How to properly line a wooden house with bricks? Cladding a wooden house with bricks: do it yourself How to brick a clay house
All photos from the article
No matter how good wooden house, its walls are much more susceptible to wear and tear than, for example, the walls of a brick building. Therefore, sooner or later there is a need for its cladding. One of the most reliable finishing options is lining the walls with bricks, which, in fact, is the subject of this article.
Below we will look at all the advantages and disadvantages of this solution, as well as the technology of how to properly line a wooden house with bricks.
When is cladding required?
Finishing a wooden house with brick may be required in the following cases:
- The house is built from low-quality wood and has an unpresentable appearance or its geometry is far from ideal.
- The building has a frame-panel construction. In this case, it can be designed in advance for this type of finish.
- The house is old and needs strengthening of the walls. This case is the most common.
Note!
Not every wooden house can be clad in this way.
To determine whether it is possible to line a wooden house with bricks, you should pay attention to eaves overhangs, under which a brick wall should fit.
In addition, it is prohibited to finish a building that has not yet shrinked.
Before covering a log house with bricks, you should find out the feasibility of this work. Will cladding a log house lead to a deterioration in the quality of the wood? Will the tree rot? These are the two main questions that usually arise for any owner of a wooden house.
A wooden house is faced with brick to strengthen, insulate, and make the structure more aesthetically pleasing.
Prerequisites for the work
If you have a house built from high-quality timber, its attractiveness is beyond doubt. Cladding work will only lead to unnecessary additional costs. The log house should be covered when a plank or frame building is built. It is especially advisable to carry out exterior finishing when the house was built a long time ago. Over time, the wood dries out, which causes cracks to appear. Brick cladding will not only improve the aesthetic properties, but also thoroughly strengthen the structure.
When covering a wooden house with siding, air access to the wood is blocked, which leads to its premature rotting.
Some “experts” claim that the log house of a wooden house can be made attractive by finishing it with siding. But this is completely wrong design solution. Using siding will not allow the wood to “breathe”. As a result, it will rot. Climatic conditions play an important role when cladding a log house. When cold winter or wet weather prevails in the region, it is imperative to clad a wooden structure with brick. Firstly, it will increase the thermal insulation and sound insulation properties of the building. Secondly, the service life of a wooden house will increase.
Return to contents
Types of facing bricks
Bricks for cladding a house are characterized by a huge range and perfect quality surfaces. There are four main types of finishing materials:
- silicate;
- ordinary ceramic;
- hyper-pressed;
- clinker.
Varieties facing bricks: silicate, ordinary ceramic, hyperpressed, clinker.
To make sand-lime bricks, lime, sand and a minimum amount of special additives are used. It rightfully belongs to the facing materials. But it is best used for interior decoration walls and when creating interior partitions. Sand-lime brick has excellent sound insulation properties. At the same time, this finishing material has low frost resistance and thermal insulation.
The most common method of cladding a log house is to use ordinary ceramic bricks. This material has:
- long operational period;
- excellent thermal insulation qualities.
The only drawback of ceramic bricks is their high absorption of moisture, which can destroy the finishing material. For this reason, the created brick wall must be covered with a special water-repellent composition.
The production of hyperpressed bricks is based on sand-cement mixture, to which stone chips, expanded clay, limestone and slag are added. The facing material is characterized by plasticity, good thermal conductivity and low vapor permeability. A significant “minus” is the appearance of microcracks, which can increase under the influence of a humid environment.
Clinker brick is the most expensive material for finishing the log house. It is made from clay High Quality, which contains special additives and is fired. Basic positive features clinker bricks:
- strength;
- long operational period;
- low moisture absorption.
The disadvantage of the material is increased thermal conductivity, which causes additional thermal insulation work.
Return to contents
Preparatory work
This stage involves a thorough inspection of the foundation and floor beams of a wooden house.
A solid buried foundation, created below the freezing level of the soil, is the main requirement when facing a wooden house with brick.
To cladding a house with bricks, you first need to strengthen and expand the foundation of the house.
The walls of the log house do not bear a huge load. For this reason, in most cases, an insufficiently strong foundation was laid for the house. When finishing a building with brick, the load on the base will increase significantly. The foundation inspection is carried out as follows. A hole is dug using a drill. The depth and features of the foundation are determined. Often rubble stone was used as a foundation under old buildings. In this case, you will have to create a reinforced belt around the entire perimeter of the building. Its width should exceed the dimensions of the future brickwork.
