Bolt-together building system for those with little experience

Klevabrick is a new low-cost buildingsystem, designed to help build homes with little to no prior building skills, thereby adding to the available methods of low-cost building.

The do-it-yourself building product requires significantly less labour and also eliminates the use of building mortar, exterior plaster, paint, reinforcing and wall chasing to install conduits. Klevabricks are manufactured by castingconcrete in laser-cut steel moulds, with each brick equal to 12 stock bricks, five maxi bricks or 1.7 hollow bricks.

They are specifically shaped and reinforced with a steelreinforcing, which facilitates bolting together to form the shape of a house or any building. Consequently, a house built using Klevabricks is resistant to wall cracks and less vulnerable to damage caused by earth tremors and adverse weather conditions. Further, the exact number of Klevabricks can be determined when building a house, wasting fewer building materials and making transport and delivery easier.

The outside walls of a house built using Klevabricks are off-shutter and the angular shape deflects rainwater off the wall. In addition, the overlap interface between Klevabricks makes the walls waterproof and, therefore, removes the need for cavity walls in high-moisture areas. The fire-resistant bricks are also cast in colour, obviating the requirement for painting or maintenance.

The Klevabrick system is aimed at people who have little or no building experience and is ideally suited to those who want to buy a house in kit form from a building materials merchant. Typical kit versions of a Klevabrick house include a 45-m² house, which uses 949 bricks; a 32-m² house, which uses 596 bricks; and a 43- m² house, which uses 795 bricks.

A typical Klevabrick kit house uses a raft foundation, while roofing can use galvanised sheeting or timber trusses and sheeting. Entrances and windows require specific doors and windows. Ceilings and facia also form part of a Klevabrick house.