Can I use discarded street stones as bricks to build up walls? Or is there something about them that make them improper for that usage and only good for flooring?
>>2887133Follow up, what’s the scrap price for railroad tracks?
>>2887133the difficulties would be that they are not ideally uniform, you want uniform bricks to minimize mortar for cost and strength.the other thing is setts are normally squareish, which makes bonding courses difficult.the answer really is yes you could but the difficulty depends on the type of wall. garden feature? sure who cares. 2 story house? good luck with building control.
>>2887154I was thinking 1 story tiny house or shed, being that this is the only reliable manner in which I can get blocks of stone in my country. No one builds with stone anymore, you can only ever get tiny crushed rocks for mixing with cement. Nice blocks of stone for building something akin to pic related is impossible unless you happen to run into an old structure being demolished
>>2887133Bricks for walls typically have "cores" i.e. holes in the brick, the purpose of which is for mortar to get caught in which interlocks the bricks once set. Cores can also be used to place reinforcing bars.Walls can be built without cored bricks/blocks but the lateral wall strength is significantly reduced.
>>2887133Aren't pavement stones tapered? Sort of muffin shaped, with the bottom being flat and smaller, the sides tapering outwards and the top rounded.You'd need a lot of mortar to hold them and depending on their orientation they'd fall out under pressure.Also they use particularly tough stones so your wall would be very heavy and it'd be a lot of work to break or cut smaller pieces.
>>2887133they use to use literal random rocks to make castles, I think you can make a wall with pavers
>>2887133since brick is only used as facade and isn't structural, go ahead and use whatever brick you want if it gives you the look you desire.
>>2889824>brick is only used as facadethat's a uniquely American phenomenon.
>>2890205For good reason.
>>2890205We call that block in the US. They're still built, but typically have rebar inside and get grouted with concrete poured inside. Its... a skill for sure. Makes all the MEP trades work a little harder, because we don't roto-hammer out channels for our pipes here. We usually place our pipes within the block before the concrete grouting.
>>2890394Clay blocks are not a product available on the American market. A tool as in pic related is used to cut the channels out. Same wouldn't really work on American style blocks because you would be severing the web, whereas the European blocks have a continuous cellular structure.
>>2890205>that's a uniquely American phenomenon.You know that we know that you're blatantly lying, right?
>>2890631Where else do they only use bricks for facade and not as structure?
>>2890606why would you cut slots in your structural material
>>2890647it just werks
>>2890673There is so much wrong in this corner.
>>2890694Care to explain?
>>2890606Clay blocks are 100% available in the US, they're just not very common.My house was a one-off 1950's build, and it has clay block walls bonded to a brick exterior.They're not used much anymore because while they do offer some insulation, they don't meet modern insulation standards. To get good insulation, you have to build a false wall inside or use exterior insulation, at which point you may as well just use solid-grouted concrete blocks which are cheaper and stronger.
>>2890205Mutts can only dream of this building quality.
>>2890864The only current US manufacturer I could find is Interstate with their "Atlas" bricks, and these differ in that they are meant to be exposed so they have a nice finish. Also their format is pretty much the same as a typical American CMU: hollow core with face webs, so they could not be used to install services by cutting channels.The European style blocks are made with a cellular structure and the clay has micropores which contribute to R-value. Something like a foot to 16" of wall thickness will meet EU thermal insulation requirements without additional insulation, but in Northern climates they opt for thinner walls + outboard insulation since the clay is susceptible to freeze/thaw damage, and of course for aesthetics. The great thing about these blocks is you get insulation and thermal mass in one
>>2889824>>2890205Why not both
