Are you looking for guidance on how to select the right brick for your home? Then you’ve come to the right place!
One of the hardest choices most landowners come through is Brick Selection. I think it’s the toughest since it is everlasting—you have only one chance to get it right!
The base of charm for any Architecture is the material that you use while constructing your house.
The color, shape, size, and texture of the bricks you choose will impact the overall look and feel of your home.
You can take guidance from your Architect or Builder. It is very important that you must buy bricks from Reputed and Trustworthy Manufacturers who use Best Quality Brick Making Plants in India
Before making any final decision, it’s worth doing some homework. Grab your mobiles, laptops, and research about construction styles, different types of material used while construction, types of bricks available in the market. Simply save images for future reference.
This decision is largely affected by the style you choose for your home and most importantly, your budget. Therefore the selection of correct bricks which are suitable for your perfect home is very important.
Let’s have a look at some important factors while selecting correct bricks for your home.
How to select the right Type of Brick
It is important to know the types of bricks for properly understanding the brickwork. Bricks can be of many types depending on its quality, raw material, and purpose of their using.
Types of Bricks based on raw material
- Burnt Clay Brick: These types of bricks are made from clay by burning. These are largely used for construction work.
2. Fly Ash Brick: When Fly Ash is used with concrete for making bricks that is Fly Ash Brick, specially designed Fly Ash Machinery is used to manufacture this type of bricks.
3. Concrete Brick: The key raw materials for this type of bricks are cement and sand. It is also called as mortar brick. Concrete brick making plants made it easy to produce even bricks.
4. Sand-Lime Brick: Lime is used as a replacement to cement with sand for producing this type of bricks.
5. Fire brick: These types of bricks are made from fire clay. These bricks can bear high temperature without falsification and cracking. That’s why it can be used in chimney corners.
Types of Bricks based on the purpose
- Common Bricks: These types of bricks are used for a common purpose with no special requirements. Walls that are made with this type of bricks have to be plastered.
2. Engineering Bricks: These types of bricks are burned at an extremely high temperature a tough and solid product. It has outstanding load bearing capacity and great damp-proof capability.
Machine-made Bricks or Handmade Bricks?
- If you want the authentic appearance, handmade bricks can be considered the best, though there is nothing technically different in both the bricks. Handmade bricks are uneven, rough in texture and have an attractive crumpled look but they cost around four times as much as machine-made.
- On the other hand, if you desire for a cleaner, smoother finish then opt for machine-made bricks, they are more even in shape and are cheaper in comparison to handmade bricks.
Consider your location and Atmosphere conditions
Bricks are classified to suit various environmental conditions. The location of your home will determine which grade you need. This is a very necessary part of decision making if you are about to build your home in the area of extreme heat, cold or humidity and extreme rainfall condition.
Discuss with your builder about any special environmental conditions you may face and which type of bricks you should be using.
Choose Brick Format
People choose brick for their diverse appearances and design aesthetics. Textural elements can add personality, charisma, and uniqueness to your home.
Choose bricks according to the style, looks & feel that you want to achieve.
Brick textures range from a smooth finish with straight edges to a more artistic-style of effect, with a rough or ripped appearance for a natural & raw look. You can use diverse sizes of the same brick within the home, or in an outdoor area to create visual interest maintaining the fresh and exclusive look.
Choose Brick Size
Various countries have various standard brick size and dimensions, yet, bricks can be made in multiple shapes and sizes. Choosing the size for your project may depend on different factors, from the proportions of the house to the purpose of the bricks.
In India, the standard brick size is 190 mm x 90 mm x 90 mm as per the recommendation of BIS.
Bricks are available in a range of dimensions, including standard sizes (230mm x 110mm x76mm), split (230mm x 110mm x 50mm) and double height (230mm x 110mm x 162mm
There are different standard brick size followed by different countries they are as follows:
Choose Brick Bond
Brick Bonding is the arrangement of bricks in a structure such as a wall or a column, bricks can be arranged standing upright, arranged lengthwise along the wall or widthwise along the wall.
There are different types of Brick Bonds.
- Stretcher Bond /Header Bond.
2. Shiner Bond.
3. Soldier Bond.
4. Stack Bond.
5. Dutch Bond.
6. Rowlock Bond
7. Common Bond / American Bond.
8. Facing Bond.
There are many bond patterns that include some method of interlocking each row of brick to the neighboring brick line.
Basically, bonds are essential to add strength to the construction and make a mortared wall even stronger. Bonding adds Aesthetic beauty to walls and structures. Basically, the entire brickworks depend on the quality of bonds; hence keeping in mind a “Brick Bond” in Brickwork is necessary.
How to buy Bricks?
After considering all the points, and deciding the style, color, type, and brick bond that you want to choose, you will be ready to buy the bricks for your project.
There are plenty of places to buy from, including various brick manufacturers, your local builder wholesaler, renovation yards or suppliers.
You must check the following points before making any decision.
- Brick should be free from slums and bulges and must have a compact structure.
2. Bricks should not display white patches when soaked in water for 24 hours, as they designate the presence of sulfates of calcium, magnesium, potassium, and sodium.
3. Water absorption should not be more than 15 percent after engrossing in water for 24 hours.
4. The sound should not be gloomy; they should create a metallic sound when two bricks are struck against each other.
5. They should possess sharp and right-angled corners with plane faces.
The process of selecting bricks is going to take some time, so start early in the process. But you’ll be satisfied with what you did and you can take a lot of pride in the final results. And, with a little patience, you can achieve the look that you’ll love for generations.
