10/1/22, 12:08 AM 14 Important Building Materials used in construction

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14 Important Building Materials used in construction

14 Important Building Materials used

in construction
 Krishna  February 29, 2020  1 Comment

Building materials can be termed as the materials used for

the construction of a house or a civil engineering project.
Over the years humans have been using numerous building
materials to make their homes better. The choice of
optimum Building materials used in construction depends

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upon its effectiveness in resolving an issue and its cost-

effectiveness.

In overall to ease the diversification in building materials, they

have been categorized the building materials into Natural and
Man-made Building materials. Natural is the one that is
available in nature and ready to use. Whereas Man-made
building materials are the one that is synthetically or
artificially prepared for desirable properties.

Contents [show]

Natural Building Materials used in

construction

1. Mud & Clay:

Mud and clay have been the most significant material that
reformed history. The prominent factor about how effective
mud and clay could be depended upon its quality. The high
presence of clay in soil signifies cob/adobe style, whereas
low quantity resembles sod building.

On the other hand, straw and sand mixed and moulded as

rammed earth can be seen in historic structures.

I NEED HELP WITH..

Prominent benefits of clay as a building material:-

IMPORTANT TOPICS
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Versatile: Multi-dimensional applications despite AUTOCAD

complications such as structural amendments and Bar Bending Schedule
interior aspects.
bricks cement test
Durable: Minuscule deterioration in terms of
environmental impacts, just glance at the durability of Civil engineer Student
corner
mud as construction material in the great wall of China.
Insulation: clay has significant insulation properties. Compressive strength test
Due to high thermal mass it absorbs, stores and on Building materials
releases heat according to the environment. concrete field tests

gate material gate notes

Geo technical engineering

You can learn more about different types of sand
used in construction highway engineering

highways jobs

land surveying plans

2. Fabric: Quality check of building
materials on site
Over tens and thousands of years, the tent has been choice
of a home to many nomadic groups round the world. The Quantity surveying

prominently known of them are “Conical Tepee” and “Circular reinforcement Road
Yurt”. In history, cotton and hemp were predominant as fabric staircase
for Building materials and construction. Moreover, modern
Tests on cement
developments have cherished to major construction
techniques leading to tensile architecture and synthetic Tests on concrete
fabrics. workability of concrete test

Looking upon modern architecture, it has been greatly

modified and fabric structures are stronger and reliable.

Benefits of Fabric as a building material:-

Lightweight & easy instalable: The very reason fabric

has been most famous among nomads was its
versatile nature.

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Low Maintenance: minimal maintenance cost makes it

best option as a construction material.

3. Rock:
Rocks have sustained human since, years and ages. It is one
of the longest-lasting material, which can be readily usable.
Diversified properties of rock spread worldwide have
attributed it with multipurpose material. Rock is a highly
dense material, offers substantial durability to environmental
impacts.

Different types of rocks such as granite and slate have been

significantly used in the medieval period as well as primitive
civilizations.

Advantages:-

In arguably, Rock is significantly the most low

maintenance material of all.
The rocks have over other building materials an add-on
benefit for its environment durability capacity.

4. Thatch:
Thatch, on the other hand, is one of the oldest known
material. Often harvested through grass, which is prominently
an excellent insulator. Glancing over the tribes in Africa,
Thatch has been utilized as around the year roof.

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In general observation, Thatch has succeeded as a

residential material, but its application couldn’t exceed to
industries. In the modern era, New Zealand has come up with
innovative applications of Thatch.

Advantages being Thatch as a building material:

Water-Resistant: It comes under a thin category of

water-resistant natural materials.
Insulator: It holds air pockets among it, to ensure the
building remains warmer and cooler as per seasons.

5. Wood:
Wood or more appropriately timber is a fibrous product
achieved from tress. Wood has been used as a binding
material since ages in the form of boards, Planks or similar
materials. Due to environment-friendly nature, it helps to build
construction despite severity in climatic conditions.

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Incredible properties associated with woods such as flexural

strength under loads and sturdiness while bending. Wood
holds diversified properties as a variation in climates and
their sources. In earlier times woods has found its
applications into sleepers of railways, building supports or
braces.

Advantages:-

Energy-efficient: Wood being an insulating material,

saves considerable energy.
Highly versatile nature: Wood being a natural as mould
able material, tends to be very effective.

Learn more about different types of Wood used in

construction

6. Ice:
Many of us might not consider it as a building material, but
ice has been a significant building material in Northern colder
regions. Ice was sued by Inuits to make their Igloos. Ice on
the other hand been used to make ice hotels and offer
artistic look to interiors.

In regions with high winters and high-end tourist’s

destinations, Ice plays a predominant role in protecting under
severe storms.

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Benefits:

Insulation: high insulating property of Ice is very

effective when building storm-resistant houses.
Accelerated Construction: The construction of ice
houses can be done very rapidly.

7. Puzzolana:
The term Puzzolana originated from the name of the town in
Italy called “Puzzouli”. The volcanic dust around this town
which is formed due to the frequent eruption of the nearby
volcano mixed with the hydrated lime found to possess
hydraulic properties. Since then, puzzolana has become one
of the Building materials in the construction. Before the
arrival of cement, puzzolana is mixed with lime to make
concrete. As of now, its prime use is to replace a proportion
of cement when making concrete.

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Advantages:

Workability of concrete is good with the reduction of

segregation and bleeding.
Concrete made with the puzzolana has good resistance
to freezing and thawing.
Cost-effective and cheap compared with the cement.
Puzzolana reduces the leaches of soluble compounds
in concrete which benefits the concrete to make
impermeable.

