4 ms·

I see in this article no mention of a simpler interior wall material: brick (also used for exterior walls). At least where I live (southeastern Brazil), I don't

by cesarb 4y ago

I see in this article no mention of a simpler interior wall material: brick (also used for exterior walls). At least where I live (southeastern Brazil), I don't recall seeing drywall or similar outside of office buildings; every house or residential building I've seen uses brick (covered with mortar and painted) for both internal and external walls.

Moto7451 4y ago
In the Eastern US there are a lot of brick homes with drywall interiors. In my home there some walls with only a few centimeters between the brick and the drywall and in other places there is a full stud between the brick and the drywall. Even though this is not required (i.e. many offices are all sinter block or brick), this allows for easy finish electrical and the rest of the US building industry to be easily integrated into the building. For another contrasting example, I have a friend that moved to Germany and found out, like many Americans that have moved there, that you need a totally different skillset to install things into the wall. It's very common in Berlin to live in apartments where the walls are made of concrete. I helped her install a few light fixtures on a visit and boy did I wish I was dealing with mudded brick or drywall.
samwillis 4y ago
There are two factors that come into play with the plaster/render vs drywall choice: 1. Labour vs material cost, increasingly it's cheaper to drywall rather than render/plaster a wall. It's quicker, therefore if Labour is expensive, it works out cheaper. When you also look at running services the gap behind the drywall is useful and saves masses of time. 2. Insulation, both thermal and sound. The small air gap behind the drywall forms an additional layer of insulation.
Gatsky 4y ago
That's interesting. Are these walls insulated? Brick is a very durable finish, but it has certain disadvantages. It is labour intensive to lay. It requires more planning for passing electical and plumbing conduits. It also can have unfavourable energy efficiency characteristsics - the high thermal mass retains heat if in the sun, and then bakes the house at night.
- cesarb 4y ago
  > Are these walls insulated? As far as I know, no. But the brick most used here is a lightweight perforated brick (a quick web search found a site with some pictures: https://portalvidalivre.com/articles/949 https://portalvidalivre.com/articles/949), and I believe the air trapped within it does have some insulating properties. > It requires more planning for passing electical and plumbing conduits. Not as much as you'd think. The way I've seen it done is: first you put the bricks as normal, then you dig a trench in it for the conduit, put the conduit, and fill the rest of the hole with brick fragments and mortar.
csours 4y ago
Are homes there air conditioned? Is humidity a factor? Drywall basically requires air conditioning in humid places, brick does not. Lots of places around the world use cement construction blocks (aka cinder blocks) for all walls, interior and exterior due to durability and hurricane resistance.
- cesarb 4y ago
  > Are homes there air conditioned? Air conditioning is becoming more and more common, but the same kind of brick wall with mortar was already used back when ceiling fans were the most common cooling mechanism.

by cesarb 4y ago

Moto7451 4y ago

In the Eastern US there are a lot of brick homes with drywall interiors. In my home there some walls with only a few centimeters between the brick and the drywall and in other places there is a full stud between the brick and the drywall. Even though this is not required (i.e. many offices are all sinter block or brick), this allows for easy finish electrical and the rest of the US building industry to be easily integrated into the building. For another contrasting example, I have a friend that moved to Germany and found out, like many Americans that have moved there, that you need a totally different skillset to install things into the wall. It's very common in Berlin to live in apartments where the walls are made of concrete. I helped her install a few light fixtures on a visit and boy did I wish I was dealing with mudded brick or drywall.

samwillis 4y ago

There are two factors that come into play with the plaster/render vs drywall choice: 1. Labour vs material cost, increasingly it's cheaper to drywall rather than render/plaster a wall. It's quicker, therefore if Labour is expensive, it works out cheaper. When you also look at running services the gap behind the drywall is useful and saves masses of time. 2. Insulation, both thermal and sound. The small air gap behind the drywall forms an additional layer of insulation.

Gatsky 4y ago

That's interesting. Are these walls insulated? Brick is a very durable finish, but it has certain disadvantages. It is labour intensive to lay. It requires more planning for passing electical and plumbing conduits. It also can have unfavourable energy efficiency characteristsics - the high thermal mass retains heat if in the sun, and then bakes the house at night.

cesarb 4y ago
> Are these walls insulated? As far as I know, no. But the brick most used here is a lightweight perforated brick (a quick web search found a site with some pictures: https://portalvidalivre.com/articles/949 https://portalvidalivre.com/articles/949), and I believe the air trapped within it does have some insulating properties. > It requires more planning for passing electical and plumbing conduits. Not as much as you'd think. The way I've seen it done is: first you put the bricks as normal, then you dig a trench in it for the conduit, put the conduit, and fill the rest of the hole with brick fragments and mortar.

csours 4y ago

Are homes there air conditioned? Is humidity a factor? Drywall basically requires air conditioning in humid places, brick does not. Lots of places around the world use cement construction blocks (aka cinder blocks) for all walls, interior and exterior due to durability and hurricane resistance.

cesarb 4y ago
> Are homes there air conditioned? Air conditioning is becoming more and more common, but the same kind of brick wall with mortar was already used back when ceiling fans were the most common cooling mechanism.