Any residential building, of course, must be strong, durable and easy to use. Houses, both private and multi-story, can be built from a variety of materials. Very often, brick is used to build enclosing structures of such structures. Buildings constructed using this material can be found in almost every corner of the planet. What are the pros and cons of brick houses and is it worth it to buy an apartment in such a high-rise building or to erect such a building on a suburban area?
What is a brick
There are several varieties of such a stone. Facing, decorative, chamotte, silicate, etc. brick is delivered to the market. But when building houses, the standard red ceramic brick is still most often used. This material, in turn, can be full-bodied and hollow.
The first type of ceramic brick is used for the construction of heavily loaded structures. For example, foundations and socles can be laid out from it. For the construction of walls and partitions in most cases, hollow bricks are used. The features of this material, in comparison with the full-bodied, are less weight and degree of thermal conductivity. Walls made of such bricks have less load on the foundation and better retain heat in the house.
They make red brick from environmentally friendly material - clay. In the process of manufacturing such a stone, various kinds of ingredients are added to the mixture that increase the strength of the finished stone and its moisture resistance. At the final stage of production, red ceramic brick, among other things, also undergoes firing at high temperatures.
What buildings can be built
Brick is used very widely in both private and industrial construction. To be constructed from this material can:
- low-rise houses and cottages;
- city high-rise buildings;
- baths and garages;
- production shops and warehouses;
- outbuildings.
The scope of application, therefore, in a brick is quite wide. However, most often this material, since it has a relatively high cost, is used for the construction of various kinds of significant buildings. Most often, bricks are used for the construction of residential buildings. Also, baths and garages are often built from this material. Production workshops and warehouses are usually built, however, on frames with metal or wood sheathing. The same applies to all kinds of utility structures, including private ones.
Main advantages
So what are the pros and cons of brick houses? We begin our review of buildings of this type with their advantages. The most important advantage of houses made of this material is, of course, a long service life. Brick - stone is resistant to all kinds of physical stress and mechanical stress, as well as to adverse weather factors. Since this building material is fired during the manufacturing process, it is also not afraid of moisture, among other things. The peculiarity of the brick is also the fact that after wetting it dries very quickly, without losing its operational and technical characteristics.
The world has preserved buildings erected from such clay stone, built many centuries ago. The brick houses laid out in our time are also capable of serving at least 100 years.
In addition to durability, the advantages of buildings made of this material include:
- environmental cleanliness;
- good degree of sound insulation;
- esthetic solid appearance.
Brick buildings and the environment
The pros and cons of brick buildings, like any other, are, of course. But in any case, no materials hazardous to human health are used in the production of such building stone, as already mentioned. In terms of environmental friendliness, brick is second only to wood. And even then, in our time, timber, logs and boards before building houses are usually treated with various kinds of chemicals to increase fire resistance and resistance to fungus. The only kind of processing that a brick undergoes before being used for building is firing in kilns.
In terms of the ability to "breathe" this type of stone is slightly inferior only to the same tree and foamed concrete. Also, according to studies, in the process of operation of a brick wall, unlike many modern materials, do not emit radon.
Pros and cons of brick houses in terms of convenience
In terms of the degree of comfort, brick houses also earned excellent reviews from their owners. This is especially true of urban high-rise buildings. Such buildings, as you know, are built mainly using only brick itself or ordinary concrete. Wood and foam stones are never used for the construction of such houses.
The advantages of brick high-rise buildings are, first of all, their residents include a good degree of sound insulation. In panel houses, as you know, audibility is very high. And the noisy neighbors in buildings of this kind can be a real disaster. Brick houses are completely devoid of this drawback.
A good degree of thermal conductivity of walls made of such a material, of course, also increases the degree of convenience of living in buildings of this type. In this regard, brick houses also earned much better reviews than panel houses. In summer, such buildings are relatively cool, and in winter it is always warm. There are no disadvantages of brick houses in terms of living comfort.
Appearance
By the degree of comfort and environmental safety, in this way, brick buildings are second only to wooden ones - paving or timbered. At the same time, in terms of the attractiveness of the exterior, such houses are quite comparable to chopped ones. Such buildings look very solid and respectable.
Are there any flaws
According to the owners of real estate, in fact, there are a lot of advantages of brick apartment buildings. And there are practically no disadvantages of such buildings. The same applies to low-rise residential buildings of this type. The disadvantages of such structures are considered only:
- difficulty in erection;
- high price.
