engraving processes. In fact, depth is a disadvantage. While many assume depth equates to durability, the opposite is true: deep engraving can weaken the brick, making it more prone to damage. Over time, or even during installation, the small, raised portions of deeply engraved characters are at risk of chipping or breaking, rendering the text illegible. Additionally, deep engravings tend to collect environmental debris like sand or food, leading to ongoing maintenance issues.
Clay-based products that meet all of the ASTM standards in the industry can be used. Please see the manufacturers section of our website.
We do not “fill” the brick/tile with any type of filler material. Our Vitralase® and Vitrix® patented processes are created with the technology of lasers. By directing a continuous flow of intense laser energy, the image is vitrified into the brick or tile. The vitrification process actually converts the engraved portion of the clay product into hardened glass, so the indelible engraving is actually harder than the brick itself. Clay brick and glass are two substances that stand the test of time!

The hardened glass-fill method effectively eliminates fading, oxidation, and maintenance costs. Glass is inorganic and inert, making it resistant to chemicals, acid rain, and both infrared and ultraviolet rays from sunlight. This means that hardened glass won’t fade, oxidize, or peel, and requires virtually no maintenance.

Consider sea glass as an example. When you walk along the seashore and find a piece of brown or green sea glass, it’s usually from a glass bottle. While its appearance has become frosted due to abrasion from sand and tides, the original color remains unaffected by constant exposure to UV rays. In contrast, other fill methods like paints, epoxies, and grouts are organic and degrade over time when exposed to sunlight, acid rain, and environmental factors. This breakdown requires either costly and inconvenient refilling or, if left unchecked, results in a cosmetically unappealing brick — often necessitating full brick replacement.

Epoxies (plastics) are susceptible to breakdown; they begin to shrink and fade. Shrinking allows moisture to build in between the epoxy and the brick. This may allow algae to grow, causing a maintenance problem and a cosmetically unappealing brick. The rate of expansion and contraction of epoxy vs. the brick itself are different, which may allow the epoxy to separate from the brick.

Paints and grouts are just as susceptible to breakdown, similar to epoxy. However, they are more susceptible to chipping, especially if pressure cleaning for maintenance is required. Just as you pressure clean a building to remove the old oxidized paint to prepare for repainting, this same effect would occur with the bricks, causing a maintenance problem and a cosmetically unappealing brick.

Our patented processes represent the ultimate green technology, guaranteeing that our engravings will not fade, chip, oxidize, peel, or separate from the brick, tile, or paver for its entire lifespan. Using our patented Vitralase® and Vitrix® laser technology, we direct a continuous flow of intense laser energy to vitrify the image into the brick or tile. This vitrification process converts the engraved portion into hardened glass. Since glass is inorganic and inert, it is resistant to chemicals, acid rain, infrared, and ultraviolet rays, making it virtually maintenance-free and impervious to fading, oxidation, or peeling.

It’s crucial to note that laser etching and laser cutting are often incorrectly labeled as laser engraving. Unlike our method, these processes cut into the brick and then fill the engraving with paint or epoxy for contrast. However, these materials are organic and break down over time due to exposure to sunlight, acid rain, chemicals, and other environmental factors. Additionally, paint can chip easily, especially during pressure cleaning for maintenance.

Don’t confuse laser etching or cutting with true laser engraving. Brick Markers® patented laser engraving provides a level of quality and detail that traditional techniques cannot match. Our process ensures that your brick campaign is successful and maintenance-free, allowing all funds raised to be allocated to your cause, rather than replacing damaged bricks.

We guarantee a lifetime of durability. Our patented Vitralase® and Vitrix® processes will last as long as the durability of the brick’s surface.

We offer a lifetime warranty on our engraved mark, as long as the brick surface is not compromised. The replacement guarantee depends on the replacement conditions. There may be other conditions that are unforeseen and in such instances, we would need to determine the best solution for both our client and ourselves.

BMI Limited Lifetime Warranties guarantee that its patented Vitralase®/Vitrix® vitrification processes will be of good quality and workmanship and will not fade, chip, oxidize, peel, or separate from the brick, tile, or paver for the life of the surface of the engraved brick, tile, or paver. BMI requires that the brick, tile, or paver manufacturer meet all ASTM (American Standards of Testing Materials) standards for quality, durability and longevity.

