Grout

Grout is a construction material used to embed rebars in masonry walls, connect sections of pre-cast concrete, fill voids, and seal joints (like those between tiles). Grout is generally composed of a mixture of water, cement, sand and sometimes fine gravel (if it is being used to fill the cores of cement blocks). Sometimes color tint is applied as a thick liquid and hardens over time, much like mortar.

It is also a component of mosaics. Although ungrouted mosaics do exist, most have grout between the tesserae. Main varieties include: tiling grout (either urethane, cement-based or epoxy), flooring grout, resin grout, non-shrink grout and thixotropic grout.

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Concrete

Concrete is a construction material composed of cement (commonly Portland cement) as well as other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate (generally a coarse aggregate such as gravel, limestone, or granite, plus a fine aggregate such as sand), water, and chemical admixtures. The word concrete comes from the Latin word "concretus" (meaning compact or condensed), the past participle of "concresco", from "com-" (together) and "cresco" (to grow).

Concrete solidifies and hardens after mixing with water and placement due to a chemical process known as hydration. The water reacts with the cement, which bonds the other components together, eventually creating a stone-like material. Concrete is used to make pavements, architectural structures, foundations, motorways/roads, bridges/overpasses, parking structures, brick/block walls and footings for gates, fences and poles.

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Brick

A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using mortar.

Bricks are used for building and pavement. In the USA, brick pavement was found incapable of withstanding heavy traffic, but it is coming back into use as a method of traffic calming or as a decorative surface in pedestrian precincts. For example, in the early 1900s, most of the streets in the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan were paved with brick. Today, there are only about 20 blocks of brick paved streets remaining (totalling less than 0.5 percent of all the streets in the city limits).

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Sand

Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.

As the term is used by geologists, sand particles range in diameter from 0.0625 (or 1⁄16 mm, or 62.5 micrometers) to 2 millimeters. An individual particle in this range size is termed a sand grain. The next smaller size class in geology is silt: particles smaller than 0.0625 mm down to 0.004 mm in diameter. The next larger size class above sand is gravel, with particles ranging from 2 mm up to 64 mm (see particle size for standards in use). Sand feels gritty when rubbed between the fingers (silt, by comparison, feels like flour).

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Papercrete

Papercrete is a recently developed construction material which consists of re-pulped paper fiber with Portland cement or clay and/or other soil added. First patented in 1928, it has been revived since the 1980s. Although perceived as an environmentally friendly material due to the significant recycled content, this is offset by the presence of cement.

The material lacks standardisation, and proper use therefore requires care and experience. Eric Patterson and Mike McCain, who have been ascribed with independently "inventing" papercrete (they called it "padobe" and "fibrous cement"), have both contributed considerably to research into machinery to make it and ways of using it for building.

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