The construction of panel high - rise buildings, for example, is much cheaper than brick. In private housebuilding, the only more expensive material than ceramic stone is perhaps only a rounded log, and even then in sparsely forested regions. The construction of frame-panel structures, as well as buildings made of foamed concrete, is much cheaper than brick.
Actually the construction of buildings of this type is physically very laborious. After all, in this case, the walls of the building must be assembled literally “by stone”. In terms of the complexity of the construction, brick houses are inferior to both block, and chopped, or even more so frame.
Of course, the technology of erecting such walls is notable for its complexity. To build a brick house yourself, for example, a beginner will hardly succeed. The master mason needs to know not only how to lay a brick correctly, but also how to chop it, align the rows, knead the mortar, do the jointing, etc.
Brick bath: pros and cons
Most often, of course, residential buildings are built of ceramic stone. However, sometimes baths are also built from bricks. This is done in most cases when they do not want to violate the general design style of a suburban area. That is, next to brick houses, baths from the same material are often erected.
The advantages of such structures, judging by the reviews of their owners, can be considered:
- durability;
- solid appearance.
The minuses of brick baths, in addition to the high cost and complexity of the construction, are considered the need for arrangement:
- ventilation;
- vapor barrier.
Also, from the inside, such baths have to be additionally sheathed with a lining or block house.
How to build a house
Thus, we found out what are the pros and cons of brick houses. But how are such structures built? The construction of residential buildings of this variety is actually quite expensive. The price of ceramic brick in the market is quite high (about 10 p. Apiece). In addition, such buildings have to be built on solid, expensive foundations.
In the vast majority of cases, brick buildings are built on strip foundations. Sometimes under such constructions even completely expensive slab foundations are erected. Cheap column foundations can be poured only under very small brick buildings, for example, under glazed or open arbors or porches with parapets. But in this case, columnar foundations are necessarily supplemented with grillages, which significantly increases the cost of their pouring.
Walls and partitions of houses are built of brick with dressing of seams. During the construction of multi-storey buildings, the external walls of bricks are usually erected very thick - in several rows. At the same time, to reduce the final cost of the building during its construction, for example, the so-called well masonry can be used with filling part of the space between the rows with slag or light concrete.
In private housing construction, in most cases, external walls are erected using the “brick” method. That is, their thickness in most cases does not exceed 25 cm. If necessary, such buildings are subsequently insulated using polystyrene foam or mineral wool.
Sometimes a procedure is also carried out in cities, such as warming five-story brick houses. The pros and cons of this operation are familiar to residents of such buildings very well. Living in such a building is comfortable both in summer and in winter. But the service life of its facades is still limited. In any case, it is incomparable with the brick itself. Repair of insulated five-story buildings is expensive.
Partitions, both in multi-story and in private houses, are erected in most cases using the “half-brick” method. That is, their thickness is 12 cm. This is usually quite enough to ensure good sound insulation within the premises.
In cities, among other things, monolithic-brick houses can be built. The pros and cons of this type of building are almost the same as those being built from only one brick. In this case, the frame of the house is poured into the formwork according to standard technology with reinforcement. In this case, the walls in the house, as well as partitions are built of brick. By technical and operational characteristics, such buildings are somewhat inferior to brick ones, but superior to panel ones.
Of course, brick monolithic houses have their pros and cons. Reviews of such buildings, however, are almost as good as those of brick buildings. In any case, living in buildings of this type is convenient.
Brick houses: tips from professionals
Judging by the reviews, brick houses, the pros and cons of which were considered by us above, in operation can be considered quite convenient. But living in comfort in such a building will, of course, only be possible if all the required technologies were observed during its construction.
During the construction of such houses, among other things, it is worth being guided by such recommendations by experienced masters:
- Before building a house, you should definitely examine the soil on the site for the correct calculation of the foundation. At the same time, this work should be taught to a professional.
- On damp areas, before building a brick house, a drainage system must be installed.
If necessary, it is advisable to insulate a brick building only outside. Otherwise, the dew point will move inside the walls, which will reduce their service life.
Instead of a conclusion
Like any other, there are pluses and minuses to brick walls. In any case, such buildings, if they were built without violating technology, can last a very long time. So, despite some shortcomings, and in particular, the high cost and complexity of masonry, it is certainly worth building such a house on a suburban area.