The truth is that building a brick house has a lot of advantages over a timber frame house. Moreover, it is resistant to storms, floods, and fire. Recent studies have shown that brick houses have excellent thermal efficiency since the bricks store heat and then radiate it into rooms during winter nights. Also, choosing bricks over the drywall can improve the sound insulation of the house. When you build a brick house the right way, you can enjoy it for many years as it is resistant to earthquakes and windstorms.
To build your brick house, you require the following:
Materials
- Gravel and fine sand
- Premixed concrete and cement
- Wooden boards
- Screws and nails
- Reinforcing bars
Tools
- Float – for finishing the concrete
- Circular saw and hammer – building formwork
- Concrete mixing – to mix concrete
- Carpentry pencil, spirit level, l-square
- Glasses and safety gloves
Building a Brick House – DIY Approach
The truth is that building your brick house is quite challenging. That is because the amount of work required is beyond your physical capacity. However, you can reduce the labor costs when you carry out certain tasks such as supervising the builders and ensuring the process is smooth. It is advisable to read more about building a brick house before you begin the project. In this way, you can avoid a lot of mistakes.
Building Brick House Foundation
Start by digging trenches for your concrete foundation. Remember that a brick house requires a sturdy foundation. In this case, you will need to install a rigid structure and deep trenches. It is advisable to consult an engineer to find the right depth of footings required.
After this, you should build a wooden form for a concrete foundation. In fact, before pouring the concrete, you need to use wooden boards to make the form and secure it. You can then pour your concrete foundation. Remember to keep the costs minimal. The foundation should be left to dry out for several weeks.
Building Brick Walls
To ensure your brick walls are straight, you can use a string as a guide. After laying bricks each low, you can raise the string. Ensure you leave a small space between bricks and then secure them with mortar. Remember to leave adequate space for door and window openings. In this case, you have to follow your house plan.
Finishing Your Brick House
Start by installing electric cables and water pipes into the brick walls. You have to create grooves in brick walls and then fit electric cables. After this, the cement render covers the groves and then secure pipes. It is advisable to mark the location of pipes and electric cables in a paper. This is necessary to avoid accidents when you drive screws into the walls.
You can also install an insulation layer of polystyrene sheets to improve thermal insulation. In this way, you can keep the costs under control. However, if you use efficient and quality bricks, you do not have to install an insulation layer. After this, you can apply your favorite texture paint. With the right techniques, the exterior can last many years.