BRICK & STONE

KIGARA KAMWERU
BAR 201: BUILDING TECHNOLOGY AND SERVICES 3
TOO DANIEL K.
 BRICK

 Clay as a raw material is most valued for

its ceramic characteristics.

 When subjected to high firing temperatures,

the silicates in clay melt, fusing the particles
to a density that approaches vitrification.

 The resulting strength and weather

resistance make brick, structural clay tile,
and terra cotta among the most durable of
building materials.
 There are many different
shapes, sizes, and types of
brick.

 These include: building

(common) brick, facing brick,
hollow brick, paving brick,
firebox brick, glazed brick,
chemical resistant brick, and
others based on appearance
of the unit.

 The three most widely used

are building brick, face brick,
and hollow brick.
 TYPES OF BRICK
Building Brick
 Building brick (sometimes called common brick) is used primarily as
structural material or as a backing for other finishes, where strength
and durability are of more importance than appearance.
Facing Brick

 Face brick is used for exposed

areas where appearance is an
important design criteria.

 These units are typically selected for

specific aesthetic criteria such as
color, dimensional tolerances,
uniformity, surface texture, and limits
on the amount of cracks and
defects.
Hollow Brick

 Hollow brick is used for both

interior and exterior construction
in much the same way as solid
brick.

 Hollow bricks may be laid with

opposite faces exposed.

 They offer considerable economy

in speed and construction of
masonry walls while maintaining
the aesthetic appeal.
Paving Brick

 Paving brick is unique in color,

pattern, and texture and is often
specified as a wearing surface for
roadways, walks, patios, drives, and
interior floors.

 The naturally high abrasion

resistance of ceramic clay products
makes them very durable as paving
materials.
Glazed Brick
 Glazed bricks are fired with ceramic
coatings which fuse to the clay body
in the kiln and produce an impervious
surface in clear or color, matte or
gloss finish.

 Most colors are fired at temperatures

around 2100°F. The glaze, which is
about the same consistency as thick
house paint, is sprayed on the raw
clay unit, and both are fired together.
Fire Brick
 Refractory bricks or fire bricks, for
instance, are used in furnaces, chimney
stacks, fireboxes, and ovens.

 The fire clay from which they are made

has a much higher fusing point than that
of ordinary clay or shale.

 Fire bricks are extremely resistant to high

temperatures without cracking,
decomposition, or distortion.

 Fire bricks are normally heavier and

softer than other units.
Chemical resistant bricks
 Also called acid-proof bricks are
machine-made, kiln-fired units made
specifically for this purpose.

 They are strong, free of laminations,

burned to vitrification to close all pores,
and sufficiently rough in texture to ensure
complete and intimate bond with the
mortar.

 Conditions of temperature and acidity

and the absorption rate of the unit are
the primary factors governing material
selection for use in corrosive environments.
Terra Cota
 Architectural terra cotta is an enriched clay
mixture fired at high temperatures to a
hardness and density not obtainable with brick.
 Glazed units are durable and weather resistant,
and provide an almost infinite range of colors
that will retain their sharpness and clarity for
the life of the product.
 Architectural terra cotta has been used as a
decorative veneer for centuries.
 The name itself, which means “baked earth,”
dates from Roman antiquity.
 Hand- and machine-made types may be
glazed in clear, monochrome, or polychrome
colors and in matte, satin, or gloss finishes.
 BRICK PROPERTIES

Compressive Strength

 The compressive strengths of brick

and tile are usually based on
gross area.

 For a given clay and method of

manufacture, higher compressive
strength and lower absorption are
also associated with higher
burning temperatures.
Transverse strength

 The transverse strength of a brick

acting as a beam supported at both
ends is called the modulus of rupture.

 Tensile strength of structural clay tile

is quite low and usually will not
exceed 10% of the compressive
strength.
Absorption

 Properties of absorption are

affected by the method of
manufacture and degree of
burning

 Hard-burned units are

highest in strength and
density and lowest in
absorption.
 Durability

 Abrasion resistance is closely associated with the degree of burning, and

ranges from under-burned brick at the low end to vitrified shale and fire
clay at the high end.
 The stronger the unit and the lower the absorption, the greater the abrasion
resistance will be.

