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Most general building bricks are made of clay or calcium silicate. Others are made of concrete, pottery waste, clinker and even crushed and moulded cinders. This variation in brick making methods gives rise to an enormous variety of different types of bricks, few of which will all be available in the same area.

A more convenient way to classify bricks is by use. Here, four different types can be distinguished.

[edit] Common Bricks

These are general purpose bricks, used for such jobs as internal house walls and external walls which are to be rendered. Common bricks are usually roughly and unattractively finished and are also subject to frost damage. They should not be used for large areas of bare brickwork.

[edit] Face Bricks

More expensive than a stock brick, these are used wherever bare brickwork is to be left showing. Face bricks are available in various colours and textures, are well finished and have a fairly good resistance to water and frost. The mortar joints on face brickwork should always be finished off neatly with a pointing tool.

[edit] Load Bearing Bricks

These may be either face bricks or commons in appearance, but will conform to specified compression strengths and stress loadings. They are used, for example, where a load bearing internal wall has been knocked down and brick pillars are to be erected to support the steel joist put in its place to take the load.

[edit] Engineering Bricks

These are the hardest bricks of all and are made of clay, burnt at high temperatures in large kilns. They are designed to carry heavy loads and can also be used where exposure to the elements is likely to be a problem. The term does not apply to calcium silicate bricks, which are hard, but may not quite reach the specified strength and compression requirements of engineering bricks.

[edit] Stacking Bricks

A point to remember when stacking bricks is that they should all be stacked on edge, in opposing directions on each alternate row. Other wise, bricks could topple off the stack and damage their edges, expensive if the whole pile collapses.