Selecting the appropriate cladding material for your home is essential to its longevity and aesthetic appeal. Facing bricks are a common choice because they provide your home with long-lasting protection and a classic appearance. Facing bricks are a great addition to any architectural design because of their durable construction and wide range of styles.
In addition to giving your home a beautiful exterior, facing bricks support the structural stability of your building. They are renowned for their ability to withstand harsh weather, such as wind, rain, and extremely high or low temperatures. This makes them a great option for homeowners wishing to spend money on a cladding system that is dependable and long-lasting.
The low maintenance of facing bricks is an additional benefit. In contrast to other materials that might need frequent painting or sealing, facing bricks require less maintenance to maintain their aesthetic. This translates to fewer hours and dollars spent on long-term exterior home maintenance.
Facing bricks are useful and practical at the same time. They are available in a variety of colors, textures, and finishes. This enables you to alter the appearance of your house to reflect your own tastes and style. There is a facing brick option to fit your needs, regardless of your preference for a traditional or contemporary look.
- How to choose facing bricks for your home
- How to cover a wooden house with bricks
- Advantages and disadvantages
- Technology
- Reinforcement
- Video on the topic
- Brick cladding on a shallow foundation. How to lean correctly
- How much does it cost to brick a house in 2024?.
- HOW TO CORRECTLY INSTALL EURO FORMAT CLINKER BRICK / COVERING A HOUSE WITH BRICK
- Facing a house with cheap bricks! How to do?
- A bricklayer shared the secrets of building a house from aerated concrete and face bricks.
How to choose facing bricks for your home
Make sure you choose the material carefully before lining your house with bricks. It’s crucial to choose cladding based on its technical features and attributes in addition to its price.
The most common type of brick used in construction is ceramic. The thermal insulation qualities of this material are comparatively good to other types. A high degree of hygroscopicity will be the drawback in this situation. The technology uses both common, everyday materials and unique facial features.
In the first instance, applying a hydrophobic composition to the exterior surface following installation is highly advised. Such treatment is not necessary for facing brick. A composition with adequate vapor permeability is chosen for the treatment. This is particularly crucial when using brick to finish a wooden house. It’s necessary that the impregnation doesn’t leave behind a film that stops the walls from allowing steam and air to pass through. How do I choose a brick that will withstand frost? The standards state that the brand cannot be any lower than F35, and the builders recommend that it not be any lower than F50.
Silicate material is another widely used alternative. It is the least expensive, but it is not robust. This kind of brick absorbs moisture and conducts heat well when facing a house. Silicate is typically heavier than ceramic. When finishing a timber house (we also include a frame house and a log house here), this option is not advised.
Clinker material can be used to manually decorate bricks. Because it is specifically made for siding, it has a high strength to low moisture permeability ratio. Although clinker finishing appears appealing, the cost of this pleasure is typically 50–1500% higher.
How to cover a wooden house with bricks
Because brick and wood have quite different qualities, there could be some challenges when working. Make sure the main portion of the wall has enough ventilation when facing a wooden house with bricks. If not, the wood will start to decay or grow mold. Look closely at the wall pie of a house before you cover it with facing brick. In this instance, the three-layer walls with brick cladding will consist of:
- wooden supporting part;
- vapor barrier;
- insulation;
- waterproofing and wind protection;
- ventilation gap min. 50-60 mm;
- brick lining.
It’s critical to distinguish between waterproofing and vapor barriers. In order for steam to readily escape from the insulation and brick into the ventilation gap, the latter needs to be permeable to steam. The use of contemporary vapor diffusion windproof membranes is advised.
When a wooden house is covered in brick, it is imperative to provide vents in the lower section and outlet openings in the upper section to facilitate unobstructed air circulation. Mineral wool is advised for use as thermal insulation. Its good air permeability, low cost, and ease of installation define it.
It takes time for the walls of a wooden house to shrink before bricks can be properly laid over them. Recovering an older house might be easier because this process can take several years.
When it comes to house cladding, facing bricks provide a strong, weather-resistant, and aesthetically pleasing option. This material lowers maintenance requirements by offering long-term protection against the elements in addition to improving a home’s aesthetic appeal. A homeowner can guarantee that their home will remain attractive and structurally sound for many years by making an investment in high-quality facing bricks. This article examines the advantages of using facing bricks, the different kinds that are available, and advice on how to choose and install them properly.
