Specification of 'Bricks Walls'

Brick walls are probably the most common building elements in construction of a house in India. These walls form basic units for creating rooms that make up a house.  The walls besides being space dividers are also structural elements that transfer the load of the roof to the ground. Brick walls are constructed on strip spread or raft foundations that support the walls. The walls are constructed using bricks and mortar. These can also be constructed with various structural qualities and thicknesses.

First Class Brick Work

First class brick work is made by using first class bricks and cement mortar. This brick work is used for load bearing walls. It is made in rich mortar in which the cement and sand ratio is from 1:3 to 1: 6. 

First class bricks are identified by their uniform color and a ringing sound when struck. The bricks are equal in size and have even edges and surfaces. These bricks do not chip and don’t have any cracks. First class bricks do not absorb water more than 1/6 of their weight. There is no salty residue when the bricks are dry. First class bricks have a minimum crushing strength of 105.kg. Per sq. cm

Bricks of first class quality

Second Class Brick Work

Second class bricks work is made by using second class bricks and cement mortar. These bricks also have the property of first class bricks but are not very regular or even in shape. These bricks should not be used for load bearing walls for more than two storey buildings. Second class bricks have minimum crushing strength 70.kg per sq. meter.  

 Second class quality of bricks

Third Class Brick Work

This type of brick work is made by using third class bricks and cement mortar or mud mortar. Third class brick work is not made in any Govt. work. Generally this type of brick work is made for temporary work in private sector.

Mortar

Mortar is a mix used to bind brick, stone etc to each other.
It can thus be seen as a binding material that bonds bricks, stones to make a wall or for cladding purpose. Normally cement mortar is used in brickwork in present day construction though lime mortar can also be used but it requires superior craftsmanship and is hence infrequently used.

Cement Mortar

Cement mortar is a mix of cement and sand with water. The cement is binding material which requires sand as a filler material. This cement mortar mix in wet state is plastic and binds two materials when it dries. Mortar is generally defined as 1:2 or 1:3 or 1:7 etc. This means that one part of cement is mixed with 2, 3 or 7 parts of sand.   

Precaution for mixing cement mortar

The following steps should be taken carefully while mixing materials for cement mortar. 

• The mix should be made on a dry, clean, flat surface.
• The mix should be as per specifications. 
•  The mix should be by volume.
• The quantity of water should be such that the mix can be easily spread over bricks or applied on a vertical surface. Water more then required quantity may spoil the mix and it can reduce the strength of masonry.
• The mix should be used within half an hour of its preparation.

Brick Wall Foundations

Brick wall foundations are normally made as strip foundations.
These are continuous along the length of wall and hence called as strip foundations. These form structural components of construction system by which the load of whole building is transferred to the ground. 
 
Foundations are made in dug out trenches so that a hard stable surface on which the building is supported can be obtained because the top surface of the ground normally does not have load bearing capacity to take the load of the building. The other reason is that foundations can by this method be hidden from view. The architect needs to provide a foundation plan that indicates exactly where the foundation trenches are to be dug. 

The foundation trenches are dug after being marked on center line principle on the site according to architect’s drawings. The size of trench varies with the thickness of walls and the load bearing capacity of the soil. The base of dug trench is rammed to solidify the surface. On rammed surface a layer of cement concrete is laid. This is normally 6 to 8 inches thick. This base concrete layer needs to be cured for it attains its expected strength. Base concrete layers or courses of bricks are laid to create a stepped base that would help in distributing the load over a larger surface of the foundation.

Precautions during construction of brick wall foundations

• The marking of foundations must be absolutely accurate as the location of walls depends on these markings.
• The trenches should not be dug in rainy season. The bricks, mortar mix and cement concrete mix should be as per specifications.
• The width and depth of the trenches depends on loading and soil conditions. As the foundation is an expanded base to distribute the load coming on it over a large area on ground. The width of the wall foundation depends on whether the wall is a load bearing wall, a non load bearing wall, a partition wall or a toe wall.

Load Bearing Walls

The walls that support beams and roof slabs. 

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