 Resistance to wear and

abrasion is an important
aspect of durability for
brick paving, and for the
lining of structures that
will carry sewage,
industrial waste, and so
on.
 Expansion Coefficients

 Thermal expansions are minute. They range

from 0.0000025 in./°F for fire clay units to
0.0000036 in./°F for surface clay and shale
units.
 Fired bricks are at their smallest dimension
when leaving the kiln. All natural moisture and
the water added for forming and extrusion
are evaporated during the firing process.
 Once fired, clay products begin to rehydrate
by absorbing atmospheric moisture, causing
irreversible expansion of the units.
 Both vertical and horizontal expansion joints
must be provided in the masonry to permit
this movement.
Fire and thermal resistance
 Masonry fire resistance and
thermal performance are
both determined by mass.

 The characteristics of the

individual units are not
considered, but ratings are
established for finished wall
assemblies.
Acoustical characteristics
 The density of clay masonry
determines its acoustical characteristics.

 Although sound absorption is almost

negligible, the heavy mass provides
excellent resistance to the transmission
of sound through walls.

 This suggests best use as partitions or

sound barriers between areas of
different occupancy.
 Colors and textures
 Natural clay colors can be altered or
augmented by the introduction of various
minerals in the mix, and further enhanced
by application of a clear, lustrous glaze.

 Ceramic glazed finishes range from the

bright primary colors through the more
subtle earth tones in solid, mottled, or
blended shades.

 Glossy, matte, and satin finishes, as well as

applied textures, add other aesthetic
options
 STONE
 Prior to the twentieth century,
stone was the predominant
material used in major building
construction.

 It was not only the structural

material, but also the exterior
and interior finish, and often the
flooring and roofing as well.

 The term “masonry” at one time

referred exclusively to stonework,
and the “architects” of medieval
castles and cathedrals were
actually stone masons.
 The earth’s hard crust has undergone
many changes throughout the millennia
of geologic history.
 The stress and strains, the wearing away
by atmospheric forces, by rain, wind,
and heat, have produced a great
variety of stones differing widely in
appearance, but sharing some
similarities of composition.
 All stone is made up of one or more
minerals of specific crystalline structure
and definable chemical makeup.
 No two blocks of stone, however, even if
quarried side by side, are identical in
internal structure or physical and
chemical composition.
 TYPES OF STONE
As a natural, inorganic substance, stone can be categorized by form and
geological origin.

IGNEOUS ROCKS
 Are formed by the fusion of minerals under great heat and pressure.
 Granite is one of the major building stone of this origin.
 Other examples: Dolerite, basalt
 SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

