DIY Brickwork

grumbler

woody7777 said:

What is that movement gap for?

Theoretically, for temperature expansions and contractions. In practice, it's also an artificial crack. If one part of the wall subsides differently, the entire wall is less likely to crack unpredictably.

Regarding the 'bricky' tool, I've got it and IMO it's really worth buying.

ETA: and for a wall at the end of the garden it's easier to make two short supporting corners on the sides instead of pillars.

stuart45

neilmcl said:

tacpot12 said:

woody7777 said:

Thank you for the link tacpot12. Have you used this tool?

I've not used the tool, but the videos do seem to show that even amateurs can get a decent result. I do quite a bit of DIY, but have never been good at bricklaying. If I had to build a wall from scratch it's the only way I would consider doing it.

A "decent" result would be pushing it. You simply don't get a decent mortar bond with this tool despite what the videos show. I've seen a few garden walls, my neighbour's being one good example, that have been built using the bricky tool and have failed within a year.

That's interesting. Never used one myself, but it could be the bricks don't get pushed down into the solid bed enough to get a decent bond.

grumbler

neilmcl said:

tacpot12 said:

woody7777 said:

Thank you for the link tacpot12. Have you used this tool?

I've not used the tool, but the videos do seem to show that even amateurs can get a decent result. I do quite a bit of DIY, but have never been good at bricklaying. If I had to build a wall from scratch it's the only way I would consider doing it.

You simply don't get a decent mortar bond with this tool despite what the videos show.

Why? If you work slowly, make a short strip of mortar, not a long one. Possibly, just for one next brick. And, like I said, wet the bricks if they are very absorbent.
Yes, it's still worth knocking a brick to squeeze the mortar a little.

stuart45

Ideally an absorbent brick should be damp in the centre and dry on the surface. That way there is enough suction to form a bond and stop mortar running down the face, but damp enough in the centre so it doesn't suck too much water form the joints.

EssexExile

My first bricklaying task was to build a garage. I bought a second hand mixer and got the wife's grandad to show me how it's done. Nowadays you replace the wife's grandad with YouTube. It's pretty easy once you get going, I find specialist tools designed for the amateur, like the Bricky, slow you down once you've got the hang of it.

stuart45

I can see the attraction of 'the bricky' for DIY as it gives a level bed. Probably better if you can practice enough to get the feel of the tools for the bigger jobs. The average apprentice takes about 2 weeks to start running the line at a reasonable speed and quality.

Jeepers_Creepers

A 6m x 1m high wall? That'll give you practice all right

Many moons ago, I built a dwarf wall for a connie on my previous hoosie, and it was my first experience of brick-laying. Everything said by others above rings true...

It will take you an age to do this, certainly to begin with. After a while you'll learn what is and is not important, and it'll become faster. For example, to start with you'll fixate on getting the mortar gaps the correct size and even, but after a while you'll trust your visual judgement.

The single main point I recall being important was, don't make the mix too sloppy - it should be stiffish. This way you can tap the bricks into place, and they'll stay there. A sloppy mix will allow them to continue moving, say when you add the next brick, and deffo when you go on to the next row above. More than that, tho', a sloppy mix could ooze out and make a mess of your brick faces.

You may have an extra issue if, as you say, the bricks are old. They could be more porous and absorbent, so would suck the moisture out of your mix, so you'd need to compensate for this. I think - tho' others will confirm - the best way to tackle this would be to have the bricks dampened down first, and not to make the mix more wet.

Anyhoo, what do I recall? I set up vertical sticks at each corner of the wall, exactly as needed (ie, right-bang on the corner, and fully vertical) and marked them out for each row of bricks, allowing for the mortar line. I then slung a guide line between them, making sure it was pulled tight so didn't droop in t'middle. If you go for this system, for a 6m wall you'll deffo need centre poles too! Perhaps where the expansion gap will be?

Anyhoo, it was then surprisingly easy; lay a bed, butter the brick end, get it into place, and gently tap down with the trowel handle until the front brick edge is aligned with the guideline. Ignore the mortar being extruded - don't touch it for the moment. If there is obviously far too much being squished out, then apply less next time. Try and get it so that there's a line being extruded, but not quite enough for it to drop away under gravity... Continue like this until you've done a row.

Then have a looksee as the state of the extruded mortar. If it's stiff/dry enough, then you should be able to scrape it away using your trowel - pulling it upwards/sideways with the blade at right-angles or more to the wall, and the mortar should come away cleanly without smearing on the brick faces. If it 'smears', then stop! It's either because the mix is too wet still, or because you are holding the blade at less than 90o so are effectively smearing it yourself - silly.

Reuse that mortar and carry on.

Then, when the mortar is absolutely guaranteed to be stiff enough, you 'point' the mortar lines. I used a short piece of broom handle... If you are happy with a gentle concave 'point', then this is the easiest thing to do - just hold it at a low angle, and draw it along. I think do the vertical bits first, and then a nice long draw along the horizontals. Monitor how it's turning out, and adjust pressure and angle to suit. The important point here is; the mortar that you are removing - that forms a tramline either side of your 'stick' - should fall away as it's effectively severed from the edges of the bricks by your stick. A sloppy mix will smear; a stiff mix should come away cleanly.

If, when you 'point', you find the mix is smearing, just leave it and carry on laying bricks. Come back to it when it's stiffer/drier.

It is very satisfying  I had a neighb call round each day as I struggled/enjoyed this task, and he'd drop in to the conversation just how many bricks a pro would lay in a day. Then he'd start counting my production... He was teasing - he was the most delightful fellow, and a joy to have as a neighb.

It obviously took faaaar longer than a pro would - aeons longer - but I can say that the finished result was noticeably better than that of the builder of the house. By following a few basic rules, the results came out nigh-on spot on. It actually highlighted the shortcomings of the original build - tho' it wasn't something I'd noticed before then.

I even have a video of my quite-pregnant wife laying a few bricks. No, that ain't a euph... It does, however, make me realise it must have been 20 years ago... :-(

stuart45

Great advice JC. i wouldn't worry too much about how many bricks a pro can lay, it depends on the job. I've worked quite hard(by my standards) laying 50 a day on a buttress wall that needed a lot of cutting this week.

adonis

I used the bricky tool to build my fish pond, I laid dense concrete blocks on their side as the inner skin and a single course of facing bricks on the outside and it was quite straightforward if you get the first course right.

Here is a good site that covers mostly paving but has a section on walls including foundations.

https://www.pavingexpert.com/featur03

stuart45

I can understand why people are starting to do their own brickwork nowadays. Some of the so called pro's are putting up some really poor quality work for them. 
Even some of the better ones who work for subbies on site have worked under pressure to produce the quantity on site for so long that they have got used to working to a lower standard.