Brick

BRICK

What are they made of? Bricks are mostly made of fired clay, which is a material from natural sources in the ground.

What are they used for? Bricks are used specifically for constructions. Generaly, they are used to raise walls and make large extensions of horizontal surfaces.

How many types of brick are there? There are as many brick types as many kinds of clay in the ground, but concerning to their shape, there are basically three types of brick: a) The solid brick, which has uniform surfaces, b) the frogged brick, which has a sink at one its sides and c) the perforated brick, which has perforations on its stretcher face. There are also bricks without the usual shape. However, bricks are usually small and their weight makes them unstable when placed without mortar and nowadays, brick surfaces are still handmade.

What is the meaning of //brick laying techniques//? When using bricks at constructions, there are different ways or methods applied to lay each unit of brick. They all consist in the alternation of the position of the units.These ways or methods are known as the brick laying techniques.

Describe 2 brick laying techniques The most common brick laying technique is the stretcher laying that is generaly used for walls. It shows a simple sequence every 2 courses of bricks; once a course is done, the next brick that starts a new one is placed with its edge over the middle of the inferior brick that supports it. All bricks are layed showing their stretcher face. Another technique a bit more unusual is the Rowlock laying. Instead of placing a course of straight stretcher faces, it alternates the position with a sequence of a stretcher face followed by the smallest face of the brick. This laying technique demands for a thicker wall because the stretcher faced bricks are placed along horizontally and the others are placed vertically.

What are their advantages and disadvantages?

Some advantages of using brick are the aesthetic quality that some give to facades and arches, Brick's thermal mass makes it an energy efficient material and recent studies have shown that brick homes can lower heating and cooling cost by up to eight percent over vinyl homes of a comparable size. they are good keeping warm temperatures (which can come as a disadvantage if used at the wrong place). ** Worksheet 2: **

** b. Description **
Bricks may be used in construction only in conjunction with mortar, since __the unit is too small,__ __too light, and too irregular__ to be stabilized by weight

__For example__, wedge-shaped bricks are sometimes employed in arch construction and bricks with rounded faces in columns
__The size of bricks is limited by the need for efficient drying__, firing, and handling, but shapes, along with the techniques of bricklaying, have varied widely throughout history
 * d. Cause/Effect **

** e. Chronology **
Brick which has been used __since the 4th millennium BC,__ was the chief building material in the ancient Near East. The versatility of the medium was expanded in ancient Rome by improvements in the manufacture of both brick and mortar and by new techniques of laying and bonding. Employed __throughout__ the Middle Ages, brick grained greater popularity __from the 16 th Century on__, particularly in northern Europe. It is widely used in __the 20 th Century__, often for nonbearing walls in steel frame constructions.