 Are formed gradually over thousands of years by the settlement of a

particles of calcium carbonate and sand. Due to irregular and varied
deposit of sediment, these rocks were formed in layers.
 In dense rock beds the layers are strongly compacted and in others the
layers are weakly compacted and may vary in the nature of the layers and
so have poor compressive strength.
 The jointed and stratified character of the formation makes it generally
weaker than igneous rock.
 Examples: Sandstone, limestone, shale.
 METAMORPHIC ROCKS
 Are those changed from igneous, sedimentary or from soils into
metamorphic by pressure or heat or both.
 They vary from dense slates in which the layers of the material are barely
visible to schists in which the layers of various minerals are clearly visible
and may readily split into thin plates.
 Because of the mode of the formation of these rocks the layers or planes
rarely lie horizontal in the ground and so generally provide an
unsatisfactory or poor foundation.
 COMMON BUILDING STONES
Granite
 Granite is an igneous rock composed
primarily of quartz, feldspar, mica, and
hornblende.
 Colors vary depending on the amount and
type of secondary minerals. Feldspar
produces red, pink, brown, buff, gray, and
cream colors, while hornblende and mica
produce dark green or black.
 It is classified as fine, medium, or coarse
grained. It is very hard, strong, and durable,
and is noted for its hard-wearing qualities.
 It is often used for flooring, paneling, veneer,
column facings, stair treads, and flagstones,
and in landscape applications.
Limestone
 Limestone is a sedimentary rock which is durable,
easily worked, and widely distributed throughout
the earth’s crust. It consists chiefly of calcium
carbonate deposited by chemical precipitation or
by the accumulation of shells and other
calcareous remnants of animals and plants.
 Limestone is much softer, more porous, and has a
higher absorption capacity than granite, but is a
very attractive and widely used building stone.
 Although soft when first taken from the ground,
limestone weathers hard upon exposure. Its
durability is greatest in drier climates, as
evidenced by the remains of Egyptian and
Mayan monuments.
Marble
 Marble is a crystallized, metamorphosed
form of non-crystalline limestone or
dolomite.
 Its texture is naturally fine, permitting a
highly polished surface. The great color
range found in marbles is due to the
presence of oxides of iron, silica, mica,
graphite, serpentine, and carbonaceous
matter in grains, streaks, or blotches
throughout the stone.
 Marble is available as rough or finished
dimension stone and as thin veneer slabs for
wall and column facings, flooring, partitions,
and other decorative surface work.
Slate
 Slate is also a metamorphic rock, formed
from argillaceous sedimentary deposits of
clay and shale. Slates containing large
quantities of mica are stronger and more
elastic than clay slates. The texture of slate
is fine and compact with very minute
crystallization.
 It is characterized by distinct cleavage
planes permitting easy splitting of the
stone mass into slabs 1⁄4 in. or more in
thickness.
 Used in this form, slate provides an
extremely durable material for flooring,
roofing, sills, stair treads, and facings.
Sandstone
 Sandstone is a sedimentary rock formed of sand or
quartz grains. Its hardness and durability depend
primarily on the type of cementing agent present. If
cemented with silica and hardened under pressure, the
stone is light in color, strong, and durable.
 If the cementing medium is largely iron oxide, the stone is
red or brown, and is softer and more easily cut. Lime
and clay are less durable binders, subject to
disintegration by natural weathering. Sandstone can be
categorized by grain size and cementing media.
 When first taken from the ground, sandstone contains
large quantities of water, which make it easy to cut.
When the moisture evaporates, the stone becomes
considerably harder.
PROPERTIES OF STONE

Accessibility
 Stone is locally available
and easily accessible. It
can be mined from
quarries and requires little
effort to extract from the
earth depths.
Strength
 It depends on its structure, the hardness of its particles, and the manner in
which those particles are interlocked or cemented together.
 Generally, the denser and more durable stones are also stronger
 Stone is much stronger in compression than in flexure or shear.
Hardness
 Hardness of stone is critically
important only in horizontal
planes such as flooring and
paving, but hardness does have
a direct influence on
workability.
 Characteristics may vary from
soft sandstone, which is easily
scratched, to some stones which
are harder than steel.
 Both strength and hardness are
proportional to silica content.
Workability
 Refers to the ease with which a
stone may be sawed, shaped,
dressed, or carved, and will
directly affect the cost of
production.
 Workability decreases as the
percentage of siliceous materials
increases.
 Limestone, for instance, which
contains little silica, is easily cut,
drilled, and processed. Granite,
however, which consists largely of
quartz, is the most difficult stone
to cut and finish.
Porosity
 The percentage of void content, affects
the stone’s absorption of moisture, thus
influencing its ability to rainfall.

 Pore spaces are usually continuous and

often form microscopic cracks of
irregular shape.

 The method of stone formation and the

speed of cooling of the molten material
influence the degree and structure of
these voids because of compaction and
the possibility of trapped gases.
Durability
 This is the resistance to wear and
weathering.

 This is perhaps the most important

characteristic of stone because it
affects the life span of a structure.

 The stones traditionally selected for

building construction have exhibited
almost immeasurable durability
compared to other building
materials.
 PRODUCTION

 Stone is quarried from its natural bed by

various techniques, depending on the
nature of the rock.
 The most basic, and the oldest, method is
drilling and splitting. With stratified
material such as sandstone and limestone,
the process is facilitated by natural
cleavage planes, but also limited in the
thickness of stone that can be produced.
 Holes are drilled close together along the
face of the rock, and plugs and wedges
are then driven in with sufficient pressure
to split the rock between holes.
 For stratified rock, holes are drilled only
on the face perpendicular to the bed,
but non-stratified material must be
drilled both vertically and horizontally.

