There’s no better type of home for protecting against fire damage, than a brick one, and with the help of an experienced masonry contractor, you can build yourself a home that will protect you in the event of a house or wild fire.
What studies show about brick homes and fire
Recent studies have shown that homes with brick exteriors offer the highest level of protection against fire. Firefighters state that it takes around an hour and a half for a fire to breach a brick home, whereas a fiber cement home can be breached in less than an hour, and a vinyl siding or wooden home in a mere matter of minutes. When the Brick Industry Association (BIA) conducted an independent one-hour severe fire test, brick passed with flying colors.
Let’s look at the results of their test in a little more detail:
- Vinyl siding – a structure made with vinyl siding burned after just 18 minutes
- Fiber cement – this failed in under an hour
- Brick – it took an hour and a half for the brick structure to burn
Failure is deemed as being when the wall of the structure collapses, flame or hot gas penetrates the wall, or when the temperature rises to over 250 degrees or greater on the interior wall. For a strong, safe and sustainable home that stands a far greater chance of not being destroyed in a fire, it should be made from fired-clay brick.
Fired-clay brick
Tested to provide a minimum one-hour fire resistance irrespective of the backing material, fired-clay brick – unlike other exteriors that need to incorporate fire-resistant materials in their wall systems, has been recognized by ASTM E119, Standard Test Methods for Fire Tests of Building Construction and Materials and the International Building Code (IBC).
If you needed more proof that brick is the most fire resistant material to construct, you need only look at firehouses themselves, which always have brick exteriors. Brick helps slow the spread of a fire, which can mean the difference not just between saving property, but saving lives, too.
What makes brick so good at resisting fire?
Because fired-clay brick is made from abundant natural materials, it’s free from volatile compounds that won’t burn, melt or combust. In fact, the amazing fire resistance of brick, is why chimneys and steps are often the only things left standing after a home fire.
What makes brick homes effective during hurricane season
If you live in an area of the country that’s prone to hurricanes, studies show that brick also scores highest in moisture resistance, wind/storm protection, earthquake and tornado resistance, not to mention protection from wind-blown debris.
Ultimately, even if you don’t live in a region of the country that’s prone to hurricanes or wildfires, brick is an ultra-durable material to build a home from and since house fires can happen to anyone, at any time, it makes sense to construct a home from the toughest material that offers the highest level of protection.