Lahore Real Estate Forum

Start NEW Topic Or Post Advertisment

                                                          
 
Back to Forum |

bricks or blocks,

(65719)
   client
Monday, June 13, 2011 04:57 AM 
Reply: >
Dear Viewers.
AOA
I have a question related to building construction, if building house with bricks is better than using hollow cement blocks?

If any one can propose pros and cons of these...
Thanks
AJ replied on Monday, June 13, 2011 08:45 AM 

Interesting question. I myself wanna know what is the different in quality and price?
AG replied on Monday, June 13, 2011 10:53 AM 

Dear Friends.

Bricks are used for structures with load bearing walls which is a common practice in Pakistan.
Hollow concrete blocks are used in Frame Structure Buildings. Load is borne by frame (RCC Columns & Beams) & blocks simply fill in the gaps. Hollow blocks provide good thermal insulation due to air trapped inside them. Frame structure construction is costly but much better than the one build with bricks as load bearing walls.

Regards
AG replied on Monday, June 13, 2011 10:55 AM 

Dear Friends.

Bricks are used for structures with load bearing walls which is a common practice in Pakistan.
Hollow concrete blocks are used in Frame Structure Buildings. Load is borne by frame (RCC Columns & Beams) & blocks simply fill in the gaps. Hollow blocks provide good thermal insulation due to air trapped inside them. Frame structure construction is costly but much better than the one build with bricks as load bearing walls.

Regards
Kamal replied on Tuesday, June 14, 2011 09:01 AM 

can hollow cant be used as load bearing...??? crushing strength of brick is 2000 psi whereas 1:2:4 concrete is 3000 psi
Habib replied on Tuesday, June 14, 2011 11:05 AM 

@ Kamal I am sure about these figures but in General Blocks are much weaker, You must have remebered the Collpase of a muti story building in Islamabad in 2005 Earth quake it was Built by Blocks witout RCC frame, there were many caualities, other in Rawal pinidi and Islam abad , 100 ys Old even Gara Built Houses also sustained the shock,
There is no question that hollow blocks are far Too inferior than Bricks. In Karachi these are used in low cost Houses for weight Bering.
Recently I has a bad experience of Buying "Tough tiles" I needed in small amount so special order was not Possible, you will not imagine that quality was so poor that Raj could Break it with gentle stroke of Kandi no need of Tesi at all, This is the condition of solid Tough tiles then you can imagine about Hollow blocks.
AG replied on Tuesday, June 14, 2011 03:28 PM 

@Kamal.

1:2:4 is the ratio of aggregates (Cement, sand & gravals or crushed stone)for Cement Concrete used for RCC structures & the cubes you are talking about are samples taken to be crushed after certain periods of time (24 Hrs, 72 Hrs, 8 days & so on) to verify the quality & strength of concrete. The aggregates of hollow blocks are coarse river sand & cement etc & the cement content is very low as compared to Cement concrete. Their compressive strength is very low. They are meant to fill the gap without taking any load.

Regards
kamal replied on Tuesday, June 14, 2011 04:30 PM 

@ habib & AG..you are right quality is a great concern in Pakistan coz evry one wants to earn in one day for the rest of his life...i was not aware of the ratio and contents...yes i am talking about `1.2.4 concrete which is tested 7 days and 28 days to verify quality..if it is possible to make blocks with pcc 1.2.4 with good quality, i think these would be much stronger than bricks and at the same time good insulators due to hollow space...there shud be some modification in construction materials and methods...pakistan falls in seismic zone and still our structures are not constructed accordingly...i cant believe that building in islamabad was not a frame structure as it was a multistorey building..it must be frame structure but poorly designed
LRE Hot Topics replied on Sunday, June 19, 2011 08:08 AM 

Post added to useful posts list. View MORE Useful Posts Click on >>> LRE Hot Topics
Builder replied on Thursday, June 23, 2011 02:35 AM 

Both have same strength for building, there are area where brick is expensive there blocks are used, and where blocks are expensive bricks are used.
>