A comparative study into usage of concrete blocks and burnt clay bricks as walling materials

Abstract

The housing sector in Uganda is growing at a rapid rate and gone are the days of constructing temporary structures for majority of the people in urban areas. Most people are looking at constructing durable and economic houses and some of the things that contribute to these are the walling materials used. The walling materials in this study are concrete blocks and burnt clay bricks and we have evaluated them in terms of the cost of construction, time taken while constructing and their quality to determine which is the better option. The cost of construction is a major factor which influences one’s decision to construct and this can be predetermined by quantifying the materials used for construction. In this study, we constructed a square meter wall using concrete blocks and another using burnt clay bricks and determined the total cost of constructing and the total time taken while constructing. We also conducted compressive strength tests on the wall and the bricks/blocks individually and water absorption tests to determine which of the two had a better quality variation. From the results, it was observed that although concrete blocks are a more expensive option for construction, they have a better quality than burnt clay bricks which are still a good material for walling and therefore people who are seeking for less costly construction could opt for burnt clay bricks whereas those seeking to have quality long lasting building without budget restrictions could use concrete blocks. Also according to this study it was found that the construction time using concrete blocks was more than that using burnt clay bricks.