First, a couple of layers of concrete blocks, topped with bricks of various complementary shades, as per my brick swatch from earlier post.
Build away.......
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| Introducing Ashley (l) and Luke (r) as they make a start on the foundations |
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| Sand, water, bricks and mixer - we're off..... |
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| Bags o' sand |
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| Bit like Bake a Cake's Kitchen Aid |
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| East Elev. Positioning concrete blocks on concrete filled stepped trenches |
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| Front foundations concrete blocks - from East to West |
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| Front foundations concrete blocks - from West to East |
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| Luke adds the bricks on top of the concrete blocks using colour coded piles prepared by Ashley |
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| Ashley gives the bricks a rub down and a brush up | . | Actually, I believe it's called Pointing |
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| Bricks on the concrete blocks - Right of front door |
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| Front - North elev, left of front door |
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| Recess to front door starts to take shape. Well, almost! |
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| Luke on the East Side |
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| Corner of East and West |
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| Corner of North and West |
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| West side - Luke working on the wall either side of my 'fire escape'! |
Meanwhille, the BarnBoys were busy preparing the trenches in the South elevation. Only this time Tim would be on concrete duty and Matt would be wheel barrowing single loads of concrete to fill the trench. It was a long, tiring day. More of this to follow.
Oh yay, I have walls!
Love
BarnGirl
xx
If you're interested....
TYPES OF BRICKS
There are literally thousands of different bricks, apparently they can be broken down into a handful of basic types. The vast majority are made from clay and are kiln-fired. There are SOLID, FROGGED, PERFORATED types; BarnGirl's are frogless.
Facing Bricks
Quality, durable bricks with an attractive appearance for external use above ground.
Wirecut
The clay is continuously extruded to a required size and shape and then cut into individual bricks by means of a wire, much like a cheese is cut by cheesewire. Thousands of variations in colour and texture. Usually the cheapest facings available as the manufacturing process is highly automated.
Stock
The clay is wetted to a so-called "soft mud" and then moulded to shape, before being allowed to dry prior to firing in the kiln. Much of the process is automated. Tend to be slightly irregular in shape. Usually a bit more expensive than wirecuts.
Handmade
Usually made on a bench, in a mould, much as described above for a stock brick. Because the clay isn't firmly compacted by machine, each brick normally has distinctive creasing known as a 'smile'. Very desirable, and the most expensive of the facings, but well worth it on prestige jobs.
Fletton
Also known as 'London Bricks'. A unique facing brick manufactured from the Lower Oxford clay found only in SE England. This clay contains coal traces, which burn during firing, reducing the amount of fuel needed for the kiln, which not only keeps down costs but also produces some interesting effects in the bricks themselves.
Commons
A cheap 'fill' brick, designed to be utilitarian rather than attractive. Having said that, some have a charm of their own and are perfectly fine for smaller jobs.
Engineering
The workhorses of the brick family. Tough, strong, hard-wearing but not usually very pretty. They have excellent resistance to frost and to water, making them ideal for groundworks, sewer works and retaining walls. You pay for the performance.
Concrete or Calcium Silicate
Popular in areas where good brick-making clay is scarce. Some are awful, but others may be split-faced or have a pitched face to give an impression of being something other than concrete. Cheap and cheerful sums them up.
Reclaimed
Salvaged bricks. Bricks rescued from old buildings and cleaned up, of a fashion. You really have to know what you're looking for to make sure you get decent quality rather than any old dross, so buy through a reputable merchant. Their charm is undeniable, when laid by a good brickie, but there can be a high level of wastage. Many will be the old Imperial sizes (2 5/8" or 3")which are incompatible with the modern metric bricks (65mm). Don't be fooled into thinking that because they have been rescued from some old house that they will be cheap - cleaning them up and sorting them is a labour intensive task and they can cost twice the price of a quality facing or a 'reproduction' reclaimed.
Specials
Any brick that isn't a rectangle. Just to confuse non-bricklayers, there are "standard specials", such as bullnoses, cants and radials, and "special specials" such as cills and quoins. These specials allow fantastic design possibilities and make brickwork the most aesthetically pleasing medium for building.
BRICKLAYING
Bricklaying is a skilled trade that takes years to master. Bricks are laid in courses, on a bed of mortar, with a taut string line used as a guide to line and level. The horizontal joint is the "bed joint"; the vertical joints are "perpends".
The ends of walls are built first, with the level and verticality of the bricks checked repeatedly as the corners/ends are raised. The gauging is also checked, to ensure that 4 courses measures 300mm. The ends are typically "Racked Back", which allows successive courses to be laid direct to the string line without having to continually check the work with a spirit level.
The bed mortar is laid out and shaped to accept the bricks. The end of the brick to be laid is buttered with mortar and then shoved against the preceding brick, squeezing the mortar to a width of 10mm. The brick is tapped down to level with the heel of the trowel, any surplus mortar extruded from the bed or the perpend is scraped off with the trowel, and then the process repeated with the next brick. At the completion of each course, the guide line is moved up to the next course.
Apparently, there are over 30 different brickwork bonds that can be used.
With solid or perforated bricks, the orientation of the brick doesn't matter, but with frogged bricks, the frog should always be laid uppermost. This ensures that the loading of the wall is evenly spread across its width, rather than being concentrated onto the edges, and that there are no voids within the brickwork that could be weak spots.
Frogged or perforated brickwork should always be covered over if left unfinished for any period when rain is about, to prevent the frogs or perforations filling with water which would make a mess of the bed mortar when bricklaying resumes.
BarnGirl's frogless bricks were cozily wrapped in hessian, after seeing the forecast for yet more rain and single digit cold.
POINTING STYLES
Pointing ensures the bed joints and perpends are properly filled with mortar. Pointing is usually undertaken an hour or so after the bricks have been laid, long enough for the mortar to stiffen but not so long that it has become unworkable. The unpointed joints can be topped up with fresh mortar if they are not quite full, before tooling to the required style.
The most common pointing styles are - Weatherstuck, Recessed, Bucket Handle and Flush. The Weatherstruck and Flush profiles are formed with the blade of a trowel. The Bucket Handle profile is formed with a semi-circular section jointing bar, and the Recess profile is created with a joint raker.
Tooled joints, notably the Weatherstruck and Bucket Handle, offer better resistance to rain penetration.
Reference - Brickwork Basics
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