Advantages and disadvantages
Combining materials with different properties together is a very challenging task in construction. Nuances and unfavorable aspects are always present in this situation. There are three drawbacks when finishing a wooden building’s facade with brick:
- decreased ventilation, likelihood of moisture accumulation in the insulation;
- different shrinkage of parts of the wall, which does not allow rigid connection between the cladding and the main wall;
- the high mass of brick compared to wood (more than 3 times) forces the construction of more powerful and expensive foundations.
Generally speaking, brickwork is a better material to decorate an older home. It is advised to take other, more cost-effective and efficient options into consideration for new construction.
But there are benefits to the technology:
- improvement of thermal performance (especially when using ceramics);
- reducing the level of fire danger;
- reliable and durable protection of wood from negative weather conditions.
Technology
Brickwork is applied to a house’s façade after the wood has been treated with an antiseptic. For outdoor use, you ought to select a unique impregnation composition. It will keep mold, mildew, and other potentially harmful microbes off the wall. Next, a construction stapler is used to secure a vapor barrier to the wall. At least 10 centimeters of overlap are used when installing.
Sheathing is installed before the facade is covered in brick. The necessary thickness of the insulation determines the frame bars’ dimensions. Although the Internet or suggestions from neighbors can be used to roughly determine the thickness of the thermal insulation, it is preferable to use a specific calculation. Thermal calculations can even be performed by a non-professional with the help of the rather basic Teremok program. All that is required is the thermal conductivity of the chosen insulation and the thickness and thermal conductivity of the wooden wall. The computation does not account for brick or any layer that comes after the ventilation gap.
Nails or screws are used to fasten the frame block to the walls. The house must then have insulation sheathed around it. Tightly packed mineral wool is sandwiched between the sheathing. To achieve this, the spacing between the bars needs to be two to three centimeters smaller than the insulation’s width.
On top of the insulation, wind and waterproofing are installed. To fasten something, you use a construction stapler. They immediately start lining the house with bricks after making such preparations.
Typically, the brick veneer is 120 mm thick. The wall needs to be attached to the main portion of the external structure because this is insufficient to guarantee stability.
There are two ways to go about this:
- attaching a reinforcing mesh to the wall and inserting it into the facing layer by half the width (such a mesh is installed across the entire width of the wall with a certain vertical pitch);
- separate special bindings that are nailed to the wall and inserted into the masonry.
For frame buildings, the finishing installation technology is also pertinent. The connections between the wall and the external materials are fastened to the frame posts, which is the only distinction. The ventilation gap must always be considered when installing cladding.
Reinforcement
When covering a building with bricks, it is advised to give the finishing reinforcement. 50×50 mm cells and a wire mesh with a diameter of 3–4 mm are utilized to boost strength and rigidity. In the spaces between horizontal rows, the mesh is positioned. The brick determines the frequency:
- covering the building with a single brick (65 mm high) – every 5 rows;
- one-and-a-half (88 mm high) – every 4 rows.
Seams with and without reinforcement have to have the same dimensions. One side of the mesh is moved slightly outside the masonry for control. This option boosts dependability at the expense of increased expense and labor complexity.
Advantages | Considerations |
Durable and long-lasting | Higher initial cost |
Low maintenance | Requires skilled labor for installation |
Resistant to weather and fire | Heavier than other materials |
Provides excellent insulation | May need additional support for structure |
Available in various colors and styles | Installation time can be longer |
Selecting facing bricks for the cladding on your house is a wise decision. They provide a classic appearance that improves curb appeal and sets your home apart from the others in the neighborhood.
Not only are facing bricks aesthetically pleasing, but they also offer exceptional durability. They need little upkeep, can tolerate severe weather, and are fire resistant. As a result, you will need fewer replacements and repairs over time, saving you money and time.
Facing bricks are also environmentally friendly. Because they are long-lasting and composed of natural materials, they require fewer replacements over time, which helps to create a more sustainable environment.
Ultimately, choosing facing bricks guarantees that your house is sturdy, long-lasting, and attractive. Homeowners can choose this option with long-term advantages and peace of mind.