concrete blocks v/s clay bricks

[meenalvarma]

Hi, I am building my house in India and the choices I have for the walls are either clay bricks or Concrete blocks. Concrete blocks are much cheaper , can someone tell me which is a better option Meen

[PeterD]

Define 'better'...

[willshak]

on 10/19/2007 4:44 PM PeterD said the following:

Yeah. How's the weather in India?

[tbasc]

I would look at some houses in the area made of different materials and see what you think of them. First cost of a material can be balanced against maintenance cost and against appearance.

T

[Glenn]

IF the weather is as wet as I've always been led to believe and IF the clay brick are WELL fired then in my mind the brick has to be "better".

[willshak]

on 10/19/2007 5:40 PM Glenn said the following:

Brick and vinyl siding then. :-)

[Dave]

My feeling is you mean sun-dried bricks and cinder blocks. Neither was meant as a single or unreinforced standalone wall for a home. Consider cyclones and loose rogue elephants... Dave

[meenalvarma]

I am in Bangalore, the weather is wet around 8 of the 12 months , it's not too hot (will go to around 90-95) . My main concern is dampness in the house,how hot the house can get (insulation), cracks etc. in the house Meen

[meenalvarma]

Dave, the house is built on Concrete columns, the walls are not going to be load bearing Meen

[DanG]

A single layer of brick is not a structural element. In the US a brick house is wood framed, the sheer factor is taken care of by let-in bracing and/or sheathing, and the brick depends on this structure. The weight is resting on the footing, the lateral strength is provided by brick ties to the framing.

A structural brick wall is 2 or 3 wythes thick bonded together by brick headers.

A block wall made with 8x8x16 block is structural when the cores are filled @ 4' o.c. both vertically and horizontally with adequate lintels at openings. They are painted or coated on the exterior as they are quite porous. They are often furred, insulated, and gyped on the interior though they can be single wall. They are not very thermally efficient and all masonry is subject to joint cracking which becomes problematic when used as a single wall.