The expansion of the base is accompanied by the installation of an additional layer of waterproofing. For these purposes, roofing felt is usually used, laid in 2-3 layers. And only after this the new foundation is poured. Before cladding the house, special attention is paid to the beam floors. This is especially true for old buildings whose beams may have cracked or become moldy. If you have outdated, dilapidated beams, it is better to do a full renovation load-bearing structures. All wood must be treated with an antiseptic and compounds designed to counteract negative influence mold, mildew, insects, fire and damp environments. The quality of ventilation between the beams must also be checked.
To cover a log house with bricks you will need following materials and tools:
- concrete mixer;
- brick (50 pcs/1 m²);
- metal pins (10 pcs/1 m²);
- sand;
- cement;
- wood;
- buckets;
- roofing felt;
- antiseptic for wood processing;
- grinder with a disc for stone;
- Master OK;
- pick;
- level;
- plumb line;
- rule;
- roulette;
- wooden slats;
- fishing line;
- nails;
- axe;
- wooden pegs;
- a tool designed for cutting seams.
Return to contents
Technology of brick cladding of a wooden house
At the initial stage, precise measurements of the angles of the structure being created are carried out. A fishing line is stretched along the walls of a wooden house. Wooden pegs are used to secure it. The fishing line is located from the walls of the building at a distance exceeding 1 m. This is the only way to qualitatively create angles equal to 90º.
Scheme for facing a wooden wall with bricks: 1-vapor barrier, 2-load-bearing wall, 3-thermal insulation, 4-fiberglass or metal connections, 5-facing brick.
The accuracy of the angles is checked by applying fishing line to opposite corners in a diagonal direction. If the distance along the diagonals is equal, then the location of the corners is marked correctly. To determine the outside of the brickwork, the fishing line is placed above the base of the foundation. The next stage is verification vertical level location of future walls. To do this you should use wooden slats and level.
If the logs interfere with the brickwork, they must be cut off with an ax. The most common technology is cladding a log house to a thickness equal to half a brick. The standard distance from log walls to brickwork should be within 20 cm. The width of the brick is 12 cm.
The gap obtained between the stone and the wood serves as ventilation duct. This will prevent moisture from appearing under the facing material. During masonry work, it is imperative to create ventilation holes at a distance of 3 m from each other. To prevent insects from getting into the holes, they are covered with a fine mesh. If there is an uneven base part, leveling the surface is carried out by applying concrete mortar. Strip foundation the entire perimeter is covered with roofing felt. The brickwork should not be in direct contact with the base.
Laying the facing material on the log house is done using a fishing line, level and rules. After passing two or three rows, you should move a little to the side and use a plumb line to check the correct vertical position of the wall being built. After the cement has set, it will be difficult to carry out any work to eliminate inaccuracies in the masonry. To achieve maximum stability of the brick, you should use a special welded mesh for masonry work.
When doing half-brick masonry, a mesh is simply necessary. Its installation is carried out in increments of 4-8 rows of bricks. The mesh should not protrude beyond the outside of the finishing material. It is covered with a small layer of concrete mortar. The mesh should not be an obstacle to the seam cutting process.
Mineral wool, which is located between the timber of the house and the facing brick, is perfect for insulation.
You should immediately take care of additional insulation Houses. For these purposes, mineral wool, which is attached to wooden structure. The presence of a fibrous structure in the insulation leads to an improvement in the natural ventilation properties of the structure, which is the key to the safety of the wood and its resistance to rotting. Maximum stability brick wall when cladding a log house, it is achieved by using galvanized metal pins. With their help, the brick wall being built is securely connected to the wall of a wooden house.
The pin fastening pitch is:
- horizontal direction – 1 m;
- in the vertical direction - every 4 rows of timber (or logs).
Joining the seams between the laid bricks requires the presence of a small depression up to 1 cm deep. It is designed to prevent destruction of the masonry as a result of moisture. Masonry work are held in sunny weather. After they are completed, the erected wall is covered with plastic film.
Every developer, sooner or later, thinks about exterior decoration of your home.
Modern capabilities of this segment construction market, truly limitless. This includes plaster, plastic siding, wall boards, and cladding. facade tiles, or variations thereof.
But, until now, brick remains one of the most popular facing materials. Consumers have always associated brick with reliability and durability.
And the variety of its colors, textures, standard sizes, and types of masonry allows you to obtain building facades that are wonderful in design. If you impose an old house brick, then a dilapidated building will turn into a modern and stylish one.
What brick to cover the house with?
