Brick has been used as a material for construction since ancient times. The first buildings of burnt artificial stone were erected in Egypt in the III-II millennium BC. Ancient builders built bricks of rather complicated configuration: arches, vaults, etc. The shape of ancient artificial stones was very different - these building materials were made both rectangular, and triangular, and even round. The usual bricks for us began to be made in England in the Middle Ages.
Why you need to know the weight of the brick
Modern builders are more interested not in history, but in the simple and prosaic question of how much a brick weighs. And this is not out of idle curiosity. Knowing the exact weight of building materials is necessary to calculate the load on the foundation, since this makes it possible to determine in a timely manner whether there are violations in the construction technology and, as a result, how durable and reliable the future building will be. I must say that builders usually do not need information about how much a brick weighs in grams. As a rule, when counting, they use cubic meters or, in extreme cases, the number of bricks in the package on the pallet.
So how much does a brick weigh? In order to answer this question, you first need to understand what kind of artificial stone in question.
What are the bricks
In modern construction, two types of bricks are used: silicate and ceramic.
• Silicate brick is made from a mixture of quartz sand with the addition of lime and water. For strength, it is subjected to heat treatment (170-200 about C) under pressure. Such building materials are widely used in the construction of interior and apartment walls. With high heat and sound insulation, as well as frost resistance and strength - compared with concrete - they are environmentally friendly. How much silicate brick weighs depends on its size, and they are double: one and a half and single. The weight of an ordinary single silicate brick is 3.7 kg. For one and a half, this value will be in the range of 4.2-5 kg. These figures relate to working full-bodied stones. Hollow workers have a weight of 3.2 and 3.7 kg, respectively. Double hollow silicate brick weighs 5.4 kg.
• Ceramic (it is also called red) brick, made of clay from centuries-old proven technology, has high strength and good sound insulation. The excellent frost resistance of such building materials allows it to be used for construction in the most severe conditions. The production of this brick includes several stages of processing, and therefore, in comparison with silicate, it has a higher price.
How much red brick weighs also depends on several factors, and not only on the shape and composition of the ceramic. An important role here is played by the so-called voidness, which can range from 25 to 45%. Accordingly, the weight of the brick will be different. For example, a single hollow ceramic brick with a voidness of 25% will have a weight of 2.8 kg, and with a voidness of 35%, the weight will be 2.5 kg.
So, it is almost impossible to unequivocally answer the question of how much the brick weighs, since it depends on many parameters, such as brand, dimensions, appearance, as well as the size and number of voids.