Ceramic brick

Excellent and durable material, houses built of fired ceramic bricks can stand for more than one thousand years. The advantages of this material include high strength and a pleasant appearance. In addition, brickwork that has served for more than a century can be more beautiful than freshly laid. But all the benefits are lost when using low-quality material. Therefore, one must be especially responsible for his choice. Burnt brick loses its strength, and the burn is also destroyed by moisture and has frost resistance, sometimes only in one freeze-thaw cycle. The picture shows brickwork of a decade ago, where all the shortcomings of poorly made material are visible. Here you can see the types of both defective and high-quality bricks.

- Great look.
- Durability.

- Cost.
- Requirements for workmanship.

For the construction of his house for a long time he decided on the choice of wall material, since the choice in this market is huge now. But I decided not to risk it and gave preference to the time-tested ceramic brick. The brick chose a hollow M150 brand, it is not expensive, plus voids significantly improve the characteristics of the walls regarding thermal conductivity. In addition, due to the comparative lightness of the brick, it turned out to save a little on the foundation.

The solution used the most common (sand, lime, cement), although the sand was used in the river to avoid salt streaks and stains on the brick. In addition, he additionally treated the brick with a hydrophobizing solution, thereby giving it a more aesthetic appearance and additional protection against moisture.

In general, the house turned out to be beautiful (I didn’t use the cladding naturally), it’s warm and I think it will last more than a dozen years. Ceramics have already been tested.

Relatively lightweight, no cladding needed, reliable, time-tested.

I don’t find bright minuses in ceramic brick.

For many years of work on construction sites, I can recall several cases when ceramic brick presented unpleasant surprises:

1. In the production of face masonry in winter, some antifrosty additives in the mortar (potash, urea) are absorbed by the brick, after which they appear on the facade in the form of efflorescences, which are not easy to clean later;

2. Relief masonry, very beloved by architects (this is when individual fragments protrude from the plane of the wall), often causes atmospheric moisture to enter the voids of the brick. In winter, water naturally tears the front layer;

3. Now, most of the ceramic bricks are made in Euro standards, on imported production lines. It is of high quality, but expensive.Wanting to save money, the developer often turns to cheap brick clinker, which is done the old fashioned way and burned with coal. In the 90s, I had such a plant and, getting this brick, the builder should pay attention to its color:

• The highest quality brick, made with the addition of blue, pottery clay, has a bright red-brown color;
• The predominance of brown, should tell the builder that the brick is unfinished. Accordingly, it has low strength and frost resistance;
• Bluish tones - this is a burn, which leads to deformation and cracking of bricks;
• The yellowness of the brick indicates that there is not enough pottery clay in its composition, without which its characteristics may not correspond to those indicated in the product certificate.

Honored Builder of Russia S. Mironenko

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Dear