Brick

Bricks are the most common made of clay. But there is also bricks made of shale, soft slate, calcium silicate, concrete, or shaped from quarried stone. However, true bricks are ceramic, and therefore created by the action of heat and cooling.
 * **What are they made of? **

Bricks are usually used for building. In the metallurgy and glass industries are often used for lining furnaces, in particular refractory bricks such as silica, magnesia, chamotte and neutral refractory bricks. In engineering bricks are used where strength, low water porosity or acid (flue gas) resistance are needed. Bricks are also used for decorating walls or as block paving and pavement.
 * **What are they used for? **

There are literally thousands of different bricks, but they can be classified into a handful of basic types:
 * **How many types of brick are there? **
 * **Facing Bricks **Quality, durable bricks with an attractive appearance for external use above ground.
 * **Wirecut **
 * **Stock **
 * **Handmade **
 * **Fletton **
 * **Commons: **A cheap 'fill' brick, designed to be utilitarian rather than attractive.
 * **Engineering: ** The workhorses of the brick family. Tough, strong, hard wearing but not usually very pretty. They have excellent resistance.
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Concrete or Calcium Silicate **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Reclaimed: **<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Salvaged bricks. Bricks rescued from old buildings and cleaned up, of a fashion.
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Specials: **<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Any brick that isn't a rectangle.
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Other Walling Products: **<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">As well as bricks, there are all sorts of concrete blocks that can be used to build walls and other structures. Some are decorative

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Bricklaying is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar to build up structures such as walls. This is also used to finish corners, door, and window openings, etc. in buildings made of other materials.
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">What is the meaning of //brick laying techniques//? **


 * **<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Describe 2 brick laying techniques **
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">**Flemish bond:** It is created by alternately laying headers and stretchers in a single course. The next course is laid so that a header lies in the middle of the stretcher in the course below. This bond is two bricks thick. It is quite difficult to lay Flemish bond properly, since for best effect all the perpendiculars (vertical mortar joints) need to be vertically aligned. If only one face of a Flemish bond wall is exposed, one-third of the bricks are not visible, and hence may be of low visual quality.
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Stretcher bond **<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">: Consists of bricks laid with only their long narrow sides (their stretchers) showing, overlapping midway with the courses of bricks below and above. It is the simplest repeating pattern, but, since it cannot be made with a bond to the bricks behind, it is suitable only for a wall one-half brick thick, the thinnest possible wall


 * **<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';">What are their advantages and disadvantages? **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Advantages **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Weatherproofing, heat and property value.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">It is fireproof, termite resistant and energy efficient.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Brick typically will not require painting and so can provide a structure with reduced life-cycle costs.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Is stable


 * **<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Disadvantages: **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Extreme weather may cause degradation of the surface due to frost damage.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Masonry must be built upon a firm foundation (usually reinforced concrete) to avoid potential settling and cracking.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Brick adds a lot of weight to the foundation.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Initial cost is very high.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">The high weight increases structural requirements, especially in earthquake prone areas.