Red Brick vs Fly Ash Brick: Which One is Better?
If you are planning to buy a new flat in an apartment or thinking to construct your own house, one of the main questions that come to your mind is which type of brick is better for construction the red brick or the fly ash one? The concerns regarding them become even more if you thought to purchase a house constructed with fly ash brick. Don’t worry, this article on red brick vs fly ash brick clear all your doubts.
We will discuss in detail about the differences between red brick and fly ash brick considering all the parameters like quality, durability, cooling, strength, price, etc.
Why most of the Construction Companies Nowadays using Fly Ash Bricks than Red Bricks?
It became a common sight nowadays to see an apartment being constructed with a fly ash brick rather than the regular red bricks. This is mainly because of a cost-cutting measure, properties, and easy availability of these new fly ash bricks.
To explain in detail, flay ash bricks are easily available when compared to red bricks that are usually prepared village sides in large brick kilns. In addition to that, breakage and handling of fly ash bricks are easy when compared to red bricks, which are prone to high breakage. Moreover, these bricks are a cheaper option, which acts as a cost-cutting measure in these increased prices of construction materials.
Also, due to their lightweight nature, fly ash bricks doesn’t add much weight to the supporting pillars and foundation if the apartment is of great height.
Differences between Red Brick and Fly Ash Brick
Cooling Effect
Everyone wants their house to be naturally cool and withstand all the weather conditions. Withstanding the heat and giving a natural cooling effect inside the house is an important point to consider if you are living in a tropical or sub-tropical climate.
In this case, the red brick outstands the cement brick as its capacity to withstand heat is naturally more. Even during the summers, you can really feel a certain level of natural cooling effect in your home. But, coming to the fly ash brick, it is not the case or cement bricks, as the house constructed using these bricks can be a little bit hotter inside.
Weight
Fly ash bricks are very lightweight and have a crisp shape making it easier while construction and handling, whereas the red bricks are a bit heavier and need to be handled carefully due to the high risk of breakage.
Strength
Many think that fly ash bricks lack their strength due to their lightweight. But its not true, fly ash bricks have equal strength as red bricks and are also highly durable.
Breakage and Wastage
Breakage and wastage of bricks is another important thing to consider. The compressive strength of the fly ash bricks is higher than the clay bricks, which makes it less prone to breakage, whereas red bricks tend to break a lot especially during transportation and handling.
Moisture Absorption
The more the moisture is absorbed more the dampness of the wall will be. Bricks made up of fly ash tend to absorb less water and moisture compared to that of red bricks, which makes the houses constructed with fly ash or cement bricks less prone to moisture absorption or dampness. At the same time, high quality red bricks also have a similar ability to resist the moisture absorption.
Sound Absorption
Both the red bricks as well as the fly ash bricks do well with sound absorption. However, in comparison, the fly ash bricks are more porous and have a good amount of air gaps which acts as an insulation to sound, thus preventing the echo. So Fly ash bricks are considered a bit superior to clay bricks.
Safety and Health Issues
Fly ash is a very fine material produced from the thermal power stations. Due to its fine powdered nature, it has a greater ability to get dispersed into the air. So, care should be taken while handling the bricks as the fine powder can enter in and may cause respiratory problems. Although many say there is no need to plaster the fly ash bricks, despite those words, it’s good to plaster those walls to avoid any dispersal of fine powder that occurs due to wear and tear of bricks.
Also, the fly ash contains many unhealthy components like mercury, cadmium, arsenic, silica, iron oxides, and more. But in manufacturing, most of the impurities are turned to nontoxic ensuring safety. So, it is always better to plaster the fly ash brick as well as buying from a reputable manufacturer.
Price
The price of fly ash bricks is comparatively lesser than red bricks. Red bricks are much costlier because of the laborious process that involves heating the raw clay bricks in a kiln. But coming to fly ash bricks, the fly ash is available as a waste product from the thermal power stations. Which is a lot cheaper.
Requirement of Cement, Time, and Labour
Even during the construction of the wall, requirement of cement is a bit lower for the fly ash bricks than the red bricks. Also, if the selected fly ash brick is of large-sized one then the time and labour required for the overall construction will also get reduced.
Eco-friendliness
Since fly ash bricks are made from the fly ash, which is a by-product of thermal power stations, it’s really good that we are using that material by processing and making it into bricks and avoiding the exposure of such harmful materials to the atmosphere.
By using fly ash as an alternative, we are reducing the use of red bricks which uses the fertile red soil and other natural resources in its manufacturing process that can lead to soil erosion and diminish natural resources.
Conclusion
If you have a good amount of money and want to construct a decent house without any doubts about your construction brick materials used just go for red bricks. If you want to save some amount of money in your construction and use it for future purposes, then you can opt for fly ash bricks.
Coming to the cooling, red bricks stand out. Regarding the quality, strength, and moisture absorption, both the red bricks and fly ash bricks are fine to use with a slight difference as mentioned above in our detailed comparison.
But the final note which we give is either red brick or fly ash, they are good to go if you buy from a reputable manufacturer in your region.
If you have any questions or doubts regarding red brick vs fly ash brick, leave a comment below.