Man-Made Building Materials used in

construction

8. Brick and Block:

A brick can be said as a block of a mixture of clay-shale
heated together in a kiln. Clay bricks have been utilized to
consolidate and create more sturdy structures. Bricks in the

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previous era were made of volcanic ash and subtle amounts

of lime.

In modern times like today, they have been made through

extruding clay machines and cut along their shapes. The
prominent benefits bricks brought after mud as the
construction of a Building material was its sturdiness and
affordable manufacturing.

Prominent aspects of Bricks as a building material

Weatherproof: The most crucial aspect of bricks is that

they are weatherproof and often cover effectively for
Stone.
Sustainable: The consistent abuse of natural resources
has alarmed their optimal usage.

Also Read:
BrickWork Calculation | Types of Bricks | Bricks in
Construction

9. Concrete:
The material of “Future”. World Most consumed material
after water. Well, that’s how much significant concrete is. The
combination of aggregate, sand and cement. Hydration of
concrete leads to its hardening like a stone. The consistent

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innovations in concrete have opened various untouched

opportunities for customized concrete.

Negating problems like air bubbles, segregation and

honeycombing have been made through innovative
approaches. Ready-mix concrete is often adopted on major
construction sites, ensuring quality control and rapidness.
Qualities like formality around the reinforcement, ease of
transport and durability have been its modern age building
material.

Prominent aspects of concrete as a building material

Versatile applications: The easy mould ability and

operation of concrete has made it the best shapes
Economical: The substantial benefits reaped our
through concrete has been economical in all the terms.

Also Read:
Important properties of concrete

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10. Metal:
Often used as a structural material for large buildings and
industries. Metal has used a cladding in various aspects.
Inherent qualities like flexibility and strength make it as usual
choice of metal structures. Effective controlling of corrosion
can make metal as the best situational building material.

Metal, on the other hand, succeeds concrete in terms of

lightweight and sturdy structures. Corrosion of metal is a
concerning aspect when dealing with high rise industries and
warehouses. Many metals like chrome, tin, titanium, copper
and brass have illustrated applications in the construction
industry. Titanium and aluminium as a metal holds, the
significant property of high tensile strength. On the other
hand, expressive metals such as gold and silver have
decorative applications.

Advantages being steel as a Building material:

Economical construction: Since finances are the

second aspect considered after quality in the
construction industry. Metal I.e. Steel, offers substantial
benefits in terms of that.
Strength and Aesthetic: metal structures have
substantial strength and have high surface area ratio to
strength.

11. Glass:
Glass isn’t new material as we think about, it was invented
in 3600 B.C. An excellent material prepared by heating Sand

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and Silicates at high temperature, lead to the discovery of

this magnificent material. Glass has been helping humans to
prepare to see through windows along with decorative
purposes.

Innovations in glass have made it brittle proof and energy-

efficient material in the construction industry. Glass has its
extensive applications in creating “Space Frame”.

Prominent aspects of Glass as a building material:

Weather-resistant: A specially forged glass can offer

substantial benefit as an environment resistance.
Sustainable future material: Glass with low refractive
indexes has been helping to offer high sunlight friendly
houses.

12. Ceramics:
Interior decorative material such as tiles and fixtures come
under ceramics. Their prominent application could be found
as covering a certain part of buildings or setting up fixtures.
In general the most common of all them are walls paints,
counter-tops, ceramic floors and even fall-ceilings come
under ceramics.

A significant number of countries worldwide use ceramic

flooring to cladding to buildings. In ancient time, ceramics
were restrained to a special type of kiln manufacturing. In
modern times, ceramics has technically as well functionally
involved.
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Advantages:

Lightweight: Ceramics as a building material is a

lightweight material and offers high strength to weight
ratio.
Extreme Hardness: these ceramics bring forth an add-
on quality of being extensively hard for impact.

13. Paints:
Paint is a liquid surface coating which forms as a thin film on
drying.

There are different types of paints, each of them chosen as

per the requirement. Out of them, Oil paints, water paints,
cement paints, bituminous paints and special paints such as
fireproof paints, luminous paints, chlorinated rubber paints
(for protecting objects against acid fumes) excessively used
in the building construction, which in turn makes Paint is an
important building material for the construction.

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Benefits:

It resists the deterioration and protects the surface

from stresses.
Decorates the surface with a smooth and fine finish.
It protects the wood work from decaying.

14.Polymeric Materials:
Rubbers, Plastics and resins used for the construction
purpose are made with the polymeric materials. Polymers are
macromolecules with high molecular weight having colloidal
dimensions (10–3 to 10–6 mm in diameter) Small molecules
called monomers undergo polymerisation reaction and form
macromolecules.

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Benefits:

Rubber is the most suitable material for conveyor belts,

linings for tanks. Ruber is also used in making
insulating materials.
Phenolaldehyde resin with waste rubber is used to
make flooring tiles.
Chlorinated rubber is used in the production of
adhesives and protective coatings
Foam rubber made from Rubber is extensively used in
upholstery and furniture.

Conclusion:
In the modern era, the construction industry has evolved as a
multidimensional industry. In order to construction rapid,
cost-effective and adhering to subpar quality standards has
been the sole idea to utilize building materials. Building
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materials utilized for construction has been rather helping

and nurturing the human lifestyle. The consistent rise of
environmental issues has opened new gates for innovative
and smart Building materials construction.

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Also Read:

Important properties of concrete

Segregation and bleeding in concrete

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ONE RESPONSE

Mohamed February 29, 2020 Reply

Very useful and so important all engineers

I like it

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