Handyman Guide > Bricklaying

The home mechanic will probably wish to try his hand at building with bricks and certainly there are few materials so well suited to numerous building projects, whether they be inside the house or outside. Attractive and durable garden walks can be made by laying bricks dry in a bed of sand (See Section 11) and the home mechanic might well try his hand at one of thcse first to get the general feel of brickwork. Once the principles of bricklaying have bcen mastered, solid as well as attractive walls, chimneys and fireplaces can be constructed that will add to the appearance and comfort of the home.

Common brick, which can be purchased at the lumber yard in nearly every town and city, measures 2 1/4 x 3 3/4 x 8 inches.



Each row of bricks is called a "course." There are several courses such as the "stretcher course" where the bricks are set down flat and end to end. In the "header course" the bricks are laid with the width facing out. Bricks laid in this manner will make a wall 8 inches thick as the bricks are 8 inches long. This figure, 8 inches, by the way, is the minimum thickncss that any brick wall should be.

A brick wall is made by laying several courses, one over another, and the arrangement of the courses is called the bond. Actually it is the pattern of the wall.



In the common bond you will notice that there are five laycrs of stretcher courses topped with a header course. If the wall is to continue up, another five rows of stretcher courses should be set down and then another header course. This process continues to the top of the wall. As the wid th of the bricks on the stretcher course is only four inches, another stretcher course must be laid alongside the first to make the total eight inches. The header course will then tie in these two courses and make the wall solid.

Another type of bond is called the "English" bond. In this type there are alternative courses of headers and stretchers. A header is laid first and as this is eight inches deep, two stretcher courses, running alongside each other, go on top. On top of this goes a header course, then Ii stretcher, and so forth. In laying two stretcher courses, one alongside the other, it is important to stagger the vertical joints. This rule, in fact, applies to all vertical joints. The joints must be staggered so that one will not come directly on top of the other.



The "Flemish" bond is so constructed that each course is a combination of headers and stretchers. Professional bricklayers use a wide assortment of tools to speed up the work of laying bricks and to form different kinds of joints. As far as the home mechanic is concerned, he will need a trowel, a spirit level, a hammer (do not use a good claw hammer) and a cold chisel. The level should be about two feet long and of the type that can be used to check both vertical and horizontal lines. Do not try to judge whether the wall is plumb just by looking at it. Use the level often to make certain. A good way to keep each course horizontal is to stretch a line along the face of the wall and use this as a guide.


Continue to bricklaying 2



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The Workshop
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Elements of the House - Building Materials - Lumber - Molding - Kinds of Wood and their Characteristics - Plywood Wallboard - Roofing Materials - Concrete - Mixing Concrete - Cement Mortar - Concrete Forms - Concrete Blocks - Cinder Blocks - Bricklaying - Fieldstone - Anchoring in Masonry - Soldering.

Furniture
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Painting
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Plumbing
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Electricity
Definition of Terms - Ohm's Law - Alternating and Direct Current - Sources of Electrical Power - The Electrical System - Overloading the Circuit - Rewiring - Reading a Meter - Precautions - Fuses - Types of Cord - Splicing Wires - Replacing Plugs and Switches - Home Lighting - Electric Motors - Signaling System - Transformers - Burglar Alarms - Repairing the System - How to Install a Bell System.

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