The first and the foremost thing you check is their appearance or size. They should be uniform in size with sharp edges and angles. The bricks must be smooth and rectangular in shape. This is because the accurate size and shape of the bricks ensures a neat work.
Good quality bricks are hard and well burned. One of the easy ways to assess the brick quality is to strike two bricks together. A hard ringing sound ensures that the bricks are strong enough for any ordinary work. Remember that a dull sound ascertains that the brick is soft or shaky.
The brick should not break when dropped from a height of 1m. When you drop a light-weight and a heavy brick from the same height, the heavier one is found to break more easily. So light-weight bricks are mostly preferred.
The other major thing you need to consider is the level of water absorption by the brick. Weighing the brick before and after immersing it in water for 24 hours, helps you to know the absorption rate. The average water absorption should not be more than 20% of the brick’s own dry weight. Good quality bricks absorb not more than 5% and hence are best suitable for foundation and outside walls.
When a scratch is made on brick surface with a finger nail, it should not leave any impression on the surface. This indicates that the brick is hard enough.
