Bricks and Concrete in Buildings

Bricks have been invented and used much before the concrete , we as human beings are able to relate with bricks much better than we can with concrete.

From the technical , there are the primary reasons for using bricks over concrete as below .

1. Cost 

Brickwork is certainly cheaper than the normal concrete.

A m³ of brick work need about 2 bags of cement , 0.15 m³ of sand and 500 pieces of bricks .

The concrete on the other hand needs , need about 8 bags of cement , 0.15 m³ of sand and 0.30 m³ brass of aggregate .

2. The weight

Bricks are lighter than concrete which enable a lesser dead load of the entire structure .This results in economical design of structure including the foundations. Bricks is about 1900 Kg /m³ whereas concrete is about 2400 Kg /m³.

3. Ease of construction 

Brickwork needs only the masons whereas the concrete (Reinforced cement concrete) needs carpenters , fitters and masons apart from centering , shuttering , staging material.

4. Flexibility

It is easy to alter /modify a brick wall than a concrete element.

5. Scrap value

Brick pieces can be used in filling sunk portions or for creating slopes for terrace waterproofing or for soak pits . The concrete if wasted can be probably used only in back filling.

These are 2 different materials available for construction . Each has got distinct attributes and hence cannot exactly replace each other, our main challenge is to use a judicious combination of these two in the project .Basic aim is to achieve a quality construction which is achieved in optimum cost without loosing the perspective of safety .