Description and dimensions of white sand-lime bricks

In a huge assortment of various building materials, brick has been the most popular and relevant for many years. Not only residential buildings are built from it, but also public or industrial buildings, as well as all sorts of outbuildings. You can safely turn to silicate brick if you plan to erect a high-strength structure. This building material is chosen by many users. Today we will take a closer look at what dimensions and features such a brick has.

Silicate brick is an artificially produced building material with a regular parallelepiped shape (non-standard specimens may have other shapes). It is made from quartz sand and lime. It has excellent strength characteristics and guarantees perfect geometric shape. It should be borne in mind that this factor is important not only for the aesthetics of the facade, but also for the quality of joining of its individual components.

Currently, the range of building materials pleases with its diversity. You can find the perfect products for any construction job. We can talk about both a small outbuilding such as a chicken coop, and a more serious construction, for example, a large cottage. In many cases, people choose sand-lime brick as the main raw material.

This building material began to be used in the corresponding works relatively recently. The technology was proposed only in 1880, but this period was enough to understand that buildings made of silicate bricks have the right to boast of increased strength, durability and reliability. This raw material, which is popular today, has many positive characteristics that make it in demand among consumers.

Let's get to know them.

• First of all, you should pay attention to the strength of silicate bricks. Variants with the M-300 marking are available, which are able to withstand pressure up to 30 MPa without problems (this value is significant). It should be borne in mind that silicates are also adapted to severe bending loads (up to 4 MPa).
• Sand-lime brick is resistant to shrinkage. Buildings made of it are not prone to cracking. In addition, they are not afraid of shifts in the foundations.
• By itself, white sand-lime brick is quite attractive and aesthetic. Very neat buildings are obtained from such products.
• Silicate brick is very convenient in construction. Almost any masonry mixture is suitable for this building material.

• Such building material is not demanding to maintain. It is unpretentious and durable.
• Well-made white brick structures are characterized by a long service life. It is usually around 50-100 years old.
• Silicate brick is a material that boasts good sound insulation characteristics. In buildings made from this raw material, annoying street noises will not be heard, which attracts many people.
• Since a lime component is present in a silicate brick, it does not need additional antiseptic treatment. It is extremely rare that mold or mildew appears on walls built from this product.
• Buildings from silicate bricks are good because they do not put serious pressure on the foundation and are light enough.
• Another significant advantage of sand-lime brick is its clear geometry. Due to this quality, cold bridges are almost absent in buildings made of this building material, and it is much more convenient to lay such parts.

• There are no efflorescence on the walls made of silicate bricks.
• Sand lime brick is environmentally friendly. It is not capable of harming human health either during construction work or after its completion. This material is also absolutely safe for the environment.
• Many users prefer sand-lime brick because it is not combustible. And it does not support combustion itself. However, it should be borne in mind that silicate brick does not really like high temperature indicators - the limit is 500 degrees Celsius. If the heating goes beyond the specified limits, the brick, of course, will remain intact and will not fall apart, but its strength level will significantly decrease.
• Such a building material has an affordable price and is found in many retail outlets, so it is not difficult to find it.

If you decide to turn to sand-lime brick, then you should know not only about its advantages, but also about its disadvantages.

• The main disadvantage of this building material is its high water absorption. Because of this, such a brick is susceptible to destruction at low temperatures (frozen water simply expands the stone). That is why foundations are not made of silicate bricks, because they are unlikely to turn out to be of high quality and reliable.
• Silicate brick does not have high frost resistance properties. It is advisable to use it only in the southern or middle regions. For cold regions, such a building material is poorly suited, which is a big minus for Russia.
• On silicate brick, as a rule, there are no decorative components, as well as beautiful flowing forms. These materials are sold only in the standard version.
• This building material has a high thermal conductivity. Buildings made of this brick must be insulated.

• Despite the fact that a light structure can be built from silicate bricks, this material itself is heavier than its counterparts, which creates certain difficulties in its transportation.
• There are a lot of low-quality products on the modern market that are passed off as reliable and durable. Buildings made of low-quality bricks do not last long and quickly begin to collapse.
• The color palette of such bricks is rather scarce - there are only white and red materials. In their production, exclusively alkali-resistant pigments are used, and there are very few of them. True, with significant moisture absorption, the color of the brick begins to change - it turns gray. Because of this, the building becomes less aesthetic.

High-quality silicate bricks must have a number of operational characteristics, due to which they can be used in various construction works.There is a separate category for this building material. It includes products that have a non-standard shape (far from the parallelepiped) and the same dimensions. With the use of such elements, various interesting architectural structures are created.

For example, it can be spectacular and rich arches, neat rounded corners or vaults - there are a lot of options for using non-standard bricks. The dimensions of these parts are determined by TU and annexes to GOSTs. The following characteristics of silicate bricks are under the control of the GOST points.

• Strength level. Produce materials marked M75-M300. For the preparation of the interior walls, it is customary to use any bricks with a suitable level of density. As for the facing work, only a brick with a mark of at least M125 or a stone (double brick) of a grade of at least M100 is suitable.
• Frost resistance level. They create silicate bricks of the following grades - F25-F50. This means that building materials of different classes can withstand 25 to 50 freeze and thaw cycles without losing their useful qualities.
• Thermal conductivity. This means a certain amount of heat that such a brick can let through itself per unit of time. For silicate bricks, the indicator is not the highest.
• Fire safety. This parameter depends on the direct composition of the brick. It must be free of flammable components.
• Radioactivity. This parameter in silicate brick does not go beyond the 370 Bq / kg mark.

