Brick

This page is about bricks used for construction. For other types of brick please see Brick (disambiguation).

A brick is a ceramic block made of kiln-fired material, usually clay or ground shale. Clay bricks are form

This page is about bricks used for construction. For other types of brick please see Brick (disambiguation).

A brick is a ceramic block made of kiln-fired material, usually clay or ground shale. Clay bricks are formed in a mould (the soft mud method), or more frequently in commercial mass production by extruding clay through a die and then wire-cutting them to the proper size (the stiff mud process). Brick made from dampened clay must be formed in molds with a great deal of pressure, usually applied by a hydraulic press. These bricks are known as hydraulic-pressed bricks, and have a dense surface which makes them highly resistant to weathering, and thus suitable for facing work. The shaped clay is then dried and fired to achieve the final, desired strength. In modern brickworks, this is usually done in a continuously fired kiln, in which the bricks move slowly through the kiln on conveyors, rails, or kiln cars to achieve consistent physical characteristics for all bricks. Bricks are also known in the building trades as compressed earth blocks or CEBs.