Brick as a building material has been known for a very long time. Mention of him can be found in the Bible, in stories about the times after the Great Flood.
The construction of brick houses is rooted deep in history; in any country there are many such buildings, whose age goes back more than a dozen years. There are long-lived houses built 150, or even 200 years ago. Brick always remains the most demanded and popular building material in the world.
What is so fond of this material for builders? Here are some of its obvious advantages.
Strength
In construction, brick of brands M100, M125, M150, M175 is used. The digital index after the letter indicates strength and indicates that this type can withstand a load of 100, 125, 150, 175 kg / cm 2 . The M100 brand is suitable for the construction of a house with a height of 3 floors.
Durability
A house with a good thickness of brick exterior walls, built of quality material and in accordance with all the rules of house building, can stand for more than a century.
Environmental friendliness
The composition of the brick includes natural substances that do not contain harmful impurities - clay, sand, water. And he lets air in, “breathes” and does not rot.
Versatility, aesthetics
The size of the brick and the laying technology bring to life the most daring architectural projects. The individual style of the brick house will give it originality and uniqueness.
Frost resistance
Extensive experience in the use of bricks in construction and testing 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 brick freezing and thawing in a water-saturated state, after which irreversible changes begin in it.
Fire safety
Brick is a refractory material that meets all the norms and rules of fire fighting, and the thickness of the walls in a brick house will not allow the fire to spread from room to room.
Soundproofing
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 a conventional ceramic brick is 250x120x65 mm. Building norms and rules take a multiple of 12 to determine the thickness of the walls (the length of half a brick).
It turns out that the wall thickness is:
- half a brick - 120 mm;
- in one brick - 250 mm;
- in 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 between 1/20 and 1/25 of the floor height. A simple calculation shows that if the
floor is 3 meters high, then the walls should be at least 150 mm thick. A brick wall with a thickness of less than 150 mm is suitable for simple internal partitions.
External load-bearing brick walls
Strength and stability of the entire building is ensured by external walls. They are called load-bearing because all the load acting on the building is distributed to them. They bear the severity of ceilings, higher walls, roofs, maintenance load (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 drawn from the bricks, aligned vertically and to the axes of the building). Corner masonry rises 6-8 rows. The corners of the external walls are recommended to be reinforced with a metal mesh of wire with a diameter of 6 mm. Then, between the beacons at the level of the upper brick, twine is stretched along the edge of the wall, which indicates the external axis of the structure. From one lighthouse to another, brickwork is being carried out, the thickness of the walls consists of the outer part, the inner and the middle, which is filled with insulation or bottled with other material. Brick on the wall is laid with dressing, after three or five spoon rows, one of them is needed. There are many brick laying schemes. Depending on the chosen pattern, the arrangement of the spoon and poke rows may vary. The same applies to seams, they should not be placed one above the other. With the help of halves and quarters, the brick is easily shifted to the side relative to the lower row. After laying several rows with a level, the verticality of the wall is checked to avoid various curvatures of the plane, which can ruin the aesthetic appearance of the building.
The thickness of the brick supporting wall is selected based on the
climatic zone, environmental features and own capabilities. But in any calculations, it should not be less than 380 mm (masonry "one and a half bricks"). In the northern regions, the thickness is usually increased to 510 mm, or even to 640 mm.
To reduce the load of the walls on the foundation and facilitate construction, the external walls are laid out of hollow bricks. To do continuous masonry is unprofitable, it is expensive and reduces the thermal protection of the structure.
Wall insulation
Often use the technology by which the masonry is carried out with the device of wells. It consists of two walls, 140–270 mm distant from each other with obligatory dressing of rows every 650–1200 mm. The wells between the masonry are filled with insulation with compulsory tamping. It can be lightweight concrete, slag, expanded clay, sawdust, etc. When used, the thermal protection of the building increases by 10-15%.
The most effective insulation is foam. Its use allows to reduce the wall thickness to 290 mm (brick 120 mm + polystyrene 50 mm + brick 120 mm). And if you leave a well 100 mm wide (for two layers of polystyrene foam laid with overlapping seams), then such a wall will be equivalent in thermal conductivity to continuous masonry with a thickness of 640 mm. The brick wall, whose thickness is 290 mm, must additionally be reinforced with nets through 5 rows.
To make the housing even more comfortable, they arrange additional insulation from the outside or from the inside of the building. Polystyrene foam, polystyrene, mineral wool and other soft or hard materials are suitable here. With them,
thermal protection can be increased up to 100%.
Internal load-bearing walls
Buildings with a length or width of more than five and a half meters are separated along the long side by internal load-bearing walls. On them, the end bearing of the floors or coatings of the structure is made.
The thickness of the walls of the brick internal is less than the external, because there is no need for insulation, 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 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 external and internal walls are reinforced with nets or separate fittings through 5 rows of masonry. The piers are arranged at least 510 mm wide and also reinforced. If it is necessary to install the poles as bearing supports, then the cross-section of the structures should be at least 380x380 mm (masonry "one and a half bricks"). They are also reinforced with 3-6 mm wire through 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 they are not affected by any load except their own weight, here you can choose which thickness of the brick wall is more suitable for this room.
Partitions with a thickness of 120 mm (masonry "half a brick") are arranged mainly between rooms and bathrooms. If you want to separate a small room such as a storage room, then it is possible to lay out a wall 65 mm thick (masonry "on the 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 facilitate weight and reduce the load on the overlap, partitions are made of hollow or porous ceramic bricks.
Masonry mortar
If the external masonry of the wall is carried out “for laying”, then the quality, composition and proper use of the mortar depend on how esthetically the brick wall will look. The thickness of the joints 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 joints, a thickness of 10 to 15 mm is used, for vertical joints, from 8 to 10 mm.
When building a brick building, you need to know that any deviation from the project can 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 the openings;
- arrange additional niches or channels in the walls;
- use heavier floors.
A brick wall, the thickness of which is less than the design, must be additionally reinforced.
All changes to the project must be made by specialists; this cannot be done on their own.
Brick buildings have obvious advantages that put them one step higher than houses from any other materials. Performed according to original designs, they have their own style and charm. And it’s also a good option for investing and transferring property to descendants.