Building Materials Bricks
Bricks are a hard, dense building material used primarily in housing. ... Today, Bricks are made of a compacted piece of clay, some sand and fired in a furnace. ... Bricks are also fire resistant, excellent insulators and non-toxic. ... In China, bricks were used to create the Great Wall of China and it managed to withstand most Mongol attacks and goes to show the durability of this material. Egyptian bricks were usually made by slaves, stamping mud and straw together while other slaves laid it into moulds and it was left to bake in the sun. ... This is the common way of making bricks and is even used today. Bricks these days are made from naturally occurring shale and fireclay with or without sand and other additives, it is then fired in a high-temperature furnace to obtain a ceramic bond. ... When laid for building, they are either placed longways (stretchers) or short ways (headers) and are adhered with mortar, comprised of lime and concrete with water added and may be laid in patterns to give a very appealing look.