BRICK LAYING

Brick masonry construction is a great art since laying must be systematically done with respect to bonding, jointing and finishing. Brick laying for wall construction is done in the following steps:

1. All the bricks to be used in construction are thoroughly soaked in water so that they do not absorb the water of the mortar.

2. Mortar is spread on the top of the foundations course, over an area to be covered by the edges of the wall. The depth of spread of mortar may be about 1.5 cm.

3. The corner of the wall is constructed first. For that, one brick is laid first at the corner and pressed with hand so that the thickness of the bed-joint remains only about 1 cm. the first closer is covered with mortar on its side and then pressed against the first corner brick, such that 1 cm thick vertical joint is obtained. The excess mortar from the sides will squeeze out, which is cleaned off with trowel.

Figure. Brick laying by Conventional Method

4. The level and the alignment is checked. If the brick or closer is not in level, they are pressed gently further. Similarly, the placement of the edges of the bricks is checked so that correct offset of concrete is available.

5. Few headers and stretchers are then laid in the first course, adopting the same method as described in step 3 for the closer brick. That is, mortar is applied on the side of the brick to be laid and it is pressed against the previous brick laid earlier, so that excess mortar squeezes out from the sides. The level and alignment of these are properly checked.

6. After having laid the first course at the corner, mortar is laid and spread over the first course, to a depth of about 1.5 cm and end stretcher is laid first, by pressing it into the mortar and then hammering it slightly so that the thickness of the bed-joint is 1 cm. mortar is then applied on the side of another stretcher and pressed to the side of the corner stretcher so that thickness of the vertical joint is about 1 cm. Excess mortar which oozes out is cleaned off. This way, stretchers and headers are laid for the second course.

7. Other courses (usually four to six) are then laid at the corner. Similarly, the corner at the other end of the wall is laid. Since the corner construction at each end works as a guide for filling in-between bricks of various courses, the corner construction should be done with great care. The plumb as well as alignment should be thoroughly checked. Plumbing up by means of plumb rule should be frequently restored to as new brick work has a tendency to overhang. Vertical face is obtained by tapping the handle of the trowel against the overhanging bricks. 

8. For building the in-between portion of the wall, a cord is stretched along the top of the first course laid at each other. A brick bat is attached at either end of the cord so that it remains tout. The course is then built. The line or cord is then shifted up, corresponding to the top level of the second course, and the second course is also constructed. The procedure is repeated till the in-between wall is constructed to the height of corner masonry.

9. The corners of the wall are then raised further, and steps 7 and 8 are repeated. All the walls should be uniformly constructed so that the load on the foundations is uniform. It should be ensured that the difference in height between two adjoining walls is not more than 1m.

10. Prepends must be kept vertical. This should be checked, as the work proceeds, with the help of straight edge and the square. The straight edge is placed flat on the course and slightly projecting beyond the face. The stock of the square is then set against the underside of the straight edge with the blade coinciding with the last-formed vertical joint.

11. Bricks with one frog should be laid with its frog on its top face to ensure that they will be completely filled with mortar.

12. In the case of thick walls, mortar is first spread over the entire bed and the outer bricks are laid as described above. The inner bricks are then pressed and rubbed into position to cause some of the mortar to rise between the vertical joints, which are finally filled flush with liquid mortar so that no hollow spaces are left.

13. All loose materials, dirt and set lumps of mortar which may be lying over the surface on which the brick work is to be freshly started, should be removed with wire brush and wetted slightly.

14. After having constructed the wall, jointing and pointing is done. The procedure for jointing and pointing has been described separately. However, all the joints should be cleaned and finished after every day’s work.