In the life of any person, the moment comes when the question arises of acquiring your own housing. Someone is buying an apartment, and some are thinking about building a house away from the bustle of the city, the noise of cars and factories.
This article discusses the construction of a residential building made of brick: the pros and cons, types of materials that are used in construction, application features, positive and negative sides of such a building.
Main characteristics
Of course, a brick house is always beautiful, individual and durable. However, before starting construction, you need to clearly understand which material to choose. All brick, which is produced for construction work, is characterized by two main indicators:
- Brand - characterizes the maximum load that 1 m 2 of brickwork is able to withstand. Values range from 75. If you plan to build a small residential building, the height of which will not exceed 2-3 floors, then brickwork M75 or M100 is quite suitable for masonry. When laying the foundation of the house, which will be subjected to the maximum load of the entire structure, it is better to use brick M150 and higher. If it is planned to build a multi-storey building, then it is better to lay the walls with a mark of at least M125.
- Frost resistance. It is designated by the symbol F. This indicator characterizes the ability of a brick to absorb moisture. The higher this figure, the worse the frost resistance, respectively, the brick will become unusable faster.
Considering the pros and cons of a brick house, do not forget that the durability of the building, in addition to the above indicators, is affected by the composition of the mortar used for the masonry, as well as its quality and correctness.
The composition of the substance of which the brick itself is made plays a large role in choosing the material for masonry. If the quality of the building after some time causes dissatisfaction, it was possible that the type of brick unsuitable for masonry was chosen.
Main varieties
Before considering what are the pros and cons of a bricked house, you need to know the main varieties of this material. All bricks are divided into several types: silicate, ceramic and clinker.
Silicate
The production is based on a mixture of sand and lime. Its main characteristics: white, with low frost resistance and high heat dissipation, most often corpulent. It absorbs water very easily, therefore it is recommended for masonry of internal walls and piers or for external masonry under the cladding from the outside. It cannot be used for laying the basement of a building. The main pros and cons of a house made of silicate brick, according to the owners: affordable price, excellent sound insulation, high strength and density, the absolute safety of this material, and the disadvantage is the large weight, the inability to withstand high temperatures, and also to keep the temperature due to high thermal conductivity.
Ceramic
It is produced by firing red clay in furnaces under the influence of high temperatures. It is characterized by high resistance to environmental factors. It can be used both for laying internal partitions, and for outdoor use, cladding and foundation construction. It can be either hollow or full-bodied, in color it can be in different shades, from brown to light-beige. According to the owners, the ceramic brick house has the pros and cons of the following: attractive appearance and small size allow the construction of buildings of different types and external design. Such houses are strong, reliable, durable and environmentally friendly. The main disadvantage is the high price.
Clinker
The production process coincides with the manufacture of ceramic bricks, but occurs at even higher temperatures (about 1200-1300 ° C) and with the addition of refractory clay. His brand is not lower than the M400. It is also characterized by high frost resistance and low water absorption, plus this brick is not affected by salts and alkalis. It is used for cladding buildings, with the help of clinker brick paving paths, drains, etc.
When laying walls, you need to pay attention to the fact that the brick can be solid or hollow.
A solid brick is quite durable, able to withstand significant loads on the masonry, it is advisable to use it for masonry building foundations, load-bearing walls and columns. The main disadvantage of such a brick will be its high heat transfer, which is why it is desirable to insulate the walls.
Hollow brick is characterized by low heat transfer due to cavities that are filled with air. Such a brick is suitable for laying internal and external walls, the house can be insulated. Due to its lower weight, such brickwork loads the building foundation much less.
Consider further what are the pros and cons of a brick house.
Main advantages
Among the large number of advantages of building brick houses, the following can be distinguished:
- Durability of construction.
- Stamina when exposed to negative environmental factors. If you follow the technology of bricklaying, then a major overhaul of the building must be carried out 1 time in 100 years.
- Environmentally friendly building material (composed of sand, clay and water).
- High frost resistance and low heat transfer (a brick is considered a strong building material, and due to the low heat transfer in a brick house in the heat it is always pleasant cool).
- Low fire hazard at home, brick - refractory material.
- High sound resistance.
- Aesthetics and versatility. You can implement any original ideas and solutions.
- Easy masonry technology.
disadvantages
Unfortunately, you can not do without flaws:
- The high cost of construction. In addition to the high cost of brick, one must also take into account the costs of using additional materials used for masonry (cement, sand, water, glue).
- Significant time costs for the construction of a house of brick, as well as the cost of labor of auxiliary workers (when building a house, one person can not cope in any way).
- Significant costs for the construction of a solid foundation.
Conclusion
So, we examined what the pros and cons of a red brick and white house have, based on the feedback of the owners and the technical characteristics of these materials. During construction, it should be borne in mind that it is advisable to live permanently in such a building, it is better to use other building material to build a house in nature or a summer house. The brick is very negatively affected by temporary heating of the house in the winter, because of which the inside of the walls warms up, and the outside will be cold. At the border of heat and cold, moisture will collect, which will freeze and begin to destroy the material from the inside.
That is why when choosing materials for building a house of brick (the pros and cons we examined in the article), you need to carefully weigh the pros and cons. However, if time and financial capabilities allow, then you can safely choose a brick as a material for construction, because the result will fully justify itself. The owner will receive a strong, comfortable and warm housing for many years.