Tuesday 22 January 2013

More on Bricklaying for the DIY Enthusiast

Obtaining gotten the standard ideas of DIY BRICKLAYING beneath your belt, you will be keen to start out operate on your initially project. Having said that, if you need to have to save time and revenue, there will be a couple of far more items you will need to have to recognize if your DIY BRICKLAYING project is to be genuinely profitable.

It will be apparent that just before you can get started any project, you will have to have to operate out the amount of supplies that will be expected. It is vital that you make an precise assessment of the components needed for your project.

In the very first instance, you will want to 'price' the job. Irrespective of whether you are undertaking a DIY BRICKLAYING project or employing an individual else to lay the bricks, it is crucial to have an correct idea of the fees that you are probably to incur. If you require the project to run smoothly, you will as well have to have to order the supplies in advance. (See my write-up on Preparing A DIY PROJECT).

If you more than estimate and order extra components than essential, it is unlikely your merchant will take any surplus off your hands. If they do, it is most likely to expense you a restocking fee. Then you have the concern of disposal or storage of the surplus supplies. What do you do with a hundred spare bricks or blocks?

Having said that, if you do not order sufficient components, you will be topic to the whims of your merchant or supplier which could outcome in extended, expensive delays. This can be a big headache in particular if your components are not held in stock or had been a specific order. The positive aspects of bulk getting are as well probably to be lost. The most problematic situation will be of color matching. Bricks from a distinctive 'batch' type the kiln will differ in color. This can be genuinely striking As soon as the wall is completed and you stand back to appear. It can entirely ruin the visual impact of superior workmanship and high-quality supplies if supposedly 'matching' bricks do not match. It can all be really frustrating!

So, how significantly material do you require, and what components do you need to have?

Clearly, you will know how tall and how extended a wall is, but how several bricks will be required is yet another issue. What around the mortar among the bricks - you will have to have to estimate this as well?

As bricks are mostly created from clay, they are not a accurate artefact. Sizes will differ slightly depending on the quantity of moisture in the clay or the quantity of time the brick has spent in the kiln.

For ease of calculation the nominal size of a brick is 215mm x 102.5mm x 65mm.

The mortar joint is nominally 10mm thick each horizontally and vertically. This tends to make the nominal size of a brick for calculation purposes 225mm x 102.5mm x 75mm (9" x four" x three").

The lengthy face of the brick is named the 'stretcher' and the end of the brick is the 'header'.

In order to calculate the quantity of bricks needed per meter, initially obtain out the location of brickwork. Then make a decision on the 'bond' of the brickwork. The most popular bond for simple brick walls is 'stretcher' bond. As a guide you should really enable 60 bricks per square meter for the creating of 1 skin wall. This is named a half brick wall. For a 2 skin cavity wall, you will require 120 bricks per square meter. Clear is not it?

If you intend developing a one brick thick solid wall, once more you really should let for 120 bricks per square meter.

None of these figures enable for wastage or breakage, so it is a superior idea to add a handful of additional bricks to the order to make particular that you do not run brief. Typically about 10% much more should really be adequate.

The subsequent query you will need to have to answer is how considerably mortar will I require? Once once again the 'rule of thumb' answer is 25kg of dry mortar mix to 25 bricks. For smaller DIY BRICKLAYING jobs, dry prepared mixed mortar can be purchased in 25kg bags.

This will not be financial for the bigger project. It will be a lot more financial to bulk acquire sand and mortar. Most bricklayers will mix sand and cement in a ½ cubic metre cement mixer. Here we move into the realms of BRICKLAYING folklore. The rule of thumb is a '½ bag mix'. This is half a 25kg bag of cement to 30 'shovels' of sand. This approximates to a 1:5 mortar mix.

In fact, to lay say 1000 bricks (= 16.5 square meters) as one particular skin wall, around .three cubic metres of mortar will be required. You can either use the 'rule of thumb' or calculate your quantities on the above basis.

For solid block operate as 1 skin wall, use 10 blocks per squared meter for your calculations. The blocks nominally measure 450mm x 215mm x 102.5mm. You will will need 25Kg of dry mortar mix per 5 blocks.

Bear in mind All calculations and quantities offered here are approximate and the details supplied need to be employed for a guide only.

Once operating on a constructing web-site, a excellent bricklayer's labourer is very regarded as, as the fantastic mortar mix is significant for excellent bricklaying. It is essential that the 'mix' is just the suitable consistency. For 2.5 KG of dry mortar mix around 2.5 litres of water will be necessary. Water ought to be extra initially in adequate high-quality to enable it to be absorbed by the mix, then it should really be additional small by small till the mix has a consistency of butter. This really should enable it to slip very easily from the shovel but firm adequate for the sides not to collapse Once a hollow is created in the centre of the mix.

Do not enable mortar to hang about unused for as well lengthy. Mortar need to Usually be applied inside 2 hours of mixing, so only mix enough to be made use of inside that time.

If the mortar does 'go off' - do not 'knock' the mix back. The fantastic issue to do is dump the mortar and mix up a fresh batch.

You can come across out extra around DIY BRICKLAYING in our subsequent report 'Much more Around DIY BRICKLAYING II'

Just after several years functioning in the construction sector, Phil now teaches in the UK. He has written a lot of articles for internet web pages like Householders Guide, ukhomeonline.co.uk and yourhomeonlineuk.co.uk. His wide know-how of the Construction Market and Housing Markets tends to make him a widespread author on Getting Real Estate.

© Short article by Philip Ray

While this post endeavors to include up to date and precise facts, the write-up can only be deemed as a guide. The author would often suggest that you take nearby independent skilled suggestions.

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