Tag Archive: Bricks
Retaining Walls – Besser Blocks
If you want a rendered surface on your retaining wall one of the best ways of achieving this is by using ‘Besser Blocks’. These are hollow concrete blocks which are designed to incorporate steel reinforcement within the block. A few issues…
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Brick ‘Bulldust’
I hear a lot of people agonise over the choice of bricks for their new house. That’s probably because they are: Looking Too Closely. At the builders display centre you may be handed individual bricks or see a board with…
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Brick – Fail
The other day I saw this garden wall . It looks like mowing the lawn could be dangerous! I certainly wouldn’t like to catch my ankle on that sharp piece of brick. A few years ago a kiln fused brick like…
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Brickwork – Mortar Joints
During your Selection or Pre-Start meeting It isn’t just Picking a Brick. You also have to pick a mortar colour and a type of mortar joint. Mortar Colour If you have been to a Brick Display Centre check what colour…
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Choosing Bricks
If you want brick you really need to go and visit one of the brick manufacturers display centres where they have display walls built with the various bricks. Make sure you look at the bricks in the builders standard range…
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Brickwork Fail 2
This brick wall is on a house opposite my bedroom window. To me its wrong on so many levels! Bricks are meant to be laid with a bond rather than stacked like this as it makes a stronger job. To…
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Why Double Brick
Double Brick is the most common method of construction in WA. Construction consists of two panels (sometimes called leaves) of masonry with a cavity between them. The panels are connected by steel ties at regular intervals. A better description would be Structural Masonry,…
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Leftover Bricks
Usually builders over order bricks. This is to ensure that all the bricks come from the same batch and there is no problem colour matching. (Each batch of bricks manufactured should be consistent within the batch, but will vary from…
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Brickwork – 45 Degree Corners
One of the things that really annoys me as I walk around is 45 degree bends in brick fences like this photo. Bricks are meant to be laid so that they fully interlocked and this is a long way short…
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Render or Brick?
Rendering is becoming fairly popular at the moment……………… However I think “Why pay more for a something that is only going to require painting in the future?” As my old woodworking teacher once told me “There’s nothing wrong with being…
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