Regardless of the material from which the facing brick is made, it must meet the following requirements:
- Correct shape geometry
- Clear edges
- Uniform color
- There should be no cracks or delaminations on the surface
- Frost resistance: F25, F35, F50, where the numbers indicate the number of cycles of alternating thawing/freezing, during which the products show no signs of visible damage, and the reduction in compressive strength does not exceed 20%. Products with frost resistance F25 are used in the southern regions of the country, F35 – suitable for central Russia, F50 – for more northern regions
- Water absorption – no less than 6%
If you read the manufacturer's annotations, you will remember the proverb: every sandpiper praises its swamp. Those who produce ceramic bricks extol its characteristics in every possible way and belittle the advantages of silicate bricks. And vice versa. This is understandable - competition. What do the facts say?
1. Ceramic brick – clay filler. The technology for its preparation is more complex and time-consuming than that of silicate, which is why it is more expensive. The price of one brick ranges (depending on texture, shape, color) from 10 to 25 rubles. Its positive properties:
- Water absorption – from 6 to 14%. GOST allows you to increase this indicator depending on the type of clay used.
- Frost resistance - F25, F35, F50. For clinker products this figure is 100.
- Low thermal conductivity – 0.3 – 0.5 W/m°C
- A large selection of standard sizes, textures and colors of products, which allows you to cover not only walls, but also columns and arches.
- Density – 1300 – 1450 kg/m3, clinker – up to 2100 kg/m3. This indicator is important for calculating bearing capacity foundation.
2. Sand-lime brick. Filler quartz sand. The cost of the product varies from 7 to 16 rubles. Its properties:
- Water absorption – 6-8%.
- Frost resistance – from 15 to 50 cycles, depending on the manufacturer.
- Thermal conductivity - from 0.38 to 0.7 W/m °C
- Large selection of textures and colors finished products.
- Density – 1500-1950 kg/m3.
A comparative analysis of the characteristics shows that both types of facing bricks have positive and negative properties. Ceramic products are superior in density (with the exception of clinker versions) and thermal conductivity. Not as radically as is commonly believed, but still.
Therefore, if it is necessary to increase the thermal conductivity of a house (this applies more to building structures made of cinder block, brick, etc.), or when cladding an old house to reduce the load on the foundation, then ceramic products are used.
But sand-lime brick more affordable in price, has best characteristics for sound insulation and absorbs moisture worse. The color scheme and texture of the products are not very different, but ceramic products have a much larger choice. The quality of finished products directly depends on the integrity of the manufacturer.
3. Bricks that are made using semi-dry hyperpressing technology. For example, products from the Bassoon brand, with shell rock fillers. With other indicators almost equal to ceramic brick, it has frost resistance of up to 100-150 cycles and increased density. Price from 17 to 38 rubles. per product.
Cladding a house with bricks
For various reasons, developers clad their houses. This includes the desire to protect the wooden walls of the building, insulate it, or give a “second life” to old housing construction. There are many reasons, but you can only brick a house correctly once.
If a private owner wants to do this work with his own hands, then technological process you need to study carefully:
1. It is necessary to calculate the number of bricks required. Knowing the net area of the walls (the total area of the walls minus the area of windows and doors) and the fact that there are 51 products per 1 m2 of masonry, you can calculate the required number of bricks. This is necessary not only for drawing up an estimate, but also in order to understand how much brick you need to purchase at once, because ceramic products of the same color, but from different batches, may differ in shade.
2. If the house is made of timber or frame, then it is necessary to perform antiseptic treatment of the wood. It is advisable to do this twice, every other day.
3. It is necessary to strengthen the existing foundation, and fill in a new one. Bandaging the foundations is done as follows:
- Holes with a diameter of 12 mm, a depth of 100 mm are drilled into concrete, or 200 mm into brick, 100 mm below the top mark of the foundation with a downward slope of 15-20 degrees.
- Periodic reinforcement 12 mm is driven in there. It should stick out 150 mm.
- When the new foundation is poured (recommended thickness 30 cm), the anchors will remain in the concrete.
- Waterproofing is made of two layers of roofing material.
4. To cover a wooden house with bricks, and not spoil the wood - you need to arrange ventilation. The tree attracts moisture and rots, and the vents and air gap (30-40 mm) arranged (at the rate of 75 cm per 20 m2 area) create closed room conditions for the tree, which allows wooden structures serve almost forever. The vents must be covered with a rodent net.
5. Now, in fact, the brick finishing of the house begins, with the obligatory dressing of the cladding and walls of the house. If the house is made of timber, then the nail is driven into top part logs, closer to the seam between them, at an angle of about 45 degrees. The wire (soft, in two folds, 3 mm thick) is wrapped around a nail, which is then pressed or bent.
The wire is drawn straight to the middle of the brick, and then to the sides by 20 cm. And so on around the entire perimeter, in increments of 50 cm. It is not necessary to do everything in one row. Connections can be scattered over the wall area. If the house is frame or made of wooden bricks, then nails 100-120 mm long are suitable for dressing. If the house is block, then clamps are used for bandaging.
