DIY Retaining walls, part one.

WELCOME TO OUR BLOG YOU ARE INVITED , TO BROWSE AS LONG AS YOU LIKE. Anyhow, here I will publish my own diary and what I see happening in the world, and when I do not have much to say, I will write posts from my life story. 

Anyhow, you can also find this article at, http://oldman-lifeworks.blogspot.com,  

My other sites; https://sites.google.com/site/menfrancoreconciliation/  

Farming today compared to the old way, My life my struggles, 

Hub Pages, DIY brickwork. and this article at this link, DIY Retaining walls. 

Talking about retaining walls, most retaining walls these days are made of Besser-blocks. The walls are made with hollow concrete blocks 190 X 190 X 390 laid with mortar 10mm thick joints, steel reinforcement bars are placed in the hollow part of the blocks, then they are filled with concrete, once the walles are dry enough. 

Welcome to our article,  DIY Retaining walls, Part one of three. 

Dear readers, in our previous articles, we have talked about how to build houses, now, let us talk about retaining walls. There are several reasons why people want to build retaining walls. If  you own a standalone house, you may want to improve your property by doing a few things in the yard, so, you can stay outside and have a garden, or have a barbecue with your family and friends. But there are times when it is not easy to stay outside, because the yard is not level and, in some places, it is hard even to stand up straight, so, something needs to be done to improve the situation. In this case retaining walls can help solve that problem. But how do we build retaining walls one may ask? 

LET US START BY LOOKING AT THIS STONE RETAINING WALL BELOW. 

There are many types of retaining walls, this above is a masonry stone wall, these types of stone walls last for a very long time, when they are built well, like the one above, but they cost a lot more than other types of retaining walls. 

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Anyhow, let us see what we can learn from this stone wall picture above, just by looking at it and trying to imagine how this wall has been built. What we can note from the picture is that the retaining wall has been built leaning towards the bank it is holding up, we can see this at the right end of the wall where the wall goes around the corner,  the stones are laid dry as there is no sign of any mortar around, the stones are not all the same size, and they are longer and shorter stones, but they are all the same thickness and they are laid the same way as we lay a course of bricks, but at the same time the mason has made sure that the vertical join are not setting one above the other, and this is a hard thing to do with stones all different size, everything is so tidy, the wall thickness is not shown anywhere, but because there is a very low wall started near, it seems that the wall has been built like a double brick wall, we can also guess that perhaps some of the short stones are not really short, but they have been laid like a header brick to tie the front with the back of the wall, at the top the last course of stone, the stones are longer and as wide as the whole wall itself, so that they would tie everything together. These are the main features that we can learn from looking at this stonewall picture.

Now that we have explained that, let us write how to do it yourself retaining walls. You know, there are many types of retaining walls, some are easy to build others are hard to build, and there are many reasons for building them. So, this article is going to be a long article, because we want to tell you about them, as much as we can.   

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How to build retaining walls. 

Okay, there are several ways how to build a retaining wall, and there are several types of retaining walls that we can build. Therefore, first we must see what we gain by building this type of retaining wall, or that type of retaining wall, and above all how much it could cost, before we can decide what type of retaining wall to build. Now we want to build our retaining walls with building materials that are easily available, to avoid extra cost. So, look what local materials are available, where you are. You see, if you are in a place where stones or rocks are plentiful, and you may even have some of them in your yard, then it is cheaper to build your retaining wall with these materials, and even if you have to buy the lot they are cheap anyhow; but if you are in a place where there are plenty of trees and there is even a sawmill nearby, then it is more appropriate to build it with timber.    

Having said that, it is obvious that for you to decide, what is the best retaining wall to build; we need to explain to you what could be done and how can it be done. Therefore, hereunder we will try to do that. Let us start with a very easy and cheap retaining wall that most people can do themselves, even if they don’t know much about building, as long as they have a few tools and know how to use them; here we are saying that anyone of us can dig a few holes in the ground to place a few short posts and place a couple of sleeper timber planks against those posts, then secure them by nailing or screwing them to the posts. It sounds and is simple, isn’t it? But this is not the only retaining wall that we want to show you, so, keep reading this article, while we add more descriptions, because you can even learn how to build them.  

Timber sleeper retaining walls. 

Building a low timber sleeper retaining wall is easy, just about everybody can do it, you can do it yourself, if you follow our explanation in this text here, all you need is a crowbar, a post hole shovel, a hammer a few long nails or screws, a saw, a type measure and a few treated pine sleepers that today are easily available at most timber yards.

If you are in Brisbane Australia, these are a couple of addresses of local timber merchants and hardware to get what you want. If you are somewhere else, you need to find your own.  ‎

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunnings_Warehouse

Now, let us assume that you have visited your local supply, and you have got all you need, so, you are ready to start, you have also worked out where you want your sleeper wall to go; So, start digging the first hole where the wall starts, you need to dig this hole about 600 mm or more in the natural ground for the post to be strong enough to hold the pressure of the retaining wall when the wall is back filled; you may have to concrete around the post for extra strength, but this is not a must do, if the retaining wall is low, because you can replace this with, packing the soil tightly around the posts and if you have some rocks, wedge them between the top of the hole you have dug and the post at ground level, because the rocks will exercise their pressure on a larger surface of the natural soil than the post, they will be able to hold back the soil pressure of the wall more easily, now that you have done the first post, you can repeat the same procedure for next post and so on.

The posts can be made from the same material of the sleepers; you can saw them to the right length and fix them in the ground as we have said above. Now, to make it easy let us say that your wall is going to be the length of a sleeper plank, and you have dug the two holes and fixed the two posts. So, now you can just place the first sleeper against the posts at the required level; the levels of the sleepers is better if you work it out from the top down, because it is easier to change the bottom than the top, you see, in this case you can always dig a bit or add a bit of soil at the bottom to fit the bottom sleeper. So, mark on the posts the level you want to reach with your last sleeper, and then mark down from this level the number of sleepers you are fixing on these posts, once you have done that you are ready to fix your sleepers on the posts.

Fixing your sleeper to the post. 

