Brick as a building material has been known for a very long time. The mention of it can be found in the Bible, in stories about the times after the Great Flood.
The construction of brick houses is deeply rooted in history, in any country there are many such buildings, whose age is more than a dozen years. There are long-lived houses built 150 or even 200 years ago. Brick has always been the most sought after and popular building material in the world.
Why did builders like this material so much? Here are a few clear benefits.
Strength
In construction, brick grades M100, M125, M150, M175 are used. The digital index after the letter indicates strength and indicates that this type can withstand a load of 100, 125, 150, 175 kg/cm2. Mark M100 is suitable for building a house with a height of 3 floors.
Durability
A house that has a good thickness of brick exterior walls, built with quality material and according to all the rules of house building, can stand for more than a century.
Sustainable
The composition of the brick includes natural substances that do not contain harmful impurities - clay, sand, water. It is also breathable, "breathes" and does not rot.
Versatility, aesthetics
Brick size and laying technology bring the most daring architectural designs to life. The individual style of a brick house will give it originality and uniqueness.
Frost resistance
Extensive experience in the use of bricks in construction and testing it in different climatic zones confirm that this material has high frost resistance, which is designated F25, F35, F50.
The digital index indicates the amount of freezing and thawing of a brick in a state saturated with water, after which irreversible changes begin in it.
Fire safety
Brick is a refractory material that complies with all fire extinguishing standards and regulations, and the thickness of the walls in a brick house will not allow fire to spread from room to room.
Sound proofing
Brick is a good insulating material, much better than wood and reinforced concrete panels. The thickness of the walls in a brick house protects well from street noise.
Minimum wall thickness
One of the main characteristics of a brick house is the thickness of the walls. The size of an ordinary ceramic brick is 250x120x65 mm. Building codes and regulations take a multiple of 12 (the length of half a brick) to determine the thickness of the walls.
It turns out that the thickness of the wall is:
- in half a brick - 120 mm;
- in one brick - 250 mm;
- one and a half bricks - 380 mm (10 mm is added to the thickness of the seam between the bricks);
- in two bricks - 510 mm (10 mm per seam);
- in two and a half bricks - 640 mm.
The same building codes clearly define the minimum thickness of a brick wall. It should be in the range from 1/20 to 1/25 of the floor height. A simple calculation shows that if the floor is 3 meters high, then the walls must be at least 150 mm thick. A brick wall that is less than 150 mm thick is suitable for simple interior partitions.
Exterior load-bearing brick walls
The strength and stability of the entire building is provided by the outer walls. They are called load-bearing because they carry the entire load acting on the building. They bear the weight of ceilings, higher walls, roofs, operational loads (furniture, things, people) and snow.
The starting point for any masonry is the corners of the building. A lighthouse is made on each of them (an angle is removed from the bricks, aligned along the vertical and axes of the building). Corner masonry rises 6–8 rows. It is recommended to reinforce the corners of the outer walls with a metal mesh made of wire with a diameter of 6 mm. Then, between the beacons at the level of the upper brick, a twine is stretched along the edge of the wall, which indicates the outer axis of the structure. Brickwork is carried out from one lighthouse to another, the thickness of the walls consists of an outer, inner and middle part, which is filled with insulation or butyat with other material. A brick on the wall is laid with dressing, after three or five rows of spoons, one bonder is needed. There are many patterns for laying bricks. Depending on the chosen scheme, the arrangement of the spoon and poke rows may differ. The same applies to the seams, they should not be located one above the other. With the help of halves and quarters, the brick is easy to shift to the side relative to the bottom row. After laying several rows, the verticality of the wall is checked with a level to avoid various curvature of the plane, which can spoil the aesthetic appearance of the building.
The thickness of the brick load-bearing wall is selected based on the climatic zone, environmental features and own capabilities. But for any calculations, it should not be less than 380 mm (laying "one and a half bricks"). In the northern regions, the thickness is usually increased to 510 mm, or even up to 640 mm.
To reduce the load of walls on the foundation and facilitate the construction, the outer walls are laid from hollow bricks. It is unprofitable to make continuous masonry, it is expensive and reduces the thermal protection of the building.
Wall insulation
Often use the technology by which masonry is carried out with the construction of wells. It consists of two walls 140–270 mm apart from each other with obligatory dressing of rows every 650–1200 mm. The wells between the masonry are filled with insulation with mandatory tamping. It can be lightweight concrete, slag, expanded clay, sawdust, etc. When using them, the thermal protection of the building increases by 10-15%.
The most effective insulation is foam. Its use allows you to reduce the thickness of the walls to 290 mm (brick 120 mm + foam 50 mm + brick 120 mm). And if you leave a well 100 mm wide (for two layers of foam laid with overlapping seams), then such a wall in terms of thermal conductivity will be equivalent to a solid masonry 640 mm thick. A brick wall with a thickness of 290 mm should be additionally reinforced with meshes every 5 rows.
To make housing even more comfortable, arrange additional insulation outside or inside the building. Expanded polystyrene, polystyrene foam, mineral wool and other soft or hard materials are suitable here. With them, thermal protection can be increased up to 100%.
Internal bearing walls
Buildings with a length or width of more than five and a half meters are divided along the long side by internal load-bearing walls. They are used for butt support of ceilings or coverings of the structure.
The thickness of internal brick walls is made less than external, because insulation is not required here, but not less than 250 mm (laying "in brick"). All load-bearing walls, both external and internal, are interconnected and form, along with the foundation and the roof, a single structure - the skeleton of the building. All loads acting on the structure are evenly distributed over its area. The joints of the outer and inner walls are reinforced with meshes or separate reinforcement through 5 rows of masonry. The piers are arranged at least 510 mm wide and they are also reinforced. If necessary, putpillars as load-bearing supports, then the cross section of the structures should be at least 380x380 mm (laying “one and a half bricks”). They are also reinforced with wire 3–6 mm in 5 rows along the height of the masonry.
Partitions
These walls produce a zonal division of the space of large rooms. Since the partitions are not load-bearing, and no loads other than their own weight act on them, here you can choose which thickness of the brick wall is more suitable for this room.
Partitions 120 mm thick (“half-brick” masonry) are arranged mainly between rooms and bathrooms. If you want to separate a small room such as a pantry, then it is possible to lay out a wall with a thickness of 65 mm (masonry "on edge"). But such a partition must be reinforced with 3 mm wire every 2-3 rows of masonry in height, if its length is more than one and a half meters.
To lighten the weight and reduce the load on the ceiling, the partitions are made of hollow or porous ceramic bricks.
Masonry Mortar
If the external masonry of the wall is carried out “under jointing”, then the quality, composition and correct application of the mortar determine how aesthetically the brick wall will look. The thickness of the seams should be the same everywhere, and they must be filled completely, voids are not allowed. The solution must be prepared before the start of work and applied within two hours. For plasticity, clay, lime or marble pulp is added to it.
For horizontal seams apply a thickness of 10up to 15 mm, for vertical - from 8 to 10 mm.
When building a brick building, you need to know that any deviation from the project may subsequently lead to unpredictable consequences. The stability and strength of brick load-bearing walls can be easily reduced if:
- reduce their thickness;
- increase their height;
- increase the area or number of openings;
- reduce the width of the walls between openings;
- arrange additional niches or channels in the walls;
- use heavier floors.
A brick wall, the thickness of which is less than the design, should be additionally reinforced.
All changes in the project must be made by specialists, you cannot do this yourself.
Buildings made of bricks have obvious advantages that put them a step above houses made of any other materials. Made according to original designs, they have their own style and charm. It is also a good option for investing and transferring real estate to descendants by inheritance.