6. When facing with ceramic products, the finished masonry is often covered with efflorescence (whitish stains). It is generally believed that this may be due to the ingredients in the solution. To avoid this, professionals advise preparing a solution from special dry mixtures. Or buy Portland cement without additives.
Foreign builders suggest doing masonry with cement-lime mortar, since, in their opinion, lime neutralizes the effect of alkalis. Mix 1 part of Portland cement grade 500, two parts of lime paste and 8 parts of sifted sand. Our builders have the opposite opinion.
7. Masonry is carried out from the bottom up, its verticality is constantly checked with a plumb line. The seams are made no more than 10-14 mm thick. For better ventilation, the masonry is not brought to the eaves of the building by 1 row.
A house lined with brick will bring you satisfaction for many years with its appearance and quality of the material.
Useful video on cladding:
Building a house from one brick in our climate is not the most best idea: its thermal conductivity is too high, which is why the walls must be thick. But using it as a finishing material is already more economically justified: facing a house with bricks, with proper insulation, will help you save on heating costs, and will give the building a “major” appearance. If the walls are made of foam blocks or other light and warm building blocks, then such finishing will also be windproof. Wooden houses are also covered with bricks, but in this case there are some peculiarities: it is necessary to ensure the removal of vapors from the wood, otherwise mold, mildew and expensive repairs with a complete overhaul of the finish will occur.
Which brick to use
Facing bricks are produced according to different technologies, thanks to which he has different characteristics and prices:
- Ceramic. Of all the finishing materials, it is the most inexpensive. One of the disadvantages is high hygroscopicity: 6-15% depending on the technology and batch. When water gets into the pores, it expands when it freezes, causing destruction and the brick begins to crumble. Even the special finishing one, in which in factories the bed (the part that ends up outside) is specially protected. The solution is to cover the wall with a hydrophobic compound after installation. Only those that do not form a vapor-proof film. When choosing, pay attention to this: excess moisture must be removed. Frost resistance of ceramic facing bricks is 25-75 cycles (how many times it can withstand freezing/freezing without deterioration). The higher this indicator, the higher the price. This is explained by high production costs.
- Hyper-pressed or non-firing. This type of facing brick is produced not by firing, but by pressing. It no longer contains clay, but lime with various fillers and pigments. The possibility of using pigments allows you to obtain a wide color scheme. The front surface is often nonlinear, simulating wild stone. Looks decorative. But such nonlinearity threatens delamination: uneven surface, water flows more abundantly into the pores and freezes in cold weather. This is treated in the same way as in the case of ceramics: hydrophobic impregnation. The frost resistance of high-quality unfired bricks is stated by manufacturers to be from 75 to 150 cycles.
- Clinker. This brick is also ceramic, but special technology gives it very high strength and density. Denser material absorbs water much worse. This is good for use, but during laying it leads to difficulties: in order for the wall not to “float”, it must be laid on a hard, low-plasticity mortar, and it is more difficult to work with. Another disadvantage that limits the wide distribution of a material with excellent characteristics is that it is expensive compared to previous materials: prices are 50-150% higher, depending on the manufacturer. Frost resistance of clinker is from 100 to 150 cycles. Clinker cladding of a house with bricks is not a cheap pleasure, but it is the most attractive in appearance.
- Silicate. The cheapest, but also the most “quickly deteriorating” of facing bricks: its frost resistance is 25-50 cycles. It conducts heat better. Not much, but still: the average thermal conductivity of ceramic is 0.16, silicate is 0.18. In addition, it is heavier: on average, the weight of ceramics is 2.4 kg, silicate of the same size is 3 kg. More weight requires a more powerful foundation and the price gain (silicate is cheaper) is not so great. If you consider that heating costs will also be higher, then the gain is questionable. It is advisable to cover a house with sand-lime brick in warm regions. In the northern regions this is completely unprofitable.
Cladding a house with sand-lime brick is the most inexpensive, but, unfortunately, also the most short-lived type of finishing.
Choosing the type of brick is not everything. It is also necessary to pay attention to the size and shape of the holes. Full-bodied finishing brick rarely used: costs more, weighs more. On average, voids occupy about 28%, but they can be large and small. Given equal characteristics, give preference to bricks with small holes: the mortar will not flow into them. This will reduce consumption masonry mortar, and the strength of the masonry will increase.
If you decide to clad the house with hyper-pressed brick, it should be made no earlier than 15-20 days ago. During this time, it gains basic strength (about 80%) and can be transported and loaded without fear.
