Use of bricks in construction

June 7, 2024 Roberto Magalhães

Brick is a type of block and is also used to build masonry, walkways and other construction elements. The term “brick” technically refers to a block of dried clay, but is now commonly used colloquially to refer to various building blocks that have been chemically cured. Bricks can be fixed with mortar, glue or interlocked. Bricks are manufactured in large quantities and come in a variety of qualities, types, materials and sizes, varying by location and season.

There are several uses for bricks. Some of the main uses of bricks are

Use as building material – load-bearing walls
Use as a non-resistant material – Non-structural walls/partitions
Used to improve aesthetic appearance
Use as fire resistant material
Acts as a good sound barrier
Good thermal barrier

Furthermore, the possible special uses of the brick and its additional advantages can also be highlighted.

Aesthetic appearance

Bick is an aesthetically pleasing material. It is more attractive than other materials like Cement Blocks .

Based on this experience, most people tend to use bricks, although they are not cheaper than cement blocks. Furthermore, the expected finish of a brick wall cannot be achieved with other types of walls.

durability

Properly made bricks are durable, and we can see this in the old buildings around us. Structures like stupas lasted for many years that we did not expect.

This is due to the quality of the brick. Furthermore, if we make the brick correctly and protect it as needed even after construction, we can achieve the expected durability.

sustainability

Today, the sustainability of construction is one of the main concerns. Compared to concrete, bricks are a good example of a sustainable material.

Concrete is more harmful to the environment than brick. Bricks can be easily reused and are environmentally friendly.

Use of bricks in construction

Bricks are used in countless construction applications. They are a very useful building material all over the world. In the past, even before the invention of concrete, brick was used together with stone as the main construction material.

The main structure was built of stone and brick. In old buildings, brick was usually used as a load-bearing element. Even today, bricks are still used in various types of construction.

Building

Along with concrete, brick is the most commonly used building material in civil construction. Depending on the type of construction, there are basically two categories.

Structural brick walls

Bricks are one of the oldest building materials used to construct large ancient structures in the world. Stupas, buildings, bridges, etc. were built with bricks. Most importantly, all of these structures are supporting structures that transfer the weight of the structure to the foundation through the brick structure.

In buildings there are slabs, beams, pillars and foundations. If we construct the building with structural brick walls, we can omit the concrete columns. However, in a load-bearing structure we could have a brick column that has concentrated loads acting on it.

Typically, the width of the brick wall is thicker than the traditional brick wall in structural structures.

Non-structural walls

Brick walls are constructed as non-load-bearing walls. These are usually called partitions. They do not transfer the load of the structure. They only serve to separate areas.

When constructing non-load bearing walls, we maintain a space between the brick walls and the slabs/beams to allow for free deflection.

Floors

Brick flooring is a covering made up of several individual bricks arranged in the form of a tile, with or without mortar or grout.
The floor is made of clay and red brick. Red brick is the most common and prevalent building material as it is affordable, strong, durable and easy to handle and use. Brick pavers, which are thinner than the standard bricks used in walls and other structural components, are the basis for brick floors. Brick flooring is widely used in warehouses, homes, gardens, streets and other places where high-quality bricks are available.

paving

Bricks made specifically to be laid on the ground are called pavers. They are different from bricks intended for vertical use in walls, chimneys and other works. When placed in the ground, they are designed to last a long time. They survive extreme heat and cold, rain and snow, and foot activity.

However, there may also be an aesthetic difference. For example, bricks for patios and paths are not subject to the same visual inspection as for chimneys. For this reason, color and other visual aspects are important when selecting paving stones. Additionally, they are generally larger.

walls

Most non-descript walls in buildings are also constructed of brick. In addition to bricks, cement blocks are also most commonly used for this type of construction.

Boundary walls, partition walls, accent walls, etc. are built with bricks. This explains the widespread use of bricks in construction.

Sheets

Although modern construction has eliminated the construction of structures such as brick arches, brick and stone used to be the main material for building special structures. Due to the development of technology and the invention of concrete The use of bricks for buildings of this type has been significantly reduced.

Furthermore, the quality of modern building materials is also poor compared to ancient materials. As we can see, there are many masonry buildings whose quality has not yet been significantly affected.

Underground structures

The construction of structures such as tunnels can be done with bricks. As with arch structures, the load transfer mechanism of tunnels can be applied to the design.

Thick walls were built for these tunnels. In old buildings you can mainly see railway tunnels with brick supports. The bow effect is taken into account in the design and there are construction procedures that need to be followed when the bow effect is taken into account.