Bricklaying Terms & Preparing the Footings

      

Bricklaying is an exacting job. It is heavy work, but, most of all, bricklaying takes lots and lots of patience because it is an exacting craft. As a do-it-yourselfer, laying bricks is within your skills. If you have never tackled a bricklaying project before, your first attempt ought to be a fairly simple job-such as a retaining wall or fence. This How-To Article addresses "vertical bricklaying" (walls and fences) rather than "horizontal bricklaying" (patios, walkways, driveways, etc.).

BRICKLAYING TERMINOLOGY:
Every craft has its special terminology. Bricklaying is no exception. Many basics discussed in this Article will be easier to follow if you learn these terms:

• STRETCHER- When a brick is laid so that along, narrow side is the one that is exposed, that brick is said to be a stretcher. The long edge is horizontal.
• HEADER- A header brick is laid so that a small end is exposed and the wide edge is horizontal.
• ROWLOCK STRETCHER- A stretcher lay so that the long, wide face is exposed.
• ROWLOCK HEADER- A header lay so the narrow edge of the face is horizontal. All masonry walls should be laid on a concrete footing or foundation-except in the most temperate climates. Foundation is wider than wall.
• SOLDIER- A brick is called a soldier when it stands vertically with the narrow, long face exposed.
• SAILOR- A sailor also stands on end. However, the long, broad face is exposed.
• WYTHE- A wythe is the term for all the vertical courses together. A brick wall may be one, two, or three wythes thick for most purposes.
• CLOSURE BRICK- In any course, bricks are laid from the outer edges in toward the center. The final brick, the one that fills the opening to complete the course, is called a closure brick. This brick almost always has to be cut to fit properly in its niche.

PREPARATION: THE FOOTINGS:
Brick structures must be supported by concrete footings. Otherwise, the heaving ground due to moisture and frost will crack the structure. Footings should extend to below the frost line. If the wall is load-bearing, the footing must be as deep as the wall is wide. The width of the footing should be twice the width of the wall. This means that a brick wall that is 12 inches thick requires a footing that is 12 inches deep and 24 inches wide. Walls that are not load-bearing don't have to be as thick or wide. A 2-wythe-thick wall would be 8 inches thick and require a footing 12 to 16 inches wide and 18 inches deep (this is an example). 1 x4 2x4

A simple trench may be dug for the footing. Or, you may want to dig a trench and form the sides of it with boards for the footing. This is recommended since the top of the concrete surface must be leveled. With board forms, you can use a 2x4 strike on the edges of the forms to level the concrete between them.

Also, you can mix the concrete for the footing, or you can prepare the trench/forms and have a ready-mix truck place the concrete for you. A good foundation mix, if you do it yourself is 1 bag of cement to 3-4 bags of aggregate (sand/gravel).

Batter boards are set after outline of project is determined. Batter boards are two long crosspieces nailed to stakes driven parallel to each wall side. There must be a batter board on each side of each corner of the work. Normally, the batter boards are set about 6 feet back from the preliminary outline stakes to insure that they are not knocked down during excavation. String lines from outline stakes are extended to batter boards. Nails are driven into the top of the boards and the string lines hook to these nails. Plumb bob dropped from the intersection of the string lines should fall on top of the center nails of the outline stakes for wall.

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