To fix the sleepers to the post now is simple, but still you need to do a few things right, if you want your wall to last a long time, with the materials you are using now; it is useful to know that in this case it is highly advisable that you use galvanized nails or screws to fix the planks to the posts, because the retaining wall is in contact with the wet or humid ground constantly, therefore, normal nails or screws will rust easily.

You have bought some 75 mm and 100 mm galvanized nails to do the job, so, you hope that you can drive these nails into the sleepers and posts just by using a hammer, because it is the fastest way to get the job done. 

Okay, if you are good with your hammer and can drive nail easily it is the best way to go, provided that the timber is soft enough to do that, and if you have used treated pine sleeper it can be done, as all you need to do now is to place the sleepers where you have marked on the posts and nail them in, and then you can backfill behind the retaining wall and the job is done.

But what about if you are using hardwood or old dry hardwood, because you got it very cheap from a second hand timber yard, because they were overstocked they sold this timber at a very special price, which was less than half the price of the treated pine sleepers; so, you were happy to buy it because it was cheap and the timber being hardwood lasts for a very long time, but now you may have a problem to fix the sleepers to the posts, because it is near impossible to drive nails into this old dry hardwood timber, unless you drill a hole for every single nail, and even then the nails can bend even if you are an expert with the hammer.

If this is the situation and it is hard to nail this timber together, you can overcome the problem by using couch screws or bolts, so, you use a drill and drill a hole for your galvanized couch screws or bolts and tighten the screws or the bolt nuts with a spanner. But if you don’t want to do this extra work and you want to use the galvanized nails that you have already bought, then you can do the following: drill a hole as deep as you can just use a bit a fraction smaller than the diameter of your nails, then try first with the 75 mm nails how you go, if it works and you believe that the nail go deep enough into the supporting post and hold well then your problem is solved, but if the nail bends or don’t go deep enough then you can try the following, and this is one of the last tricks of the old trade, which not many people know or use, this trick is not a trick at all and once you know it, you can feel even stupid for not thinking about it yourself; so what is it? Okay, when you pick up your nail to nail in the hole you have drilled, dip the point of the nail a couple of centimetres into a bit of Vaseline or mechanical grease, if this is not available just wet a bar of soap and rub the point of the nail on the wet soap, this greasing of the end of the nail will make it easier to drive it into any wood including dry old hardwood.

I believe that I have said enough about simple timber retaining walls, for you to have some idea how to build them, so, now let us talk about another type of retaining wall that can be easy to build, it is a type of concrete wall that the blocks are laid dry, so, anyone can have a go; and if you don't get it right the first time it is easy to fix.

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There is a lot more that we can say, but this blog is becoming too long, so, see you in part two. 

To see more, or the entire article click on this link, DIY Retaining walls. 

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Building a veneer house.

WELCOME TO OUR BLOG YOU ARE INVITED , TO BROWSE AS LONG AS YOU LIKE. Anyhow, here I will publish my own diary and what I see happening in the world, and when I do not have much to say, I will write posts from my life story. 

Anyhow, you can also find this article at, http://oldman-lifeworks.blogspot.com,  

My other sites; https://sites.google.com/site/menfrancoreconciliation/  

Farming today compared to the old way, My life my struggles, 

Hub Pages, DIY brickwork. and this article at this link, Building a veneer house. 

When we build a brick veneer house, the roof of the house is tied straight to the timber frame, this type of roof may also need to be tied with steel rods that start from the concrete floor, to secure the roof frame down, this may dipend on the constraction and the by laws of the local government. 

Welcome to our article, Building a veneer house.  

Dear readers, this is going to be a long blog, and while we are writing it in DIY section, it cannot be said that this is a DIY article for a beginner, since what we are describing here is more advanced. Anyhow, this is how we were building houses during the seventies here in Australia. We must say here, that most houses were built using plain common sense, of course, we are still building them today in the same way, and they will be built for a long time, in some part of the world, where blocks of land are subdivided to build standalone houses, but today even this way of building is becoming old fashion, especially if you are building in a city, where building anything is becoming very specialized, so, if you build anything that needs approval from the local authorities you need a builder an architect and an engineer, or at least you must be a good tradesman  and know how to read their plans, then you might be able to build a small house, by yourself.  

Anyhow, this article is for those people that want to know what sort of problems they may encounter, while building a brick-veneer house or even a solid cavity brick house, and how to avoid these building problems, in other words this article can help the owner-builder that wants to know a bit more, because he is going to build his own house. 

So, now that we have built this imaginary brick base in the previous article, House brick base continues, we have the option of using this same style of brick base in a few ways, because this base can be used to build a timber house on the top of it, or it can be used to build a brick veneer house as well, what this means is that we can build brick around the timber frame of the house, so that the house looks like a brick house, but in reality it is both, so, let us see what is the difference and if it affects anything.

Of course, we must start building the house knowing what it is going to be from the start, and this is the reason why we need a plan, you see, we need a plan because we need to know the measurement from the start, because anything we change, changes the measurement, but anyhow the ways of building it is almost the same, accept that the bricks take more space than if the house outside is finished with timber claddings, therefore, this affect the remaining floor space in the house, but apart from that there is no much difference in building the brick base.

Now, there are at least three types of houses being built these days, the timber house, the brick veneer house and the solid brick house. These types of houses can vary as it is possible to mix all these materials together in various amounts. But in this article, we want to write first about a brick veneer house that can be built on a similar brick base that we have completed in the hub, House brick base continues. So, let us describe, how this is done.  

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 This photo shows a house timber frame on a concrete floor. When we build a brick veneer house, the timber frame of the house is the same like when a complete timber house is built, because the timber frame is supporting the roof, and the bracing in the walls make it self sufficent. 

 

Building a brick veneer.  

