Before construction begins, the required wall thickness must be determined, the type of masonry and material selected. The solution to these issues can confuse any novice builder, given the huge selection of materials and the availability of various masonry methods.
The most important point when choosing the thickness of the walls is the economic background. In order to accurately calculate sufficient wall thickness parameters, one should determine the parameters of the future building, heated area, estimated service life, mode of residence, type and efficiency of the heating system.
Highlights when choosing masonry
When determining the nature of future masonry, it is recommended to pay attention to the following factors:
- Assumed load on the walls. It depends primarily on the number of storeys of the building.
- Climatic conditions. Along with the necessary strength of the walls, thermal insulation requirements must be met.
- Aesthetic component. Walls of insignificant thickness look more attractive compared to the same masonry of two or one and a half bricks.
Economic rationale for thickness selectionwalls
It is absolutely inappropriate to build when the wall thickness is more than 38 cm.
Often, lightweight masonry is used in low-rise construction. This method involves placing several walls in two rows at a distance of about half a brick from each other. The creation of an air gap plays in this case the role of an effective heat insulator. If necessary, the resulting cavity can be filled with any suitable insulating material.
Brick-bearing walls
With proper implementation of calculations that lead to a uniform distribution of loads, walls one brick thick have the highest bearing capacity. The thickening of the walls due to the increase in thermal insulation properties leads to the need for laying a stronger foundation, which affects the increase in planned costs.
The aesthetically attractive thickness of a brick wall can be maintained through the use of felt insulators. In the case of their installation, the heat retention indicators increase by about 30%. When using foam plastic as a heater, it is possible to achieve an increase in the efficiency of thermal insulation by 2-3 times.
Increase the thermal insulation properties of load-bearing walls at the level of about 10-15% allows the use of other least expensive insulators:
- sawdust;
- tufa;
- perplit;
- mortar based on slag or fine aggregate.
When creating solid masonry, it is advisable to mount insulation from the inside or outside. In this case, the minimum thickness of the brick wall is maintained.
As for the thickness of the bearing walls of the most modern, innovative types of bricks, it can be almost any. Moreover, in this case, compliance with the heat balance is practically independent of the presence of insulation.
Thickness of interior brick walls
Full-bodied bricks are mainly used for laying internal walls. The sufficient thickness of the internal walls made of such material is no more than 25 cm. In cases where there is an increased load on the walls, the use of reinforcing structures is allowed.
If we talk about internal partitions of a minimum length of up to one and a half meters, half-brick laying is sufficient. In this case, the thickness of the partition will be 12 cm. An alternative is a quarter-brick laying - 6.5 cm.
In cases where partitions have a length of more than 1.5 m, it is advisable to use reinforcement to improve the bearing qualities. For this, steel reinforcement with a diameter of 2 to 5 mm is used. Reinforcing material is laid approximately every 3 rows of bricks.
Brick thickness
Currently, the following types of bricks are distinguished:
- single;
- one and a half;
- double.
Parameterssingle bricks are equal: 250 x 12 x 65 mm. The material was introduced into wide use at the beginning of the last century. Later, one and a half and double bricks became actively used as an alternative. Such solutions turned out to be more cost-effective in the construction of capital structures.
Calculate what should be the minimum thickness of the wall, you can use an example. When laying in 2.5 bricks, the best option would be to use double bricks for building walls and facing bricks when laying the remaining 0.5 cm of the wall. The use of a single brick for the implementation of a similar plan increases the material consumption by about 25 to 35%.
Another important factor on which the thickness of a brick depends is its thermal conductivity. According to this characteristic, a wall of one and a half bricks loses to many building materials of smaller thickness, for example, wood.
The thermal conductivity of a solid standard brick is about 0.7 W/moC. You can somewhat reduce the indicator due to the use of hollow bricks. However, along with a decrease in thermal conductivity, the obvious disadvantage here is a decrease in the strength of structures.
Possible causes of brick wall thickening
The reason for thickening the brickwork is the need to improve the insulating and thermal properties of the building. This may be due to the peculiarities of the location of the structure. For example, with its construction near the airport, noisy transport interchanges, construction in regions with a specific climate.
Sufficiently high thermal conductivity of bricks dictates the need to use various options to improve the thermal insulation of structures. In order to create a comfortable environment in a residential building in our climatic conditions, a sufficient thickness of the walls should be about 20 cm. At the same time, the use of heavy bricks entails an additional load on the foundation and increases the construction budget.
Options to improve the thermal insulation of brick walls
- Increasing wall thickness with 2-brick laying.
- Creating ventilated facades by laying lumber, special insulation panels, siding, facing bricks.
- Standard insulation of facades due to their cladding with plaster.
- Equipping brick walls with insulation from the inside. A vapor barrier layer must be superimposed on the insulation layer, after which the interior decoration of the room is performed.
Wall thickness in panel houses
Standard wall thickness in panel-type buildings is 14 and 18 cm. Some construction companies use panels up to 22 cm thick from the first to the fifth floor, which improves the load-bearing qualities of the building. At the same time, regardless of the thickness of the panel wall, reinforcing reinforcement is mandatory.
As for the load-bearing internal partitions in buildings of this type, here they are from8 cm. Sometimes gas silicate materials are used to create internal partitions. The thickness of the gas silicate wall in panel houses is identical to the above value. As in the case of the construction of concrete walls, partitions made of reinforcement are also used here.
In some panel houses, thickened external walls up to 38 cm are mounted, which helps to increase the thermal insulation properties of the floors. Sometimes such walls are made in the form of a concrete or expanded clay concrete sandwich with an inner layer of foam.
Thickness of block walls
In the case of using foam blocks as the main building material, the thickness of the bearing walls does not depend on the number of storeys of the future building. The determining parameter on which the thickness of the walls depends is thermal conductivity. This value depends on the brand of material used and the design features of the wall.
The thickness of the bearing walls of foam blocks with brick cladding:
- Material grade 600 - layer thickness 450 mm.
- Material grade 800 - layer thickness 680 mm.
- Material grade 1000 - layer thickness 940 mm.
Masonry with exterior plaster:
- Material grade 600 - layer thickness 480 mm.
- Material grade 800 - layer thickness 720 mm.
- Material grade 1000 - layer thickness 1000 mm.
The technology of laying foam blocks is similar to that of brick. At its core, the foam block is the same brick, but with only some difference in parameters. When installing wallsfoam blocks are fastened with cement mortar.
Laying the material in several rows is not economically feasible, since the foam block, due to the porous internal structure, in itself has excellent thermal insulation properties.
The obvious reason for building walls from foam blocks is the low weight of the material, despite some bulkiness. In general, the unique qualities of foam blocks make it possible not only to save on reducing the thickness of the walls, but also to save money when laying the foundation.
