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This type of brick belongs to the most elegant and timeless facade materials. Clinker brick is very durable, resistant not only to mechanical damage, but also to chemical corrosion or fungi. Therefore, after the time of abuse of light technologies, it triumphantly returns to the favor of investors.
The Roman style, which mainly represents objects made of hewn stone, also assumes the presence of brick structures. The truth is that brick has been known since the beginning of our civilization: the Middle East, Mesopotamia, Egypt and Babylon discovered the benefits of brick and built buildings using bricks collected from mud and dried in the sun.
In the fourth millennium BC in Mesopotamia, the use of fired brick began, but due to the expensive and scarcely available fuel, this type of material was used only for the construction of significant buildings. Islamic culture boasted masterful use of decorative ceramics used in construction. Ancient Babylon was mainly based on brick construction. Ceramics are also widespread in the Far East. Chinese ceramic tiles, distinguishing the "fifth" facade of the building.
The nineteenth century already introduces the mass production of bricks, with the use of a brick press in the middle of the 19th century and the use of firing ceramics in kilns. Clinker brick, fired at 1100-1300 ° C, is dark red and resistant to weather conditions. Different sizes can be used for fancy decorated and characteristic outlined facades.
Still clinker brick price on which not so much was used mainly as a building material for structures. Along with a new approach to building physics and the use of wall insulation, the brick received a common denominator with strictly facade materials; became the timeless dress of a building of eternal elegance and undoubted durability. Innovations in the production of ceramic products have led to a surprising expansion of the assortment.
The building material obtained in this way is resistant to biological corrosion, fire-resistant and insensitive to frost. In order for a brick to be called a clinker, in addition to the characteristic sound (when two bricks hit each other, a high-pitched sound is heard, hence the name "Klingen" in German means "sound"), it must have: absorption less than 7%, compressive strength more than 30 MPa, frost resistance.
Other facade ceramic products are called face bricks. Hand molding with a rich color range and structure has conquered the construction market over the past dozen years. Ceramic facades returned to the favor of investors after the times of abuse of light technologies - wet or PVC siding. Despite the relatively high price, the properties of ceramics are convincing in their durability and lack of need for frequent care, not to mention the aesthetic value. Currently, we have, in addition to traditional, smooth bricks, corrugated, spotted, rustic, scratched or aged elements.
Price and aesthetic competitions for ceramics are facades made of silicate and concrete elements. Silicates are produced from natural raw materials: sand, lime and water. The process of combining lime and sand through saturated steam makes it possible to create an element that, after hardening, creates an "artificial stone" with properties similar to those of clinker, even from the point of view of frost resistance and high compressive strength. Due to the aseptic properties of lime, silicates have very good resistance to biological corrosion, but care must be taken to ensure proper impregnation. The critical zone is the plinth, and, as in any external partition, it requires special protection.