As we have said, the difference in the construction of the base between a timber house and a brick veneer house is not that much, as it affects only the outside of the house and the floor space of the house, if the extra space needed for the bricks is not taken into account at the start. But how we proceed to build these two types of building on a similar brick base is this: If the outside of the house is going to be timber, the outside of the timber bears and the entire timber frame is placed right at the outside edge of the brickwork, but before we do that, we put on top of the brick walls a galvanized ants capping, then the timber bears and the house frame. But if it is going to be brick veneer then the reverse happens and the timber bears and frame is set back about 6 inches (150mm) this is to give space for the bricks and leave a cavity between the timber frame and the bricks, the ants capping goes inside or at least under the timber bears.         

Now because we are building a brick veneer house, the carpenters have placed the house frame back to allow for the bricks to be laid outside, in this case the carpenter’s foreman should have instructed his carpenter team to try to work with the bricklayers and set the opening of doors and windows in such a way that helps the bricklayers. Now, let me explain here what are the problems that the bricklayer can encounter if both teams don’t work together. For example, there is a short wall that has a door opening in the centre, if the door opening is placed exactly in the centre, then the bricklayers might have to cut the bricks on both sides of the door to make them fit the length of the remaining wall beside the door opening, this not only will add extra work for the bricklayer, but it can be an eye sore, and therefore, these sort of things should be avoided, wherever they can be avoided. 

So, what can be done one may ask? Well, the door opening can be moved a bit to one side, so that at least one side works to the bricklayer advantage, and if he is lucky both sides can work with a full brick, therefore, no bricks need to be cut shorter to fit in the wall between the door and the corners? This same principle applies in other parts of the brick wall, when there are two openings, the carpenter should move the openings of the windows and door to help the bricklayers, when they can be moved.

The bricklayer working part.   

Now that we have explained what the variations for the carpenter are, when he sets up the timber frame for the brick veneer, we come to the bricklayer part and what he does when he works on a brick veneer house, because there are many other demanding things to do in between while he is laying bricks; these other things need to be done as well, if the house is going to be well built.   

Apart laying bricks as usual, the fist other job that the bricklayer may encounter is that he has to place lintels over the opening of doors and windows of the brick base, if they happen to be at that level and most time they are, these lintels for brickwork can be steel angles that span over the openings, they come in various size and they are used according to the span they have to bridge. So, when there are openings in the base, the bricklayer places this steel angle over the openings and then lays the bricks over them making sure that everything looks and is okay, he has also to lay some brick reinforcement in next course of bricks above the openings, or even all around the brick base, this reinforcement is in the form of a light galvanized mesh as we have explained in our previous articles.

But this is not all, because in some cases when it is specified he may have to nail the rat-proof wire (this is a wire mesh with holes too small for a rat to go through), so, the bricklayer nails one side to the timber frame and the other side is laid in the joint of the bricks, thus a barrier is formed and no rat can enter into the cavity between the bricks and the timber frame. But that is not all, because there can be the need to lay a dampcourse, this again is like the rat-proof wire, one end is nailed to the timber frame and the other end is laid in the brick joints. 

At least this is how it was done when we were building brick veneer houses or apartments in the sixties and seventies; so, we had this problem there to solve while we were laying bricks, I guess that at this point of time one can even ask, but if the bricklayer has to do all these extra small jobs, how and when he is going to lay bricks? These jobs should really be done from somebody else and let the bricklayer do his job and lay his bricks. Having said that we have to agree that those small jobs should be done from a different person, but there is a problem there also; those jobs need to be done when the wall reaches a certain height, so, it is very hard to have somebody there that would do that job for us bricklayers. So, we were forced to do it ourselves whether at the end we were compensated or not. You see, this is one of the main reasons why when we work on a brick veneer the bricklayer lays a lot less bricks per day than he usually does on a normal wall, but there are more annoying things for the bricklayers to do, as we will write here under.

Other things that the bricklayer does. 

We have mentioned many things but there is more to say here, sometimes before we even start to lay bricks in the veneer part of the house, we bricklayers need to nail a special building paper, this paper is another layer of insulating material that is nailed on the outside of the timber studs that form the external timber frame; in reality it is the carpenters that should do this work, and if they are around, once we have built the scaffolding to lay our bricks, the carpenters are very likely to jump in and nail this insulation paper for us, but it is likely that the bricklayers have to do it themselves.

Other things that we need to do while laying bricks on the brick veneer, we need to nail to the timber studs brick veneer ties every three or four courses of bricks; These are L shaped brackets that attach the timber frame to the brick wall, we have to lay this wire reinforcement every so often, we have to nail the damp course under and above openings and other things that need to be done before we lay bricks.

Once we finish building our veneer walls, most likely the last job is to lay these bricks for the windowsills. The windowsills take a lot of time and patience, usually we need to cut every brick in a special way and then lay them making sure that the joints are all even; in order to achieve that we use a gauge rod. Sometimes we are lucky and the same gauge rod that we have used to build the entire house works for some windowsills; if it does not, then we have to work it out how to make this windowsill, we can make smaller joints or larger joints, as long as the outcome looks acceptable.

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The cavity brick house. 

The difference between the brick veneer and the cavity brick house is this: the brick veneer house all the walls are made of timber, and the timber frame is just like the complete timber house with the exception that the outside is veneered with bricks, so that the building looks as if it is made of bricks, but in reality, the timber walls are the load bearing walls and they can stand on their own, if you cover them with something else other than bricks. But the cavity bricks is different, all the outside walls in the cavity bricks are made of bricks or blocks, at least the external walls are made of two brick-walls one beside the other with a cavity between them, these two external walls are tied together with cavity ties, in a way it is very much like the brick veneer where the timber external walls are tied together with ties to the veneer brick wall.

For the bricklayers the cavity brick house is easier to build because he can set everything to suite his face brick walls, so, this is an advantage for him. But in this case if there is no builder of foreman around the bricklayer needs to work out where the opening of doors and windows are and put them in place; this needs to be done because the door frames and the window frames need to be tied permanently to the brickwork while the work is in progress. So, we must admit that this is not for the beginners, as it takes a good tradesman to do that.