Please note that the brick packaging should not be exposed to water during storage. This is especially true if you are planning to leave it for the winter.
How to cover a wooden house (timber, log, frame) with bricks
The most difficulties arise when finishing a wooden house with bricks: the materials have very different characteristics, and it is not easy to make a good bond out of them. The whole secret here is the need for a ventilation gap between the cladding and the insulation layer, which is usually placed on a wooden wall. A windproofing membrane is laid on top of the insulation. A prerequisite is that it must be vapor-permeable (Izospan A, Izospan AS, Tyvek HouseRep, Megaizol SD, etc.). Only under such conditions will there be normal humidity in the room and rot and fungus will not develop between the cladding and wooden wall.
Instead of windproofing, you can protect the insulation surface with fiberglass or fiberglass. If the wooden walls are sufficiently thick, the thermal insulation layer is simply absent; wind insulation and ventilation gaps remain.
The ventilation gap must be at least 60 mm. It stretches from the very bottom of the wall - it starts after the base - and to the top. To ensure air flow, ventilation ducts are made in the first row through which air enters. Exit holes are installed under the roof in the eaves. The area of ventilation holes is 75 cm2 for every 20 m2 of wall. The vents in the bottom row can be made in several ways:
- lay a brick with through holes on its side;
- partially fill the side seams with mortar (when laying the mortar, place a ruler, then remove it);
- make two or three holes and install gratings.
Regarding what kind of insulation to use. The most acceptable option is mineral wool in mats or rolls. The use of polystyrene foam or expanded polystyrene is undesirable: they do not conduct steam. This will lead to the wood rotting, and indoor humidity will be higher than normal.
Another important point: You can cover a wooden house with bricks only after the main shrinkage of the frame has taken place. And this is at least 1.5-2 years. In this sense, it is easier with old wooden houses: the main processes have taken place in them.
Pros and cons of a wooden house lined with brick
The combination of materials so different in all characteristics is a complex and completely ambiguous matter. The positive aspects include:
There are enough negative points:
In general, this is not an ideal solution. If you are still planning your house, think twice. Maybe it would be better to build them and then cover them with bricks. These materials coordinate much better and complement each other's qualities. It is worth covering a wooden house with bricks if the house is old, the wood has darkened, and it is necessary to give it a more attractive appearance.
Wall cladding technology
First, the wood is treated with a protective impregnation for outdoor use. Then the sheathing is made of planed timber (also impregnated). The dimensions of the timber depend on the required thickness of the thermal insulation layer. Typically, for Central Russia, the thickness of basalt wool is about 50 mm, for more northern regions from 100 to 150 mm. But specifically, everything is calculated depending on the thickness of the wall (made of timber or logs) and the brick chosen for cladding.
The insulation is laid very tightly, without gaps: the sheathing is padded taking into account its width. The distance between the bars should be a couple of centimeters less than the width of the insulation. This way the material will be laid with force. It will fit tightly to the sheathing, which will minimize the formation of cold bridges.
Example brick cladding walls of a wooden and frame house
Lay on top of the insulation windproof membrane. It must be vapor permeable, and if the vapor permeability is one-sided, then moisture must be removed from the room. Fasten the membrane with staplers to the sheathing. Next, leave a gap for ventilation of at least 60 mm and install a wall made of facing bricks.
How to do it right
There are several subtleties that you need to know. The house is usually covered with half a brick. Without support, the wall becomes shaky, especially when large areas. To make it stand firmly, it is tied to a wooden wall. There are two ways:
Single dressings should be located over the entire surface of the wall. There are different recommendations - at a distance of about 50 cm from one another or 4 pieces per square meter.
If you are planning to cover a house with bricks with your own hands, problems may arise with the horizontal and vertical position of the masonry. The following technique can help, allowing you to simultaneously control all directions:
- Long pins are driven horizontally into the corners of the house under the roof and above the base. They should protrude from the wall to a distance greater than the entire thickness of the finish.
- At one corner, a wire is tied to the upper pin at a distance corresponding to the outer edge of the masonry and lowered down, movably fixed to the lower nail.
- A plumb line is used to check and set its verticality and firmly fix it.
- Also, a vertical wire is tied at the same distance at the other end of the wall.
- Tied between two stretched strings horizontal cord. It will serve as a guide during laying: it can be moved upward as the rows are laid. Just every time you need to check the horizontalness using a level.
All of the above applies to frame houses. They also require a ventilation gap. The situation is similar: on the outside there is a material that conducts moisture much worse than those located inside. In this case, only wire or strips of tin for bandaging are attached to the frame posts.
