Bricks for House construction

teamovercs.com/2017/10/bricks-quality-quantity-lahore/

By Mohsin October 19,

Munir 2017

1/6
 https://youtu.be/6-R_dR9y0ds

Brick
Bricks are Most widely used material in construction of houses in Pakistan. Made up of clay,
shaped in a mould & burnt in specially made brick kilns at above 1000°C for several days.
It’s a conventional and old method of manufacturing bricks that is being practiced in this
region for decades. Brick kilns are working throughout the country in different regions.
Bricks manufactured in various regions have different outlook depending upon the type of
available clay used in manufacturing. Bricks are used both as load bearings & non-load
bearings such as in frame-structured buildings. Most frequent brick used in our region has
following dimensions:

2/6
Bricks classification

Special brick
This is the most expensive class of bricks and rarely used due to its high cost. It is near
perfect in all its features. It has complete size, spotless & undamaged shape, fully burnt to
gain maximum strength. Clay used in these bricks is of best available quality and so is the
labor that is assigned to mix, mold and dry the bricks before lying inside the kiln.

Awwal brick
Most widely used brick in house construction is of Awwal grade. It is cheaper as compared
to special brick but has all features required for strength and a good construction. Awwal
brick can be further categorized as Awwal A, Awwal B etc. depending upon the prices and
features. Awwal bricks are well burnt, have a decent shape but some bricks can be partially
damaged in the lot.

Doum brick
This class of bricks is highly non-recommended for house constructions. These bricks are
available at very cheap rates and are classified as doum because these are partially burnt
and do not have enough strength. Irregular shape and odd colors are some of the other
features of these bricks.

Khinger brick
Some bricks in the kiln get over burnt as a result of which blakish soft molten mass is
produced on the brick. The brick becomes spongy and looses its shape. Such bricks should
not be used in any kind of brickwork, as they will require more mortar, might not accept the

3/6
mortar because of being over burnt, look ugly and will destroy overall ambience of your
walls.

Barishi brick
Before lying bricks inside the kiln, un-burnt and wet bricks are laid in an open ground for
drying. Since these bricks are not covered hence if raindrops fall over these un-burnt bricks,
it leaves a permanent dotted mark. These bricks are not treated and are sent inside the kiln
for burning with dotted marks. Such bricks are called “Barishi” and are available at cheap
rates as compared to awwal just because of the permanent dotted mark. These bricks are
safe to be used provided they are well burnt and have enough strength that matches awwal
class bricks.

While constructing your house, purchase Awwal bricks that have all required features as
mentioned above. Bricks can be purchased directly from the kiln owners but as a layman its
difficult to deal with them hence a middleman such as a dealer or agent is more convenient.
Each kiln has its own brand mark on brick that is called “maarka”. Try to use same brand
mark throughout the construction for good outlook of brickwork. Different brand marks can
have different sizes that are not recommended as it can result in crooked walls.

Bricks are mostly transported from kilns to desired sites in a lot of 5000. It is a normal
routine that if you order Awwal bricks, a certain amount of bricks will be mixed that might
not have same features as of Awwal bricks. However that amount should not exceed 10% of
the total bricks in the lot. Do not make advance payments to agents or directly to kiln
owners. Always make the payments when you have completely checked the quality and
quantity of bricks that you have ordered.

Bricks Quantity check on site

Checking quantity of bricks offloaded on site is very necessary job. Do not trust anybody
and count the bricks yourself before making the payment. Pass the instructions to on-site
guard or contractor to not utilitse the bricks until and unless counting has been done. Every
single brick counts in present expensive age. Dishonesty and desception are norm in bricks
business in which the main culprits are either the agents or the transporters who carry and
offload bricks on site. Bricks should strictly be offloaded under self-supervision or of a
trustworthy person. Once offloaded the bricks are counted by following method:

4/6
Count the HORIZONTALLY laid bricks in
Direction A

Count the HORIZONTALLY laid bricks in

Direction B

Count the total layers in direction C

A x (Bx2) x C = Total number of bricks.

https://youtu.be/GssNV3BWHUg

Bricks Quality check on site

Quality check is also as important as that of the quantity. You should get for what you are
being charged. For checking the quality on site some of the basic methods are:

Knocking sound
Two dry bricks should be taken in each hand such that the 3” side should be facing each
other, struck both bricks gently. Good bricks will not break and produce a clear knocking
sound.

Dimension check
Take random bricks and check their sizes. 90% of the bricks should be uniform in size.

5/6
Shape & color
Bricks should have uniform shape, there should not be bulks on any side. Well-burnt bricks
are deep reddish in color with whitish side faces. However color of the bricks also depend
upon the region where they are produced.

Drop test
Drop a brick horizontally from a height of 3 to 4 ft. and it should not break. Repeat the test
on at least 5 bricks.

Break test
Break a brick in two pieces, it should not have pores and holes inside. Repeat the test on at
least 5 bricks

6/6