There are a lot of other things that need to be done, some of them are just like what we have described for the brick veneer, but one thing in particular is different here; because the brick walls are load bearing walls and whatever goes above them need to be tied the wall, the bricklayers has to make sure that there are ties that are able to tie down the roof of the house permanently; this could be achieved by steel rods that start from the concrete floor or from the foundations. In some cases where there are not enough steel rods from the concrete below, the bricklayer can add some special made brackets several courses of bricks below the top, this is also good, but not as good as the steel rods that start from the foundations.

I believe that I have covered the most important things in building this imaginary house, so, I hope that this article can help someone that is building his own house. 

Now I need to say that you can find more exlanations, in the original article in Hub Pages. So to see them click on this link, Building a veneer house. 

So, see you, in next article, DIY Retaining walls. 

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House brick base continues.

WELCOME TO OUR BLOG YOU ARE INVITED , TO BROWSE AS LONG AS YOU LIKE. Anyhow, here I will publish my own diary and what I see happening in the world, and when I do not have much to say, I will write posts from my life story. 

Anyhow, you can also find this article at, http://oldman-lifeworks.blogspot.com,  

My other sites; https://sites.google.com/site/menfrancoreconciliation/  

Farming today compared to the old way, My life my struggles, 

Hub Pages, DIY brickwork. and this article at this link, House brick base continues. 

In Australia back in the sixties and seventies, we were building lots of affordable houses, the photo above shows one of the typical house of those times, this house was built on a brick base. They were built for normal working families. Anyhow, I need to explain that, this base here is not like the house brick base in the text, because in the text we are building in a sloping site, so, it is different. 

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Welcome to our article, House brick base continues. 

Dear readers, in this article, we are continuing to build the brick base step by step, so that, anyone can follow how it is done. Anyhow, in our last article, we have started to describe how to build a brick base on a sloping building site, we had reached the stage, where the bricklayers had set-up and built the southern wall high enough to lay some brick reinforcement and the damp course. Now, to keep our descriptions simple and accurate, we must assume that they are leaving an opening for a door, then continue to build this wall as high as the first brick on the concrete foundation at the highest corner. They need to do that, so, they can check and make sure that all the walls are level and there is no mistake in the level of the brickwork. Anyhow, once the bricklayers have done that, it starts to be easier for everyone to work on this brick base, since the whole house dimensions have been set-up, and everything is level.

Now let me make it clear, to start a house base on a stepped foundation is not easy, and the bricklayers must be careful and make no mistakes, especially on a sloping site and stepped foundations, since the foundations may not be level, because of the extra difficulty that the concreter encounter when laying the foundations on a sloping site.

Anyhow, when building every tradesman must rely on their skills, they must make sure that what they are doing is the right thing to do, they cannot blame somebody else for their own mistakes, therefore, when they find a mistake from the previous tradesman, whether they are concreters or other trades, whenever possible they should try to fix whatever can be fixed, when that cannot be done, their foreman can recall the previous tradesman to fix their mistakes, before they go ahead and make the mistake bigger and more costly to fix later.

That is why the bricklayer cannot trust blindly the concreters. Anyhow, the bricklayers that are building this brick base are doing the right thing. They have built the lower part of the brick base level and they have made the first full course of bricks all around the house base. Now they can relax a bit, as everything is in the right place at the right level and there is no pig in the brickwork, as the last course of bricks makes a full circle of the house and ends up level, so, there is no pig in the brickwork, now, let us explain what is a pig in the brickwork and how it can happen.

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This photo here shows a lowset brick base on a level site, the bricklayer have build the base all level, you can see that the bricks form a ring all around the house, so, there is no pig in it. The drainage has been done, next thing they need to do is to backfil and compact the soil 50 mm below the concrete floor, then they will lay 50 mm of coarse river sand, followed by the damp couse steel mash and concrete. Most times the concrete slab sits on the inside brick only, the outside brick wall can continue with bricks, after laying a dump-course.  

Explaining a pig in the brickwork. 

Let me explain how a pig in the brickwork can happen. Here I need to say that this saying, can be a local saying that explains; the brickwork is set in a way like a spring coil, so it never ends.

Now let me explain how it can happen, and how the bricklayer can create a pig in the brickwork.  This mistake can happen on a sloping site, like the sloping site we are working on, in this article. It can happen when the brick-walls are not exactly level, and the bricklayer ties the line on the wrong course of bricks, when they start building the last wall.

Therefore, let us go back to build our brick base, and let us assume that the bricklayer that is setting the wall on the eastern side is having some difficulty in setting the wall exactly level, because the foundation is not level, so, the bricklayer believe that he can make the walls level,  by making the bed joint thicker before he reaches ground level; therefore, he lets his northern corner be a couple of centimetre lower than his southern corner on the same course of bricks, you see this is a long wall and if you only use the spirit level, you can hardly see that it is not level, but with the proper level or water level it will show the difference.

At the same time, the bricklayer that is setting the western wall is having some difficulties too and for the same reason is starting his wall and letting his northern corner be a couple of centimetre higher than his southern corner on the same course of bricks, he also believes that he can set everything right by making very small joint before ground level is reached.

Now, there is a difference of four centimetres at the northern wall, this is a problem, you see, four centimetres is more than half a brick, therefore, the bricklayer can easily tie the line on the wrong course; this is how a pig in the brickwork is created.

To make sure that there is no pig in it, the bricklayer needs to make sure that the walls are started level from the start, and then run a full course all around the entire building. The brick course should be like a closed even ring, and make sure that the walls are level, this is the only way to avoid mistakes. So, it is better to spend extra time at the start and get it perfectly level. I hope I have explained it properly and clearly, how a pig in the brickwork can be created.

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Building the rest of the brick-base. 

Let us assume that everything has been set properly, so, all the brickwork around is level and at the right alignment. But to make sure, we double check everything again by running a type measure and seeing that it agrees with the plans measurement, this now is a very simple job, because everything is set in hard cement and everything is level, so, if there is any mistake in the measurements it will show up easily.

Having checked everything and found that everything is right, we can proceed to complete the brick base. Anyhow, we have built the lower part of the base one brick higher than the highest corner of the concrete foundations. So, there is only one brick laid at the highest point of the foundations. 