 Channeling machines are often used on

sandstone, limestone, and marble, but
cannot be used with granite or other
very hard stone. Wire saws are now
used by most stone producers to cut a
smoother surface, reduce the required
mill finishing, and to subdivide large
blocks of stone for easier transport,
handling, and finishing.
 The first stones cut from the quarry
are large, with rough, irregular
faces. These monolithic pieces are
cut or split to the required rough
size, then dressed at the mill with
power saws and/or hand tools.
 Finished stone surface textures may
vary from a rough rock face to a
more refined hand-tooled or
machine-tooled finish.
 For thin facings of marble or
granite, gang saws cut several
slabs from a block of stone at the
same time.
 FORMS OF CONSTRUCTION STONE
Rubble Stone
 Stone rubble is irregular in size and
shape. Rubble may be either broken
into suitable sizes or roughly cut to size
with a hammer.

 Fieldstone rubble is harvested from

fields in its natural form. It is weathered
smooth, but irregular and uneven.
 Quarried rubble comes from the
fragments of stone left over from the
cutting and removal of large slabs at
the stone quarry. It has freshly broken
faces, which may be sharp and angular.
Flagstone
 Flagstone consists of thin slabs from 1⁄2
to 2 in. thick in either squared or
irregular shapes.
 It may be quarried material that has
been cut into flat slabs, a field stone
that is naturally flat enough for paving,
or a stone that naturally splits into thin
layers.
 Surfaces may be slightly rough, smooth,
or polished. Flagstone is used on the
exterior for walks, paths, and terraces,
and on the interior as stair treads,
flooring, coping, sills, and so on.
Dimension stone
 Dimension stone, such as ashlar (flat-faced
dimension stone), decorative elements, and thin
veneer slabs, is delivered from stone
fabricators cut and dressed to a specific size
and thickness and squared to dimension each
way.
 Surface treatments include a rough or natural
split face, smooth, slightly textured, or polished
finishes.
 Dimension stone is used for interior and
exterior surface veneers, prefabricated panels,
bearing walls, toilet partitions, arch stones,
flooring, copings, stair treads, sills, and so on.
Thin stone veneers
 These are a type of dimension stone,
cut to a thickness of 2 in. or less.
 Unlike conventionally set dimension
stone, which is laid in mortar and
mechanically anchored to a backing
system at the project site, thin stone
may be anchored directly to precast
concrete panels, to glass-fiber-
reinforced concrete (GFRC) panels, or
to prefabricated steel truss panels.
 Thin stone may also be incorporated
into stick-built or unitized metal curtain
wall systems.
Stone tile
 This is generally limited to
interior surfaces as wall and
floor finish systems.
 FORMS OF
CONSTRUCTION
STONE
 STONE FINISHES

Sawed finish
 For thin facings of marble or granite,
gang saws cut several slabs from a block
of stone at the same time.
 Although the sawing is a slow process, the
surface it produces is so even that much
work is saved in later dressing and
polishing.
 Other saws, such as chat saws, shot saws,
and diamond saws, are used to cut rough
blocks of stone to required dimensions.
Each type of saw produces a different
surface texture.
Hammered finish
 Hammered stone can help to increase bonding effectiveness when applying
concrete to an stone surface by increasing the surface area of the bonding
zone.
 Hammered stones are texturized giving it an aesthetic feel that can be left
un-plastered.
Polished finish
 A polished finish is created when a stone surface reaches it's most refined
stage. It is buffed to the highest level possible, and the results are either a
high shine or the actual highest level of shine that can be achieved
naturally.
 This finish gives the stone a very elegant and rich look, providing it with a
pinnacle depth of colour.
 A polished finish, by providing some measure of sealing of the stone pores,
helps protect the surface of the veneer from deterioration by atmospheric
weathering agents.
Honed/ Rubbed finish

 This finish is created by buffing

the stone to slightly less than the
highest level.

