ForConstructionPros.com

Brick Snaps are a single-use product made of polystyrene. They can be assembled in a variety of patterns and can accommodate four different brick sizes. This is a single-use template system for precast or tilt-up applications. A similar product, the Block Snaps, is used for integral casting of 8-in. by 16-in. thin block.

Scott System's newest product, Rim Snaps, are for casting brick vertically, typically in columns, climbing forms and other poured-in-place applications. This product can be reused.

The Scott System templates strip off quickly, but the bricks stay put. "Pull out tests show that the brick itself will shear, but not 'fall out' or 'pull out' of concrete, at 3,000 psi," Scott notes. "The bond is permanent." The finished panels should be washed using high pressure hot water.

Block forms
Design Pro makes forms that let concrete contractors make their own landscape, V-interlock and knob-style blocks. These large blocks are used for landscaped parking lots, privacy walls and product divider walls at concrete plants. The forms are made of "10-gauge steel with a formed channel running around the outside edge," notes Dan Stocke of Design Pro. They last indefinitely unless they are hit by a hard object or run over. Each form can be used to make two blocks per day by pouring one in the morning and then stripping off the form before pouring another block in the afternoon. The clamps on the corners are used as levers to strip the form.

"All of our forms are created so that you pour face down," Stocke points out. "They are made of two L-shaped halves that clamp together in the corner, so whatever you're pouring them on is going to be the face. Many people pour on top of a cement slab to get a smooth surface." Because decorative faces have become so popular, they manufacture urethane mats in 10 stone patterns. These mats are placed in the bottom of the form to create a patterned finish on the block's face. Custom mats are also available.