Since the whole base has been set, the best way is to build higher the northern wall, which is now the lowest wall, we want to build it at least to above ground level, so that the trances can be back filled and then it is easier for everybody to walk around the building site, this is an easier job now since everything is in the right place at the right level. So, we build this wall above ground level. Having built the northern wall above ground level, now we must choose which wall to build next. But at the same time, let us see what the bricklayer can use to speed up the brickwork, like the bricklayer’s profiles, these are devises that can be attached to the brick walls to help the bricklayers. So, let us explain the bricklayer’s profiles.

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The bricklayers' profiles are divises that help the bricklayers lay more bricks in a day, since he does not need to build  the coners first to tie his line, it also helps to keep the gauge properly, since everytime you move the line up it clicks in place, according to the gauge you have chosen, So they are helpful divices. 

Bricklayer's profiles. 

Bricklayers’ profiles are helpful, because it eliminates the process of building the corners first, it also helps to keep the gauge easily, since the gauge is marked on the profile. I have always had a profile with me when I was laying bricks. Some of these profiles can be bought, but if there are not readily available on the market, and there is a lot of brickwork that needs to be done, by using your own creativeness you can make one yourself, all that is needed is a straight edge marked with the gauge that you can fasten to the walls.

There are at least two types of profile that the bricklayers can use to speed up his work, the main one is used for external corners. This external corner profile needs to be supported both ways to be effective, so, if you haven’t got one and you cannot buy one, you need to configure a device that can be tighten both ways, when you are making your own profile. You have to plan it in such a way that you can grab a brick from the joint on one side and two bricks on the other side, so that a sort of triangle is made, and balance can be kept.

The internal corner profile can be a lot easier to make, and here I wonder why people don’t use it, since it is easier to make. All what is needed is again a straight edge with a hole or a few holes drilled in it and a special made up bolt or two that are thinner than the brick’s joint; these special bolts need to be modified and instead of their normal bolt head they should have a short cross say 30 to 40 mm welded at one end, and at the other end treaded with a butterfly nut. All the bricklayer needs to do now is to leave a hole in the bed joint near the corner, or clear the joint with a plugging chisel, then he puts one of his bolts in the hole of his straight edge; now he can push the bolt in the joint until the modified bolt head reaches the other side of the brick, then he turns the whole bolt 90 degrees, so that the modified bolt head is now vertical, and then he can tighten the bolt with his butterfly nut and at the same time make sure that the profile is plumb and he can use this profile instead of building the corner with his spirit level.

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To complete the brick base. 

What else needs to be done to complete the brick-base.

Let us now assume, that because the ground is sloping the base of this house has been divided, in such a way that the lower end can be used for garage laundry and utility room. To achieve that they have dug up the ground level about half the length of the house, and then dug a foundation to support a retaining wall and pillars to support the house above, the rest of the ground under the house will be left the way it is for the time being, because it is too costly to dig it out.

Anyhow, let us complete this brick base, as we have said above the lower side is now a certain height where the windows openings should be started. The windows are going to be tied to the brickwork, so, they need to be put in the right place and braced while the walls are being built. The bricklayers need to be careful that the windows remain plumb and in the right place while he attaches the window ties to the window and builds the tie into the brickwork. Here I may have to point out that placing the windows on the walls at the right height and at the right place, it’s one of those jobs that in this part of the world there is no rule who has to do it, say if the bricklayer is paid a fixed price for the amount of bricks he has laid, when he is placing and fixing the window on the wall he might not be paid, therefore, nobody is willing to do it, but there is no set rule and not much money for doing it, therefore, everybody wants to pass the buck to the builder or other trade people.

Having said that, now let us assume that everything has been done according to trading practice and the windows have been built into the brickwork accordingly. But here I want to point out that we have not talked about the lower part of the brick base that is being built on the higher part of the land, so, what needs to be done there?

The lower part of the brick base is built together with the rest of the base, but because it is lower it can be just one single brick thick with engaged piers under the house. These engaged piers may have a double purpose, one is to strengthen the walls and they may be used to carry the weight of the house if this part of the house is going to be a brick veneer. In this part of the house because there are no windows the bricklayer needs to leave some air vents, so that a minimum of ventilation is achieved. All this is going to be done according to specifications, as there must be some local rules and they may not be the same everywhere.

What we have written in this article is approximately what happens when we bricklayers build a brick base on a sopping piece of ground. So, I hope that I have not left behind any important description that would have helped the readers.

Now that we have built our imaginary house brick base, we believe that we have said enough in this article. So, see you in our next article, that will have a lot more information about, Building a veneer house. 

 To see more click on this link, House brick base continues 

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Building a house brick base.

WELCOME TO OUR BLOG YOU ARE INVITED , TO BROWSE AS LONG AS YOU LIKE. Anyhow, here I will publish my own diary and what I see happening in the world, and when I do not have much to say, I will write posts from my life story. 

Anyhow, you can also find this article at, http://oldman-lifeworks.blogspot.com,  

My other sites; https://sites.google.com/site/menfrancoreconciliation/  

Farming today compared to the old way, My life my struggles, 

Hub Pages, DIY brickwork. and this article at this link, Building a brick base. 

If you are building a house, you must first lay the foundarions. Above is shown a typical concrete foundation of a narrow long house on a sloping site. Note the concrete steps in the foundation, they should be set in such a way, that must be as high as one course of bricks, or several courses of bricks or blocks, or whateve is going to be laid on them. 

Welcome to our article, Building a brick base. 

Dear readers, in our last article, we started to tell you how to build a brick base, on a sloping site. I believe that the best thing to do is to talk in a way, as if we are building this house brick base step by step, so, let us start building it.

When we want to build a house, it is necessary to have a plan, but because we don’t have a plan, let us say that we are building a rectangular house base, which is about 8 meters wide and 12 meters long, it happens to be built on a sloping site.