This warranty is limited to the repair or replacement of any Vitralase®/Vitrix® vitrification processes engraved onto a brick, tile, or paver meeting ASTM standards. Any Vitralase®/Vitrix® vitrification process engraving that is proven defective will be repaired or replaced by BMI provided that such defect is due to faulty material or workmanship on the part of BMI and not the result of tampering, vandalism, misuse, abuse, improper installation or maintenance misapplication, or natural disaster or acts of God, excluding normal environmental conditions such as rain, sleet, snow and freeze/thaw conditions.

Yes, we ship within the USA and abroad.
Yes, because the goal of any fundraising campaign is to raise money for your cause and by offering multiple products (levels of giving), you can maximize your gross revenue. We also recommend selling custom corporate logos/arrays to generate even greater profits.

Yes, we have many “program enhancers” to further increase your revenue, and they can be viewed on our website under Products & Services.

Yes, offering replicas is an easy way to boost revenue without adding extra effort. Replicas give your donors a meaningful keepsake to display at their home or office, strengthening their connection to your organization. Additionally, when others see these replicas, it helps spread the word and market your fundraising campaign.
Our standard is 20 characters per line (including spaces and punctuation). However, if you have a special requirement, we would be glad to review your request and determine the additional cost (if any) and the possibilities.
Our standard font is the Optic font, but we can engrave any requested TrueType font.
Yes, we engrave Greek and Spanish letters for no additional charge (Optic font only).
Yes, we are happy to announce that we can engrave foreign languages as long as the TrueType font is provided.
We offer our free clip art library (provided in our brochure and online). This allows you to charge an additional fee to your donors if you so choose. We do not charge an additional cost for this service. We can also program your own logo, a donor’s corporate logo, or signature for a one-time programming fee. Brick Markers does require that logos be provided in the following IBM-compatible black and white formats, 300 dpi or higher, with the following extensions: .PLT, .CDR, .EPS, .JPG, .PCX, and .BMP.
This cost varies depending on the complexity of your logo. However, our standard charge for a logo is a minimum of $75, and our standard charge for a signature or children’s art is $30.
There is no minimum order required. However, to take advantage of our discounted pricing structure, ordering a minimum of 100 bricks is best. Your minimum 100 brick order can be a combination of 4 × 8’s and 8 × 8’s. You may be offering 4 × 8’s and 8 × 8’s to your donors. For example, your 100 brick order can consist of 86 pieces of 4×8’s and 14 pieces of 8×8’s. We do receive and engrave orders of fewer than 100 bricks as well.
Brick Markers® provides our proprietary ordering system that will allow you to compile the donor text information. These documents are sent via email as attachments along with instructions to assist you with the text compiling process.
Brick Markers® schedules your order for processing as soon as all criteria are met. Your assigned customer service/sales representative will inform you of your scheduled processing date and estimated shipping and arrival date based on your required timeframe.
We need you to inform us of your deadline as soon as possible. This information will allow us to determine the timeframe in which we need to receive your order and the criteria that will allow us to meet your deadline. Our standard processing timeframe varies, as our existing clients continuously order. We are proud to say that we have met our clients’ deadlines when all criteria are provided and met. Please contact your customer service/sales representative to discuss further.
Yes! Most of our clientele continue their brick campaigns year after year. The purpose of any brick campaign is to raise funds and maximize your revenue. Although most of our clientele do want their brick location to look complete, we offer blank bricks along with your engraved bricks to provide the completed appearance. Simply place additional orders, when your engraved bricks arrive, remove the blank filler bricks, and install your new order of engraved bricks. Hint: Keep your brick orders to a minimum of 100 bricks. This not only saves you money per order, but it also saves you money with your brick installer.
Yes, we do. In fact, most clients do not want the hassle of locating a distributor and coordinating the delivery. This can be arranged with your sales representative.
We do not provide installation, as our shipments are sent throughout the US and abroad. We do recommend that you hire a professional masonry/contractor in your area to install your bricks and tiles.

Bricks: Most of our clientele install their bricks in a sand base. This allows for your campaign to continue on by removing the blank bricks and installing your engraved bricks. This form of installation is permanent, the bricks cannot be removed with ease, specific equipment is required to lift out the first brick, allowing you to continue removing the blank bricks and replacing them with your engraved bricks. Your brick area always has a finished look as you continue with your fundraising campaign. For installation information, please refer to The Brick Industry Association website at www.bia.org.

Tiles: Most of our clientele install their tiles by applying a thin set to the back of each tile. However, we recommend that you hire a local professional masonry/contractor to install your tiles.

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