All those miles and miles of freeway sound walls were built by masons. They are still in the area.
yes, but I am looking for a specific look, a “used brick” façade as similar as possible to one on the other side of my property which was built over 37 years ago (that is, before my time at the property).
the first challenge was to find a similar brick, and just that took a couple of years. I eventually found a brick which matched the original brick to within 1/2” on one dimension, exact on the two other dimensions. the remaining problem was the weathering, but the second contractor stated that he could do the weathering, so that seems set.
it won’t be exact, but on the other hand, it is virtually impossible to find a viewpoint from which both walls are visible at once, so if each contractor performs as advertised, it should come out approximately ok, and probably as good as almost anyone has a right to expect given the 37+ year time difference between constructions.
the freeway soundwall guys do not have the requirement/constraint of using vintage style used brick, so I would imagine because of that, they can just come up with something totally off the shelf and do that with impunity.