As for the composition of such products, it is the same for all types of bricks. It usually includes the following components:

• quartz sand (80-90%);
• slaked lime (10-15%);
• filtered sand.

But the structure of such raw materials may differ, which affects its characteristic qualities. There are silicate bricks with the following types of structures.

• Corpulent. It is a monolithic silicate product with no voids. In this case, the raw material itself can have a certain number of pores, which affects its density. Solid brick options are denser and stronger. In addition, they are distinguished by a rather long service life and a minimum degree of water absorption. However, it must be taken into account that solid bricks are characterized by the highest thermal conductivity coefficient, as well as the maximum weight.

• Hollow. There are voids (holes of different sizes) in the structure of such materials. These models are lighter. They also have good soundproofing and heat-insulating qualities. But these bricks absorb more moisture into their structure, keeping it longer.

It should also be borne in mind that different requirements are imposed on ordinary and facing silicate bricks - the highest of them relate to the second options. It is imperative that these parts have ideally correct dimensions, uniform color and an appropriate level of durability. Such a brick should have two front surfaces (perfectly smooth) - a spoon and a butt. Some manufacturers produce products in which only one specified surface is present.

Ordinary brick is used for the construction of internal wall foundations. Here, the minimum requirements are imposed on the products. Rounded edges and bases may occur. The presence of chips or peeling is also not prohibited. However, there should not be too many defects, and they should not affect the strength / reliability of the materials. The brick of an ordinary subspecies is also full-bodied or hollow. It is not produced either in color or textured for quite obvious reasons.

Manufacturing technology of high quality and durable white bricks is considered quite simple and consists of several important stages.

• First, prepare and mix the necessary raw materials - 9 parts of quartz sand and 1 part of air lime. Usually, 2 main methods are used for this - silage or drum. The silage method is considered to be more effective, but it takes up a lot more free time.
• After that, competently prepared raw materials are transferred to special molds. It is extremely important to remember about the permissible level of humidity - it should be no more than 6%, so that the material turns out to be quite dense and durable. The working pressure at this stage should be 150-200 kg / sq. cm.
• Next, the prepared elements are transferred to an autoclave. Also, these parts undergo special treatment with hot steam, the temperature of which should reach 170-190 degrees Celsius. As for the pressure, it should be no more than 1.2 MPa. In order for the loading and heating to be optimal, the change in temperature values ​​and pressure is carried out very slowly. The entire processing process usually takes about 7 hours. Reaching the regime and reducing the temperature takes about 4 hours.

Considering all the advantages and disadvantages of the silicate brick popular today, it is used in the following areas.

• When erecting load-bearing, self-supporting or interior walls in buildings with from 1 to 10 floors.
• When preparing various kinds of outbuildings. The only exceptions are those structures where there will be a high level of humidity. So, for the manufacture of a bath, for example, silicate brick is not at all suitable.
• Various fences are built from the specified raw materials.
• Silicate brick can be used in the manufacture of serious industrial facilities.
• As for underground structures, silicate brick is used here only in exceptional cases and only on condition of high-quality waterproofing. Otherwise, the building will not last long under the specified conditions.

High-quality bricks must necessarily comply with the dimensional parameters specified in the GOSTs. This is especially true of goods used in the manufacture of large construction projects. In no case should the parameters of such products go beyond the permissible limits - such elements are usually not allowed to work.

The current silicate bricks are produced with the following dimensional parameters (standards):

• ordinary single - similar varieties are 250 mm long, 120 mm wide and 65 mm thick. (the direct weight of these products depends on their structure - full-bodied or hollow);

• one and a half (thickened) - have the same length and width parameters as above, but their thickness reaches 88 centimeters;

• double (silicate stones) - the parameter thickness of this type of brick is 138 mm.

In order for any construction of silicate bricks to be as strong and reliable as possible, not to be damaged for a long time, even at the time of choosing the building materials themselves, you need to be very careful. Experts advise paying special attention to the following important points.

• If you lightly hit a silicate brick with a metal object, then the sound should be quite sonorous. If you hear a dull echo, then this may indicate poor-quality drying of the material.
• We must not forget that the storage conditions of such a building material will certainly affect its quality and durability.If the bricks are laid out in the open, then their positive qualities will be significantly reduced, so you should not buy such a product, even if it has a tempting price.

• The quality of the packaging, as well as the delivery of bricks, plays an important role. Experts recommend buying products sold in special pallets of a safe height. This is due to the fact that in such a container, bricks are much more difficult to damage or destroy.
• Pay attention to the integrity of the silicate bricks. They should not have major damage or large chips. If any were noticed, it is better to refuse the purchase and look for better quality products. Otherwise, a building from this raw material may not turn out to be the most reliable and high-quality, albeit cheap.
• When making a purchase, be sure to check if what you plan to purchase matches what is being shipped to you.

• By itself, this material is inexpensive, so you should not chase the record low cost. A product that is shockingly low in price may well be of poor quality. Building from such raw materials will not last long, you will have to redo the work, but with new bricks, and this is an extra expense.
• If you are looking for a suitable cladding material, then you should only choose high-quality, perfect executions - they should not be the slightest defect or damage. It is advisable to give preference to beautiful textured specimens. In addition, such products may not only have a white color.
• Try to purchase such building materials in proven retail outlets known in the city of your residence.

In the next video, you will find the pros and cons of sand-lime bricks.