To reinforce or not
In general, reinforcement makes the wall stronger and more reliable. Therefore it is better to reinforce. But this complicates and slows down the laying, which leads to an increase in the cost of work (if craftsmen were hired).
If you do it yourself, then you need to lay rows with reinforcement approximately every 5th row. A special mesh with a cell size of 50-50 mm or two longitudinal reinforcement bars with a diameter of 6 mm are used as reinforcement. At the same time, the size of the seam, both with and without reinforcement, should be the same.
The brick cladding of a house was filmed “live”, the laying technique was “under the rod”. The seams turn out beautiful, but water flows into them, which is then absorbed by the brick. Therefore, the seams cannot be left in this form. They must be filled with mortar and embroidered in the same plane as the surface of the brick. Then the absorption of water during bad weather will be significantly reduced, and the “life” of brick wall cladding will increase significantly. The laying process itself is demonstrated correctly: the mortar is laid carefully, and any drops that fall on the surface are immediately wiped away.
Facing a house with bricks made of aerated concrete, foam concrete and gas silicate
The vapor permeability of cellular concrete is also higher than that of brick. That is, the situation is exactly the same: inside the room there is material that removes vapors better. Therefore, to ensure a normal microclimate in the room and a long service life, a ventilation gap between brickwork and walls and foam blocks.
If you line a house made of aerated concrete (foam concrete, aerated silicate) with bricks without a gap, its service life will decrease by about 60%: condensation will accumulate at the boundary of the two materials. At low temperatures frozen moisture will destroy the shell of the bubbles, gradually destroying the entire material and significantly worsening its characteristics.
Cladding options aerated concrete house bricks and their characteristics
Additional insulation materials are used very rarely; if they are still needed, all the rules are the same as for cladding a wooden house: basalt wool, protected by wind insulation.
The size of the ventilation gap is from 60 to 150 mm. Number of connections between two walls: at least 3 pieces per square meter of masonry, their cross-section is at least 5 mm 2 per 1 m 2. For connections, you can use screw or stainless steel nails with a length of at least 120 mm. They are driven not perpendicular to the wall, but at an angle of at least 45°. You can use galvanized strips with perforations, which are nailed on one side building blocks, and the second end is inserted into the brickwork, where it is bent at an angle. Note: connections should not be embedded in the masonry joints of the main wall. Only nailed to the front surface of the blocks.
The best cladding for walls made of aerated concrete and foam concrete is brick with a ventilation gap
Slag or slag-pouring house
Brick cladding in the case of buildings using slag is used more often when cracks spread along the walls. This happens mainly when the slag has exhausted its resource and begins to crumble. On average, its service life is 50 years, it is reduced if the humidity of the walls is high.
Brick cladding of a cinder block (cinder block) house will only delay the inevitable: it will slow down the destruction, but will not stop it. The duration of the delay depends on the condition of the material and the measures taken. On average he is 8-15 years old. It is hardly possible to do without consulting a specialist: the cost of a mistake is too high.
In most cases, it is recommended to build a frame around the house, on which to transfer part of the load of the floor and roof, and carry out waterproofing work. One of which is the external protection of walls from precipitation using brick cladding. The brick is selected with the lowest water absorption. For greater protection, the masonry can be impregnated with a hydrophobic compound (but does not create a vapor-proof film). Penetrating hydrophobic impregnation of the main wall will not be superfluous. To do this, you can use impregnations such as “Penetron” and analogues. They will simultaneously strengthen the material and significantly reduce water saturation.
Watch the video about the practice of facing old buildings with bricks.
About choosing suppliers and prices
Prices for the same materials vary greatly depending on the region. To correctly assess the situation, you need to conduct your own market research: call or visit the largest suppliers, look at offers in the region online. During the call, you need to get technical data and find out prices. Then compare the characteristics of the brick and compare the prices.
What can I advise: do not buy materials that are too cheap. If the difference from the average market price is 15-20%, most likely these are last year’s remnants of a not very successful batch. For the rest, look at the ratio of price and declared characteristics.
Average prices in Moscow are as follows:
- silicate facing brick - 11-21 rubles/piece;
- ceramic facing - 18-35 rubles/piece (full-bodied 45-65 rubles/piece);
- hyperpressed non-firing - 25-31 rubles/piece;
- clinker - 27-40 rubles/piece.
After selecting several possible suppliers, look at their products in person. Smooth edges, uniform coloring, absence of cracks and any defects - this is what you should see.
About batch sizes. It is advisable to purchase the entire volume of material for cladding at once. This will help you save about 10-15%. Some suppliers offer large quantities to be delivered by dump trucks directly from the factory. This is cheaper and eliminates additional overload, which means less combat.
