Clay Block

Clay Block

What is block?

- A large solid piece of hard material, for example, rock, stone, or wood, typically with flat surfaces on each side.

What is clay?

-  A stiff, sticky fine-grained earth, typically yellow, red, or bluish-gray in color and often forming an impermeable layer in the soil.

Then what is clay block?

- A common material found in the Underground and surface along with dirt, stone and mud. It is pink-like color.

Clay Block Construction

The walls of fired clay blocks with 'glued' joints. 

Clay block construction is an extremely versatile and efficient way to build. Its excellent energy saving characteristics combined with the build quality and speed will outperform most other traditional aggregate blocks. The benefits are such that building with clay blocks has become the foremost method of construction in many European countries. Utilised on many commercial and domestic projects, clay blocks are suitable for single and multi storey applications.

Modern clay blocks are precision engineered walling units designed to be thermally and acoustically efficient. During manufacture clay is prepared with sand, straw or recycled materials, extruded, dried and fired. The addition of these other materials helps enhance their unique properties as they are burned off during firing leaving behind innumerable small holes and connecting pores. The air trapped within these pores helps retain heat and reduce sound transmission.

A clay block does not rust or warp and is resistant to fire and attack from insects. They require very little immediate or on-going maintenance and lend themselves to an array of final surface finishes. Although facing bricks or a modern wall cladding system are options, traditionally clay blocks are best finished with lime render to allow the building to 'breathe'.

Although the price of each unit is a little higher than other construction methods, when costs for materials and laying are taken into account clay blocks become an attractive, cost effective and realistic alternative to traditional brick and block cavity walls. In some cases using a clay block construction system can also help increase the overall value of the project in question.

Clay block construction projects are highly eco-friendly. The blocks themselves have less environmental impact during their manufacture than most other building materials, and the finished building offers very high insulation values.

Now I would like to share a few types of green building materials (blocks)

Clay brick

This is an unfired clay brick, commonly used in cobwork. They can be used for non-loadbearing walls or infills in lumber-frame constructions.

Hemp block

The base material of these blocks consists of fibers from the hemp plant mixed with sand and lime.

Compressed earth block

To make this block, clay, aggregates and water are pressed into a mold and dried. Traditional blocks of this nature, such as adobe blocks, were sun-dried, but modern versions are mechanically compressed.

Extruded earth block

This block is molded, or "extruded," into a continuous length in a machine, and then cut into smaller blocks.

Cob block

This sun-dried block is made from mud held together by straw, and is normally used to repair existing cob buildings.

Clay plasterboard block

As the name suggests, this type of block has been made from clay and recycled drywall. It uses a thin-joint mortar system and may be laid on its edge or on the flat for greater loadbearing strength.

Fired aerated clay block

Although these bricks are fired, their mode of manufacture uses a relatively small amount of energy, lowering their "embodied" carbon dioxide content.

Straw bale

Made from the dry stalks of cereal plants, such as barley and wheat, straw is an excellent insulator, and consequently a good material for blocks.