 The result is a smooth but dull

appearance. A honed finish
refers to any level that is less
than polished and therefore
encompasses many levels of
dullness.
Rigato finish

 Rigato is a machine finish that

gives a linear pattern cut to the
stone.

 This finish gives an added design

factor when applied to a wall.

 All stones can have this finish

applied to them.
Natural Cleft
 This finish is associated with
materials that are layered and
thus, when split, do so on a
natural fault creating what is
known as a natural cleft finish.

 Slates are the most common

types of stone that can split
naturally.
Flame cutting or thermal finish
 A natural gas or oxyacetylene flame
is passed over a polished surface that
has been wetted. The water that has
been absorbed by the stone changes
to steam and breaks off the surface,
leaving an irregular finish.
 This finish is used primarily for
exteriors applications where slip-
resistance is extremely important.
 A flamed finish cannot be applied to
all stones; however, most granite and
certain hard limestone are preferred.
TYPES OF
FINISHES
STONE
 SELECTING BUILDING STONES
Appearance
 Design and aesthetics will
determine the suitability of
the color, texture, aging
characteristics, and general
qualities of the stone for the
type of building under
consideration.
 Colors may range from dull
to brilliant hues, and from
warm to cool tones. Textures
may vary from coarse or
rough to fine and dense.
Strength
 The compressive strength of stone was
of great importance when large
buildings were constructed of load-
bearing stone walls and foundations.
 Today however, stone is more often
used as a thin veneer over steel,
concrete, or unit masonry structures, or
as load-bearing elements only in low-
rise structures.
 In these applications, the compressive
loads are generally small, and nearly
all of the commonly used building
stones are of sufficient strength
tomaintain structural integrity.
Durability
 Durability will depend not only on the
characteristics of the stone, but also on local
environmental and climatic conditions.
 In warm, dry climates, almost any stone may
be used with good results. Stones of the
same general type such as limestone,
sandstone, and marble differ greatly in
durability, depending on softness and
porosity.
 Soft, porous stones are more liable to
absorb water and to flake or disintegrate
in heavy frosts, and may not be suitable in
the colder and more moist northern
climates.
Expansion and contraction
 Most stone used for exterior building construction
is relatively volume stable, returning to its original
dimensions after undergoing thermal expansion
and contraction through a range of temperatures.
 Some fine-grained, uniformly textured, relatively
pure marbles, however, retain small incremental
volume increases after each heating cycle.
 Marble is actually composed of layers of crystals,
and repeated thermal and moisture cycles tend to
make these crystals loosen and slide apart. The
marble becomes less dense when it expands
during heating, but does not return to its prior
state during the cooling cycle.
Chemical Reactions
 Limestone and marble are both vulnerable to
attack by sulfurous and sulfuric acids, and to
a lesser extent, by carbonic acid and
ammonium salts.
 Rainwater is a weak carbonic acid that
dissolves the calcite or lime component,
causing stones to flake, crumble, and
eventually disintegrate. Sulfur-based acids
form gypsum which is eventually washed
from the stone matrix.
 Urban environments which produce stronger
acid rain also produce accelerated
disintegration.
Function
 Polished marble is not recommended for
commercial floors. Polished finishes wear off
rapidly, becoming dull and showing traffic
patterns. Honed finishes are less slippery, require
less maintenance, and look better with wear,
becoming more polished from normal foot traffic.
 Granite is normally a better choice for floors.
Porous stones require commercial sealers to
protect them from stains. Food, grease, and
sugared drinks readily penetrate porous stone
faces, leaving unsightly stains that are difficult, if
not impossible, to remove.
 Sealers not only protect these floors, but also
enhance their natural colors.
Cost
 The costs of various stones will depend
on the proximity of the quarry to the
building site, the abundance of the
material, and its workability.
 In general stone from a local source
will be less expensive than stone that
must be imported.
 Stone produced on a large scale will
be less expensive than scarce varieties.
 Stone quarried and dressed with ease
will be less expensive than stone
requiring excessive time and labor.