Now, the foundations have been laid by the concreters and there are several concrete steps in it, because, of the slope in the land. So, the bricklayers need to pay more attention to the foundation levels. They cannot lay bricks and follow the foundations, set by the concreters, because they may not be level. In building every tradesman is responsible about his own work, so, it is wise to be careful that you don’t make mistakes, and if the trade before you have made a mistake try to adjust it, without making too much fuss if you can.

In the case of a stepped foundation, it is hard for concreters to set the concrete steps of the foundations at the right level, for the bricklayers to lay bricks on them without checking the levels, one of the reasons is that the steps in the concrete foundation may not be the same gauge of the brickwork that we are going to lay.    

As we have explained in our previous article about levels, we have already marked the level on the profiles and stretched a tight line above the southern brick wall; from this level line we can check the levels on the southern brick wall. 

Now, to make things easy let us start with one working bricklayer, let us assume that the bricklayer has marked the outside boundary corners and has started to lay a few bricks on the foundation; he is building a corner four bricks high at the lowest corner of the house. He has chosen to make the corner four brick high, because from his measurement he knows that there is a difference of three bricks in the foundation, therefore, his fourth brick on the corner that he is building now, is going to be level with the first brick on the opposite corner, having built his corner four bricks high and having laid his first brick on the other corner, now he can stretch his brickies line between these two points and start working his stretcher bond from his lowest corner, making sure that the bricks he lays are laid in line and level. 

Let me explain, in bricklaying it is important that the entire building is set in stretcher bond from the start, even if there are other types of bonds that are going to be used in the brickwork, because the stretcher bond is always the main bond, as this bond will continue throughout the building; therefore, the bricklayer cannot build the other corner until he runs a full course in stretcher bond from the first corner that he has built at the start, once that is done he can proceed to build both corners.   

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How we proceed to build a brick base.

Now, to give an easier description let us say that the foundation lowest corner of the house is the Southeast corner, the South West corner is three bricks higher than the South East corner and the other corners are higher than these two corners. Now as I have said the bricklayer has built this corner four bricks high and laid one brick at the west corner as marked, so, he is ready to lay brick, but before he does that he double check everything with his gauge rod, he checks from his line level that he has set above, or with the water level that his fourth brick in the corner is level with his first brick on the west corner, let us assume that they are level, so, they are the same course of bricks.

Now he can start laying brick in stretcher bond, from the South East corner working his way to the west corner, he sets his brickies line as he sees fit making sure that the levels and the alignment are right, when he reaches the fourth course, which is the first full course in this wall he tries to work out if he can start this whole wall in stretcher bond, without cutting any bricks by increasing or decreasing the perpendicular joints between the bricks, if he cannot achieve that, then one brick must be cut a bit shorter; small pieces are to be avoided as they are unsightly and they weaken to wall. While doing this job, one has to keep in mind that in a face brick wall the perpendicular joints become unsightly if they are bigger than the bed joint, therefore, it is better to keep the perpendicular joints smaller than the bed joint.

Now that the first course of bricks in stretcher bond has been laid from corner to corner, the bricklayer will lay bricks in the inside of this brickwork, if it is just a one brick thick wall he will lay the bricks right against the bricks he has already laid, but if it is a cavity wall then he has to set his inside wall as specified, most time this space between the walls is about 50mm. Now that the lowest wall has been set, he moves to work on the eastern wall, since this is the second lowest wall in this brick base.

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Working on the eastern brick wall. 

The eastern stepped concrete foundation is a longer foundation, and it has a difference in level of about 1.2 meter and this will be about 15 courses of bricks.

First, the bricklayer stretches the external line and a level tight line above the eastern wall, from these two lines he can check the outside alignment and the levels, then he checks and lays his first brick on the foundation near the first concrete step, as he has a four-brick high corner he can lay one to four brick next to the concrete steps. I must say here that it is hard to explain just by writing a text to show exactly how everything is done, but in building everything is common sense, so, use your imagination to see how things can be done.

Anyhow, let us assume that the bricklayer has set his bricks and now he is running his stretcher bond, from the south eastern corner to the north eastern corner of the house and the fourth course of bricks has been laid and the inside brick has been laid. At this point of time the bricklayer needs to build the south eastern corner higher to proceed with the works, unless another bricklayer is doing that for him. You see, I am writing this article as if there is a single bricklayer on the site at the beginning, but I am doing that because that is the only way to show you how we can start this brick base correctly.

Anyhow, at this point of time the bricklayer wants to add a couple more courses on the walls that he has started, so that his walls in this corner are higher than the ground and the trench then can be back filled at this corner of the house, so that it is easier for him and everybody else to work on level ground.

But before he does that, he knows that he must check what else needs to be done, he notes that there is an opening for a door after he lays another two or three courses of bricks and that he needs to reinforce his brickwork with some brick mesh reinforcement before the opening occurs, and there is also a dampcourse to be laid at the opening level, this dampcourse is only needed in this lower part of the base, because they are going to lay a concrete floor and build a couple of rooms under the house. The dampcourse is a thin layer of material that stops the dampness passing from the ground up and from one level to another; it works both ways depending on the way it is laid.

 In the specifications says that the reinforcement is needed every four courses and under and above all openings. So, he lays his mesh reinforcement on the walls and builds another corner three brick high, this is the level where the first opening occurs, it is also the level of the damp course. Here we need to note that to make it easier to understand what is happening, this south eastern corner is now seven bricks high form the foundation, at this point of time it is better that all the brickwork in the base is built to this level.

Once you have all the brickwork level, the dampcourse is laid according to the specification, and the first problem is solved in this lower part of the brick base. So, now the bricklayer/s can start building higher corners, as they did when he started, or if they want they can set bricklayer profiles if they are available, since now the brick walls at this lower end of the house are set at the right level and alignment.  

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To build a brick house you need a briklayer team. 

On the above written explanation, we have assumed as if there was only one bricklayer on the job, but to build a brick base a small gang of bricklayers and labour/s are needed, say two or three bricklayers and a labour. Sometimes there are no strict rules on the job, and they can help each other. Mind you this can only work with small gangs, and the bricklayer foreman is there to guide the team and help whoever needs help. On large team everyone has his own job to do, and when the unions have a say, they want you to do only your own job and nothing else, so, sometimes the unions are not helpful, but then again, they need to have their own rules otherwise they cannot exist.

