Well, let me tell you about these here bricks, you know, the things they build houses with. I’ve seen a whole lot of ’em in my day, all sorts of sizes, like apples and oranges, some big, some small. They call it a brick sizes chart, sounds fancy, but it ain’t nothin’ but a way to see how big them bricks are.
Now, in America, they got what they call a “standard” brick. That means it’s kinda like the one most folks use. It’s about this long, see, maybe like the length of your hand, and then some. They say it’s 7 and 5/8 inches long, whatever that means. It’s also, you know, tall and wide, but not too much. Maybe 2 and 1/4 inches high and 3 and 5/8 inches deep, they say. Sounds like a lot of numbers, but it’s just a brick, you see?
But don’t you go thinkin’ that’s the only size brick out there. Oh no, there’s more bricks than fleas on a dog! Some places, they got bricks that are longer, some that are shorter, some that are fatter, some that are skinnier. It all depends on where you are and what they’re building, I reckon.
- Some bricks are long, like, maybe 8 inches or even more. They call ’em “engineer” bricks sometimes, or somethin’ like that. Fancy names for just bigger bricks, if you ask me.
- Then you got them skinny bricks, they ain’t much thicker than your thumb. They use them for pretty things, like on the outside of the house, to make it look nice.
- And there’s tall bricks, too. They use them for walls, mostly, I think. They gotta be strong, to hold up the roof and keep the wind out.
Now, when you put them bricks together, you gotta use that stuff they call mortar. It’s like mud, but stickier. And that mortar, it takes up space, see? So, when you’re figurin’ out how big your wall is gonna be, you gotta remember to add in the mortar, too. A standard brick with mortar might be a little bit bigger, maybe 198 millimeters long, 98 millimeters wide, and 98 millimeters high, if you’re usin’ them fancy metric numbers.
They got all sorts of names for these bricks, too, like “thin” bricks and “Titan” bricks. Sounds like somethin’ out of a storybook, don’t it? But it just means they’re different sizes and shapes. Thin bricks are, well, thin, and Titan bricks are big, I guess. Like a giant compared to a regular fella.
And let me tell you, these bricks, they ain’t light. A regular brick, it can weigh maybe 4 or 5 pounds. That’s like a small bag of sugar, you know? So, when you’re buildin’ a wall, you’re liftin’ a whole lotta weight. It’s hard work, I tell ya, not for the faint of heart.
They also got these rules about how much a brick can be off in size, they call it “dimensional tolerances”. Sounds like somethin’ a city slicker would say. But it just means that a brick ain’t gotta be exactly perfect, it can be a little bit bigger or a little bit smaller, and it’s still okay. They got this group, the ASTM, that makes up these rules. They say a brick can be off by a little bit, maybe 1/8 of an inch or so. But they don’t want them to be too off, or else the wall won’t be straight, and it might fall down, and that wouldn’t be good, would it?
So, that’s about all I know about brick sizes. There’s a whole lot more to it, I’m sure, but I ain’t no engineer, just an old woman who’s seen a thing or two. But if you’re gonna build somethin’ with bricks, you gotta know how big they are, or you’ll end up with a mess. And that’s the truth.
And remember, when they lay them bricks, they often do it in a pattern, like runnin’ bond. That just means they stagger the bricks, so the joints ain’t all in a line. It makes the wall stronger, they say. I don’t know about all that, but it looks nice, I reckon.
Anyways, that’s all I got to say about these here bricks. Hope it helps you understand a little bit more about ‘em. They ain’t just rocks, you know, they’re what makes our houses strong and keeps us safe from the wind and rain.
Now, they use different types of bricks for different things, I guess. I seen some used for walkways, some for fireplaces, some even for big fancy buildings in the city. Bricks are everywhere you look, once you start payin’ attention.
So, next time you see a brick wall, you just remember what I told ya. There’s more to them bricks than meets the eye. And that’s a fact.
Tags: [Brick Size, Standard Brick, Brick Dimensions, Brick Types, US Brick Sizes, Building Materials]
