Clay masonry house walls

[scottiesei]

I am looking into designing a very small single family residence with clay masonry. The builder is wanting to use 4" brick. Right now I am just brain storming the problems that may come up and would like to have others input as well. So far one of the biggest things that is jumping out at me is the tie beam design. Doubt I could get a 4" to work. This house would be in Florida so no snow, but plenty of wind.

 

[UcfSE]

4" brick have small cores. Are you meeting the ACI max bar size and clearance requirements?

 

[scottiesei]

The all threads are post tensioned. They do not put grout in the cells. Splices are handled by couplers.

 

[concretemasonry]

Different clay brick have different core sizes, numbers of cores and core arrangements arrangements. There is no industry standard for 4" brick. The brick must be laid in running bond (at least 1/4 of the length as a lap of units in adjacent courses).

You may have trouble getting both the bond appearance and the core alignment. This could particularly be a problem at the corners where modularity and appearance can be critical. You could run into situation with 6" thick brick also unless you have 12" long brick.

You do not save any money trying to do it with 4" thick units even if you can get approval.

Dick

 

[scottiesei]

Good point about the corners. I'm still wondering about the tie beam though, any suggestions?

 

[concretemasonry]

I have seen this "system" attempted many times with clay brick, but I have never seen anyone trying a second time. Too many problems dealing with post tensioning such a thin (4") wall with little or no error when you consider the units, the rod sizes and the constructability. If couplings are used, the selection of brick is severely limited or may be zero. Roof anchorage in Florida could be an additional complication.

A similar system for 6" CMUs (plain or architectural) is very well thought out and developed. Because of the cost of materials(rods, couplings, etc.) and construction time, it has not replaced convential construction, but is worth looking at from an application and educational aspect. Google for "Superlite" and "Arizona" to get to the Superlite site that has a very good description of the system and many other products.

Superlite is ownwed by Oldcastle (a American company owned by Cement Roadstone of Ireland - CRH). They are by far the largest U.S. producer of concrete masonry units and are involved in many other construction materials in the U.S. and internationally. I believe they recently acquired the major concrete block producer in Florida, but I do not know if they are interested in promoting the system in Florida.

It might be worth your time to look at a similar proven system. The site oulines the concept, quality control and application possibilities.

Dick