Anyhow, let us go back to building this house brick base; now that the first part of the base has been started, the bricklayers must be careful to start the rest of the base correctly, so, they continue to lay brick and check for levels and alignments’ as they have done before, by building one wall at a time and a course at a time, until they bring all the brickwork level with the first brick on the foundation on the highest corner of the house foundation, here again everything must be checked and rechecked again, to make sure that everything is level and set at the right alignment and above all that there is no pig in the brickwork. To make sure there is no pig in it; all the walls must be built at this level and checked, and the last course must be a full closed ring. Then you can proceed to build everything to the finish height required.

I believe that this article has become too long, because of the explanations that are required, so, it is better if we write another article, and talk about what is going-on on the work site, while we are building this house brick base, and explain what is meant by a pig in the brickwork.

To make it easy to follow, this is the link to our next article, House brick base continues. 

To see more click on this link,  Building a brick base. 

See you soon.    

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Part two, DIY brickwork.

WELCOME TO OUR BLOG YOU ARE INVITED , TO BROWSE AS LONG AS YOU LIKE. Anyhow, here I will publish my own diary and what I see happening in the world, and when I do not have much to say, I will write posts from my life story. 

Anyhow, you can also find this article at, http://oldman-lifeworks.blogspot.com,  

My other sites; https://sites.google.com/site/menfrancoreconciliation/  

Farming today compared to the old way, My life my struggles, 

Hub Pages, DIY brickwork. and this article at this link, DIY brickwork. 

After learning how to use the trowel porperly, a bricklayer should know how to use the spirit level, because bricks or blocks are laid level and plumb, so, bricklayers need to use a very accurate spirit level, and know how to use it properly. 

Bricklayer must have a good lrvel, you see, a good quality spirit level is necessary to do a good job, as I have said, bricks must be laid level and plumb, and this can only be done with a good level. The bricklayers' most used level is 1.2 metre long. 

Explaining the spirit level. 

The bricklayers need many tools to do their job well, and they should know how to use them properly. The two most important tools are the trowel and the spirit level, without these two tools the bricklayers cannot work. So, let us explain how to use them properly and above all let us check the spirit level, as I have seen some DIYS make mistakes, because they do not know, how to check if their spirit level is right.

So, in this article let us assume that anyone can easily learn how to use the trowel, since the trowel is like a big flat spoon that picks up the mortar and lays it on the bricks or sticks the mortar to the bricks, it is also used to tap the brick to the right level and the right place and a good bricklayer can use it also to cut the bricks, all these action of the trowel are easy to understand and slowly one can learn how to use it, but the spirit level is not as simple, therefore, let us see how to use the spirit level, and above all how to check that your spirit level is working properly.

Most bricklayers use a 4-foot spirit level, most of these modern levels have three bubbles in it and they are very accurate, the two end bubbles are for plumbing (reading if the walls or posts are exactly vertical) the central bubble is for reading if the walls or whatever are level. But what about if these bubbles for some reason have gone out of their proper settings and when you read them, they give you a false reading?

Any good tradesman that uses these levels must know how to check if they are right or not, but let us assume that our readers are not tradesman, so, they want to know how to check if the level they are going to use is okay? To check if your level is okay, you should do the following:

First let us check the plumb bubbles; to check the plumbing bubbles, pick up your level, chose a post or wall that you think is strait and plumb, put one side of you level right against it and while lightly pushing against it check that the level touches evenly the surface you have chosen, if it does then without moving it look at the bubble level if it is right in the centre, if it is right in the centre then it is plumb, but to make sure that it is plumb you need to turn your level around 180 degrees in such a way that the face of the level that is now against the wall is away from the wall and the other side is against the wall, if here again the bubble is exactly in the centre then you know that that part of the wall you have chosen is plumb, and you also know that the bubble in your level is set right since you have compared it to the other side of itself.

Now that you have done that, turn your level upside down, so that you can check the other plumb bubble, if this bubble is also set right, the bubble should again be in the centre just like the other bubble, and when you turn you level around as before it should again be in the centre; but if it is not then this bubble is out and should not be used for plumbing.

Okay, we have checked the plumb bubbles and we are now going to check the level bubble, to check the level bubble, pick up your level, chose a wall or a bench that you think is level and do the following, place the level on it and if it the bubble level is in the centre then it is level, now you need to check that this bubble is really right; so, you need to make sure that you check this bubble against itself; in order to do this mark exactly where your level is; then turn your level around 180 degrees so that the end that was on the west side is now on the east side and the end on the east side is now on the west side, if the bubble reading is again in the centre as before your level is set right and you can use it. But if it is not then you might have to buy a new level. What we have written above is common knowledge to good tradesman.

 

Before you start work on a stand alone house or any other building, it is necessary to erect the profiles and mark them according to the plan measurement. above is a typical profile. 

This is a typical main floor house plan, this is the plan where most of the measurement are shown, even if there is another floor below or above, you need this to take your measurements. 

Getting ready to lay bricks. 

Anyhow, when you start building a stand alone house, on a blok of land, the first thing that is necessary to do is to set up a profile, to make sure that the house is set where the house plan says it should be, therefore, a profile must be there before you start laying bricks. Now to make things easier let us assume that the profile is already in place.

So, let us explain the procedure when we start working on this brick base. First, we bricklayers go to the profiles and tie the end of the bricklayers’ line, on the outside alignment of the house, then walk to the opposite side while unrolling the line and tie it in the same position. Here I need to point out to the DIY for the first time that the line must be stretched very tight, so that it stays in a straight line even if there is a wind blowing. Now that we have set the first line, we are going to set another line right across the first line and where these two lines meet, is the very first corner of the brick wall of the house.