Another advantage of purchasing in bulk is that there will most likely be only one batch, which guarantees uniform coloring. In any case, facing a house with bricks is carried out from several packages at the same time. So even slightly different shades will not create color spots.
For finishing country houses apply various materials and technologies - plaster, siding, lining and others. But along with these classical ways to decorate and protect the facade of the cottage, the house is faced with brick, and it is used not only for buildings made of stone, but also for wooden buildings. And if brick goes well with stone or concrete, then when cladding wooden cottages one must take into account that violation of technology leads to a lot of problems - from increasing the level of humidity in the house to the formation of fungus on the walls and their destruction. Therefore, before starting such work, make sure. that you really know how to brick a wooden house correctly, and without consequences in the future.
Does a wooden house need brick cladding?
The compatibility of a wooden house and brick cladding quite naturally worries owners of wooden estates, because in their structure wood and brick are completely different materials.
Although brick itself is an excellent building material, building an individual residential building from this element alone, especially taking into account our climate, is not the best best option. Because artificial stone has high thermal conductivity, and it is for this reason that the outer walls must be thick enough. But using it as a facade lining of a wooden frame is already more profitable and effective method. With proper insulation, this method will help to significantly save on heating costs and give the building a clear view of a permanent structure. Therefore, along with modern plaster mixtures, PVC cladding and lining, brick cladding is very often done.
However, when constructing such reliable protection Some nuances need to be taken into account. For example, physical properties wood or the specifics of using vapor barrier.
If the technology is followed, a vapor barrier and insulation are laid between the brick and wooden walls
An incorrect approach to combining materials can cause certain difficulties: from increased humidity in the premises to fungal damage to wall elements. And this will eventually lead to the destruction of the frame. Therefore, it is important to entrust the execution construction work qualified specialists.
Pros and cons of a wooden house lined with brick
The need to combine completely different in all parameters building materials– the work is responsible, and not everyone is capable of such a task. Therefore, it is worth thoroughly weighing the advantages and disadvantages of such a solution before coming to final conclusions about the advisability of facing a house with brick.
TO positive aspects The following factors can be included:
Improving the appearance of the building. If the house is made of gas or foam concrete, then it needs cladding in any case - for protection from moisture and simply for beauty. But wooden houses are built precisely because of their original appearance, which many would consider blasphemy to cover with brickwork. However, if the building is old and has lost its visual appeal, then in this case, facing the house with brick will not hurt, the photo below is an example of such a case.
If the boards of a wooden house are darkened and weathered, then brick cladding will hide all the flaws
Reducing the likelihood of fires. In fact, this is not such an important argument, because many wooden houses have been standing for decades. In addition, in the vast majority of cases, fires start from the inside.
Significant reduction in building heating costs. But this is only possible when using high-quality insulation - otherwise there will be no noticeable effect from decorative wall It's unlikely to be achieved with brick.
The wooden frame is perfectly protected from the damaging effects of precipitation. This is a fairly serious argument in favor of cladding - unlike siding and similar coatings, the strength of brickwork is much higher.
There are also plenty of disadvantages:
Wooden buildings are characterized by some changes in size during their operation. Therefore, a rigid connection to the brickwork is not made - facing material and the wooden frame must be independent of each other, and this is a rather complex technical task.
Brick belongs to the category of heavy materials. Therefore, when facing a new house, it is necessary to calculate the foundation accordingly - both in width and load-bearing capacity. If the cladding is done to an old house, then the foundation will have to be strengthened.
If the foundation was originally designed for light walls made of wood or cellular concrete, then for an additional brick wall the foundation of the house will have to be strengthened
On our website you can find contacts construction companies who offer the service of exterior finishing and insulation of houses. You can communicate directly with representatives by visiting the “Low-Rise Country” exhibition of houses.
When constructing a residential building, in order to maintain an optimal microclimate, one must be guided by the rule: the vapor permeability of the building materials used changes from lower to higher values in the direction “from inside to outside.” If you use artificial stone to protect the log house, the situation will change in the opposite side. As a result, condensation accumulates in the insulation. In winter, it turns into ice and destroys the structure mineral wool. During the warm season, it creates comfortable conditions for the formation of mold and, as a result, rot. To avoid these consequences, façade ventilation must be installed.
In general, we can draw the following conclusion. Covering a wooden house with bricks is not the best optimal solution. If building a house is still only in plans, you should think carefully and weigh the pros and cons. Perhaps more rational decision We will build a structure from gas silicate blocks, and then work on the facade. Bricks and gas silicate blocks serve as a good complement to each other.
