Properties of Good Brick for Construction - Building Works

The following are the good properties of brick which helps in building and maintaining the structure safe for longer period

1. Colour of the brick should be uniform
2. The faces of brick should be plane and should have sharp and right-angled corners.
3. Size of the brick should as per the standards (codes) of the country.
4. The texture of the brick should be fine, dense and uniform.
5. When we struck two bricks it should produce a metallic sound.
6. When scratched with finger the brick should not produce any impression over surface.
7. The brick should not break when it is dropped from a height of 1m.
8. The crushing strength of brick should be equal or greater than 3.5N/mm².
9. The water absorption should not be more than 20% of the weight of the brick. (immersed for 24hours)
10. The brick should not show white patches when soaked in water for 24 hours and dry in shade. Presence of white patches indicates the presence of sulphate of calcium, magnesium and potassium.
11. The brick should have low thermal conductivity which keeps the home cool in all weather.
12. Light weight and hollow bricks provide good sound insulation.
13.  Fire resistivity is another good quality of brick.