Brick Wall: Masonry Thickness

Brick as a building material is known for a long time. Mention of it can be found in the Bible, in the stories of the times after the Great Flood.

The erection of brick houses goes back deeply into history, in any country there are many such buildings, whose age is more than one decade. There are long-lived houses built 150, and even 200 years ago. Brick is always the most popular and popular building material in the world.

What is so fond of this material builders? Here you can identify several of its obvious advantages.

Strength

In the construction of brick used brands M100, M125, M150, M175. The numerical index after the letter indicates strength and indicates that this species can withstand loads of 100, 125, 150, 175 kg / cm ² . Mark M100 is suitable for building a house with a height of 3 floors.

Durability

The house, which has a good thickness of brick exterior walls, built of quality material and according to all the rules of house building, can stand for more than a century.

Ecological compatibility

The composition of the brick includes natural substances that do not contain harmful impurities - clay, sand, water. And he misses the air, "breathes" and does not rot.

Versatility, aesthetics

The size of the brick and the technology of laying embody the most daring architectural projects. Individual style of the brick house will give it originality and uniqueness.

Frost resistance

The extensive experience of using bricks in construction and testing it in different climatic zones confirm that this material has high frost resistance, which is designated F25, F35, F50.

The digital index indicates the amount of freezing and thawing of bricks in a water-saturated state, after which irreversible changes begin in it.

Fire safety

Brick is a fire-resistant material that meets all fire-fighting norms and rules, and the thickness of the walls in a brick house will not allow fire to spill from room to room.

Soundproofing

Brick is a good insulating material, much better than wood and reinforced concrete panels. The thickness of the walls in a brick house protects well from street noise.

Minimum wall thickness

One of the main characteristics of a brick house is the thickness of the walls. The size of a conventional ceramic brick is 250x120x65 mm. Building regulations assume for the determination of the thickness of the walls a value that is a multiple of 12 (the length of a half of the brick).

It turns out that the wall thickness is:

• In the half-brick - 120 mm;
• In one brick - 250 mm;
• In one and a half bricks - 380 mm (10 mm is added to the thickness of the seam between the bricks);
• In two bricks - 510 mm (10 mm on the seam);
• In two and a half bricks - 640 mm.

The same building standards clearly define the minimum thickness of the brick wall. It should be between 1/20 and 1/25 of the height of the floor. A simple calculation shows if the floor is 3 meters high, then the walls should be at least 150 mm thick. A brick wall, the thickness of which is less than 150 mm, is suitable for simple internal partitions.

External load-bearing brick walls

The strength and stability of the entire building is provided by the outer walls. They are called carriers because they distribute all the load acting on the building. They bear the brunt of overlapping, higher walls, roofing, operational load (furniture, things, people) and snow.

The starting point for any masonry are the corners of the building. On each of them a lighthouse is made (a corner is taken out of the bricks, it is aligned along the vertical and the axes of the building). The angular masonry rises to 6-8 rows. The corners of the outer walls are recommended to be reinforced with a metal wire net of a diameter of 6 mm. Then, between the beacons at the level of the upper brick along the edge of the wall, a twine stretches, which designates the outer axis of the structure. From one lighthouse to another is brickwork, the thickness of the walls consists of the outer part, the inner and the middle, which is filled with a heater or other materials. The brick on the wall is laid with a bandage, after three or five spoon rows one need to be pinched. There are many schemes for laying bricks. Depending on the chosen scheme, the order of the arrangement of the spoon and bunching rows may differ. The same applies to the seams, they should not be stacked on top of each other. With the help of halves and quarters, the brick can easily be moved aside from the lower row. After laying several rows of levels, the verticality of the wall is checked to avoid various curvatures of the plane, which can spoil the aesthetic appearance of the building.

The thickness of the brick bearing wall is chosen based on the climatic zone, the characteristics of the environment and its own capabilities. But in any calculations it should not be less than 380 mm (masonry "in a half bricks"). In the northern regions, the thickness is usually increased to 510 mm, and even to 640 mm.

