Bricked!

Bricks are pretty much a staple building material in Malaysia and several parts of the world. Once constructed into walls and the like, they can be covered with plaster then tiles or coated with paint, or some other type of finishing...or they can be left as is for a natural aesthetic look.

That said, there are different types of bricks in the industry. Different types of bricks are best suited for different situations, so what may work for one situation may not work for another. What makes it so confusing is the fact that they are categorised in several ways, so when you hear "types of bricks" it might mean clay bricks, or it might mean facing bricks...or for all you know, it might be its grade. So how are bricks categorised?

Here are several possibilities:

1. Main Ingredient
Bricks can be grouped by the main ingredient used to manufacture them. This is one categorisation that is widely used, and is also more easily understood by the average person outside of the construction industry - their physical characteristics can sometimes be enough to give it away. Some of the commonly used bricks are clay bricks, concrete bricks and silica bricks.

• Clay Bricks

                                     

Clay bricks are perhaps more recognisable, due to their rustic, reddish-brown hue. They are extremely water absorbent, which can be proven by a water absorption test. The natural composition of clay makes clay bricks extremely fire resistant. Malaysia has an abundance of clay...but unfortunately, clay bricks can be rather costly and thus they are not the first choice that comes to mind, especially for more economical constructions.

• Concrete Bricks

Concrete bricks can either maintain their natural colour or be tinted with some other colour during the manufacturing process. They possess lower fire resistance than clay bricks. They absorb a lot of water, but they also release the water fast (a fact which can be proven, once again, by the water absorption test). Other than that, they have pretty much the same characteristics as normal concrete.

• Silica Bricks

Silica bricks have a smoother finish than concrete bricks. As their name implies, their main ingredient is sand. Like concrete bricks, the fire resistance of sand bricks is inferior to clay bricks. Sand bricks are great for a subtly textured effect on a structure.

2. Function

Bricks are manufactured according to their purpose, and as such can be classified according to their function. There are three types of bricks if you look at it from this angle, namely facing bricks, engineering bricks and common bricks.

• Facing Bricks

Facing bricks are meant to enhance the aesthetics of a structure. Hence, the surfaces of facing bricks are usually smooth or tastefully textured depending on the effect one wishes to achieve. As facing bricks are meant to be presentable, they are manufactured to fit as neatly as possible.

• Engineering Bricks

Engineering bricks are the bricks that do the brunt of the work in a structure. They are designed to carry heavy loads and to withstand more trying conditions than common bricks. As they are manufactured purely to do hard work, they do not carry the aesthetic value of facing bricks. 

• Common Bricks

As their name implies, common bricks are, well, common. They are relatively roughly hewn in comparison to both facing bricks and engineering bricks, and they lack the strength of engineering bricks. Their colour is also not regulated. It might seem as though common bricks are the worst of the three, and to an extent they are - but if used right, common bricks are the most economical option.

There are others too, such as categorisation by grade (quality), et cetera. But that topic is too wide and too varied to be discussed in a short post, so we shall leave it be.

Until next time, then!