Now with a plump bob or a spirit level mark on the foundation where the outside corner of the first brick is going to be laid, and you are ready to lay the first brick. Of course, it is necessary to repeat this procedure for every corner of the house. It is also necessary or helpful when the foundation of the house is not level to mark all the steps, so that you know that the wall is exactly in the right place; you see to start laying bricks in the foundation is a very hard and demanding job for the bricklayers, let us imagine that you have to lay bricks below the level where you are standing, and where you are standing is uneven ground and if you are unlucky it might even be wet. So, if you can make everything easier by marking all the critical points it helps. This of course, is only step one to ensure that the brick walls are going to be in the right place, and step two is about levels, so, let us see how these two critical things can be done together.

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How to start the brickwork level. 

Now that we have marked all the corners, we can start building this brick base on the right alignment, but we need to think about the levels; you see 99% of the bricks must be laid level and plumb, unless there is a specific reason for the walls to be leaning, but this does not happen when we build houses.

Anyhow, to start the brickwork level, we need to know if the two opposite corners are level, and if they are not, what is the difference between them, so that we can start the brick walls at the right level. With short walls it is enough to use the spirit level to do everything, but with longer walls we need to use other sophisticated levels. Therefore, it is necessary to mark the levels on every corner, so that the difference is known to the bricklayers before he starts laying bricks, because most of the difference must be rectified well below ground level and if possible, on the first course of bricks that we lay on the foundation.

Today there are several types of level that we can use, some of these levels are very expensive like surveyors level and other types, they also need an expert to use them and a helper at the other end to mark when instructed to do so, therefore, it is very helpful if one of these levels is being used on the site to mark all the levels around the house base for all the trades that are working on the house, but there are times when the bricklayers are left to their own devises, and they have to work out their own levels.

Now the bricklayers have many tools to carry around including the mixer and wheelbarrows, therefore, they try to avoid carrying expansive levels with themselves even when they know how to use them. So, some bricklayers use even today the water level, because it is a simple and cheap level, as it is only a clear hose filled up with water and it is easy to use, all you have to do is to fill up this hose with clean water and at the same time make sure that there are no air bubbles in it and you have a very accurate level ready to use.

Let us explain how the clear hose water level works, when you fill the hose up with water, make sure that there are no air bubbles left in it, if there are no bubbles, then the water in the two ends of the hose should always be level, whether they are beside each other, or when they are far apart. So, if you mark the top of a brick on a corner that you have already built you can mark this same level on the other corner, therefore, you know that this two marked points are level; then, you should stretch a brickies line between these two points making sure that the line sits exactly on the mark that you have made; now all the level below this line can be worked out easily from the bricklayer, using a type measure or a gauge rod.

The bricklayer can work out what to do if there is any difference on the foundation, and make sure that it is the same course of bricks by running a full course of bricks between these two marked points, at this stage the bricklayer not only has to take care that the wall is at the right alignment, he also has to make sure that the brick are laid level, and at the same time he needs to make sure about the bond, therefore, the easiest way to achieve that is to start from the lowest corner and lay a full course of bricks until he reaches the other corner, this will make sure that the brickwork is started level and with the right bond. This procedure should now be repeated also on the other walls until all the walls are set up, if everything is done properly we should end up with the last wall being the easiest to start, since we have set both corner to build the other walls, but be careful here that there is not a pig in it, which sometimes can even happen when we are not careful enough and the line is set on the wrong course of bricks.

Explaining what is meant that there is a pig in it and how to make sure that everything is set right from the very beginning. To make 100% sure that everything is level and that there is no pig in the brickwork, it is necessary that you run a full course of bricks all around the building at the same level, if that can be done and there is no brick sticking out it is okay. Now let us see how this can be avoided when we are working on a sloping site and the foundations have several steps in it, because this is the most likely place that a mistake can be made.

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Photo showing, a five course brick corner, on a cocrete slab, this is one of the easiest coners to build.  

Laying bricks on a sloping site. 

As we have said, the most important thing in bricklaying is that the bricks must be laid at the right alignment, straight, plumb and level, and when building a face brick wall, the bricklayer should pay particular attention to these details, beginning from the first course of bricks that we lay on the foundations, therefore, it is better to concentrate on this single issue, because it is very important to start the brickwork right from the beginning.

Now, to lay bricks on a level site it is easy; also, to lay bricks on a level foundation is easy, you see, you can build another corner as the one shown here at the other end, and by using a brickies line, with line blocks you can stretch a tight line and lay bricks in a straight line easily. Of course, here we have assumed that the foundations have been laid level, but on a stepped foundations it is not that easy, because even the concreters may not have been able to lay the foundations level, because the concrete moves until it sets, therefore, the bricklayers need to check and recheck the levels when they start bricklaying on a sloping site. One of the easiest ways to do that is to mark levels on the profiles all around the building site; then you can stretch a bricklayer tight line between these levels and measure from the line down to check your levels, ether with a type-measure or a gauge rod.

I know that you are saying, what is a gauge rod? Okay, a gauge rod is usually made from a long-marked piece of timber that the bricklayer marks himself, once he knows what sort of bricks he is going to lay and how thick these bricks are, and what is the best thickness of the joints for this brickwork. I know that the gauge rod sounds like a strange devise for those that are not used to work with bricklayers, but really it is only a straightedge that has been marked with the space of each brick including the joint, so that you can quickly know how many courses of bricks must be laid in the space that you are measuring.

Let me explain, to decide the spaces on the gauge, the bricklayer Forman measures the thickness of four bricks that have been laid with an average and attractive joint, and from these measurements he makes his gauge rod for this particular job; here it follows that when the gauge rod is not handy, we bricklayer talk about this space as the gauge that is supposed to be kept on this building site, which is four course of bricks.

Anyhow, I believe that this article is becoming too long, and difficult to understand for DIY for the first time, as there are too many things to keep in mind, and since there is a lot more that can be said about bricklaying, I think that it is better to write another article or two about it; which we are going to call, Building a brick base, or Bricklaying on a sloping site, where we are going to explain in more details how the work must be done and how to avoid to make mistakes.

Please note: these DIY building articles should be read one after the other to make sense, so, here is the link of our next building article. Building a brick base. 

To see more click on this link, DIY brickwork.

See you soon.

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