To reduce the load of the walls on the foundation and facilitate the design, the outer walls are laid out of hollow bricks. Doing continuous masonry is unprofitable, it requires high costs and reduces the thermal protection of the structure.

Wall warming

Often the technology is used, according to which the masonry is carried out with the arrangement of wells. It consists of two walls, separated from each other by 140-270 mm with obligatory dressing of rows every 650-1200 mm. Wells between the masonry are filled with a heater with mandatory tamping. It can be lightweight concrete, slag, expanded clay, sawdust, etc. When using them, the thermal protection of the building increases by 10-15%.

The most effective insulation is foam. Its use makes it possible to reduce the wall thickness to 290 mm (120 mm brick + polystyrene foam 50 mm + 120 mm brick). And if you leave a well 100 mm wide (for two layers of foam, laid with overlapping seams), then such a wall for thermal conductivity will be equivalent to a continuous masonry with a thickness of 640 mm. The brick wall, the thickness of which is 290 mm, should be further reinforced with nets in 5 rows.

To make housing even more comfortable, arrange additional insulation outside or inside the building. Foam polystyrene, polystyrene, mineral wool and other soft or hard materials are suitable here. With them, thermal protection can be increased to 100%.

Internal bearing walls

Buildings of length or width more than five and a half meters are divided along the long side by internal bearing walls. On them the end support of the floors or coatings of the structure is made.

The thickness of the brick internal walls is less than that of the outer ones, because there is no need for insulation, but at least 250 mm (brickwork). All bearing walls, both external and internal, are interconnected and form along with the foundation and roof a single structure - the skeleton of the building. All the loads acting on the building are evenly distributed over its area. The docking points for external and internal walls are reinforced with nets or separate fittings through 5 rows of masonry. Piers hold not less than 510 mm in width and they are also reinforced. If it is necessary to put the poles as bearing supports, then the cross section of the structures should be at least 380x380 mm (masonry "one and a half bricks"). They are also reinforced with a wire of 3-6 mm through 5 rows in the height of the masonry.

Partitions

These walls produce a zonal division of the space of large rooms. Since the partitions are not load-bearing, and they are not affected by any loads other than their own weight, here you can choose how much the brick wall is more suitable for this room.

Partitions 120 mm thick (masonry "half a brick") are arranged mainly between rooms, bathrooms. If you want to separate a small room like a pantry, then it is possible to lay out a wall with a thickness of 65 mm (masonry "on the edge"). But such a partition must be reinforced with a wire of 3 mm through every 2-3 rows of masonry in height, if its length is more than one and a half meters.

To facilitate weight and reduce the load on the ceiling, the partitions are made of hollow or porous ceramic bricks.

Mortar for mortar

If the external masonry of the wall is carried out "under the screed", then the quality of the structure, composition and proper application of the mortar depends on how aesthetic the brick wall looks. The thickness of the seams should be the same everywhere, and they must be filled in completely, emptiness is not allowed. The solution must be prepared before the beginning of the work and applied within two hours. For plasticity, clay, lime or marble pulp is added to it.

For horizontal joints, the thickness is from 10 to 15 mm, for vertical joints from 8 to 10 mm.

When building a brick building, you should know that any deviation from the project can lead to unpredictable consequences. Stability and strength of brick bearing walls is easily reduced if:

• Reduce their thickness;
• Increase their height;
• Increase the area or number of openings;
• Reduce the width of the piers between openings;
• To arrange in the walls of additional niches or canals;
• Use heavier overlap.

Brick wall, the thickness of which is less than the design, should be reinforced.

All changes in the project must be made by specialists, you can not do it yourself.

Buildings made of bricks have obvious advantages that put them on a step above the houses from any other materials. Completed by original designs, they have their own style and charm. And this is a good option for investing funds and transferring property to descendants by inheritance.