When building a house from blocks, brick finishing can be done parallel to the construction of walls
It is worthwhile to cladding a wooden house with bricks only if the building is old, the wooden frame has darkened, and you want to have a more attractive façade of the building.
Facing brick: features and varieties
Industry in production various types facing bricks uses completely different technological approaches. This affects the final cost of the product. It is often difficult for consumers to understand the huge range of artificial facade stones, so you need to know at least its main varieties.
Ceramic. Relatively cheap finishing material of this line. A rich color palette, a variety of various shades will not only significantly improve the facade of the building, but also lay out certain patterns. However significant drawback the product has high hygroscopicity. If water gets into the pores, then there is a high probability that at temperatures below zero the material will begin to crumble. After laying this façade element, the best way out will cover the wall with a water-repellent mixture (the main requirement is that such a composition does not form a vapor-proof film).
Non-firing (hyperpressed)– as the name implies, such bricks are produced by pressing. The main filler is lime, which is supplemented with various additives and pigments. The use of dyes helps to obtain a wide range color palette. The front surface of the product looks great, often imitating wild stone. However, it was not without its shortcomings. Although such a nonlinear surface looks decorative, it has a high probability of delamination. Due to the unevenness, water flows into the pores and hardens when frozen. Therefore, the use of hydrophobic impregnation will be very useful.
Clinker– this is actually the same ceramic brick. However, advanced technologies make it possible to obtain denser and more durable specimens. The components of the material practically do not absorb water. But it's not that simple. High performance characteristics during masonry result in some difficulties. A hard, low-plasticity solution is required, which is much more difficult to work with. Of course, judging by its appearance, this is probably the most attractive material, but it will cost the owners a pretty penny.
Silicate. The cheapest, but worst option for cladding. In addition, the product has a significant mass (15-20% higher than that of ceramics). This means more is required solid foundation. Taking into account the costs of pouring it, the benefits of the chosen method of lining the house with facing bricks are no longer so obvious.
The facing brick has a beautiful appearance, correct and optimal dimensions. The variety of textures and colors is amazing, so the buyer has plenty to choose from, taking into account personal preferences. If we are guided by functional considerations, then facing brick is the most advantageous material; it reliably protects wooden box from negative factors external environment, increases the thermal insulation of the entire structure and improves sound insulation.
Deciding on the choice of material is not everything. Close attention should be paid to the shape and size of the holes. A solid finishing element is rarely used due to its high cost and heavy weight. The voids themselves can be both large and small. Given the same parameters, preference should be given to products with smaller holes (the strength of the masonry increases, and the amount of mortar decreases).
There is a nuance when purchasing hyper-pressed bricks - you should definitely inquire about the date of manufacture, since it must be used no earlier than three weeks after manufacture (during this period it will become much stronger).
Video description
About diversity and possible combinations for facing bricks, watch the video:
How to choose facing bricks for your home
Before you start work, you need to decide on the type of brick. First of all, everything depends on the goals and objectives that the owners of the estates set for themselves. If the goal is to improve performance characteristics, even sand-lime brick will do. And if the façade is important to the owners and you want to add your own flair to the exterior design of the building, it’s better to go with clinker or ceramic. In the case when it is planned to use other materials after lining a wooden house with facing bricks Decoration Materials, you can use any brand of artificial stone. Only in this case do you need to take into account the additional costs of plastering or other finishing options.
Methods for lining a house with facing bricks
There are many methods for lining a house with bricks. Let us review just a few:
Path laying method.
Block method.
Cross version (similar to block).
Gothic masonry.
Chain (Brandenburg).
Messy styling.
Professionals master almost all methods, and, if necessary, can combine them.
How to cover a wooden house with bricks
The process of cladding a wooden house comes down to the following main points:
It is advisable to purchase goods in one batch (there may be a discrepancy in tone);
Before starting work, it is necessary to treat the wooden frame with a special compound;
If necessary, you need to strengthen the foundation or pour a new tape nearby;
Between brickwork and wooden frame there should be an air gap (thickness - 3-5 cm), if necessary, use insulation;
Laying must be done at positive temperatures (not lower than +5);
Before you start laying the first row, you need to level the base;
They start with the corners next to each other (height - 5-6 bricks). To ensure higher connection reliability, halves are not recommended artificial stone;
The lining is done along a cord that is pulled between two corners.
Video description
For a clear overview of the technology of facing a house with bricks, watch the video:
Conclusion
From all of the above, we can conclude that such rather complex work should be performed by professionals. After all, working even with simple brick quite difficult: you need some experience and skill. And the use of facing bricks requires even greater skills and responsibility.
