Brickwork! DIY job???

[stevieb]

I need to brick up an external door way between my kitchen and the side passage that leads to my garden.

The doorway is a standard width of 768mm and a height of 1980mm. I am taking this as a small job to do. and will require around 100 or so bricks.

Any advice that can be given to a complete bricky novice.. Other aspects of DIY i am ok with Carpentry, Plumbing etc.

Are the brick tie-in brackets from builders merchants needed?

[monthefish]

Brickwork isn't difficult - just take a bit of practice and developing a 'knack'.
Like tiling, take your time and don't do too much at once.
Get a bit right. Let it set. Repeat.

[Si 330]

It's a bit of an art and very easy to get it looking awful.
If not done well it will really stand out.
For the sake of a small out lay get somebody in.

[monthefish]

Disagree - especially if it's a doorway that is being bricked up - presumably it'll be plastered/rendered over, so even if the brickwork skills aren't up to much, it won't really matter.

I'm no bricky, but the walls I have built have all looked fine. (did a 1-day course a few years ago, as the course was about £200, and I'd had a quote for a 'small job' of around the £700 mark.)

[Si 330]

What about the external face? if it's going to be render it doesn't matter.
If it's on display it sticks out.

[Deva Link]

monthefish said:

Disagree - especially if it's a doorway that is being bricked up - presumably it'll be plastered/rendered over, so even if the brickwork skills aren't up to much, it won't really matter.

Except from the outside?

Bear in mind that if you get new bricks which match in appearance then they may be a slightly smaller size if the house is over a certain age due to the sizes being metric now. You can get away with it, but the mortar joints will be wider.

We had this done and one thing the brickie did rather than chop out the alternate half bricks on each side, which would have been really awkward due to a soil pipe, he just chipped the corner off them (like cutting the half-brick in half diagonally, if you looked at it from the top) and then did the same with the new brick going in next to it, so it looks like it's all properly bonded in.

[b2hbm]

As a complete amateur myself at brickwork, a couple of things that I'd think about;

1. If you've never laid bricks before, then use a bit of string between every few brickwork courses to make sure you follow the mortar lines from the existing wall. Nothing looks worse than alternate thick/thin layers of mortar every other course in an attempt to get the bricks to line up.

2. If you're not cutting out bricks from either side of the doorway then I would certainly fit wall ties to key in the new bricks. Wickes or builders merchants supply. I think you'll need them across the cavity to the inner wall as well.

3. Sorry if I'm teaching granny to suck eggs, but if you've not mixed up bricklaying mortar before, there is a water additive which makes it much smoother to use. (looked like a soap-type thing to me) It's sold in 5L containers by Wickes, etc. It's cheap and really makes the mortar easier to handle.

4. As a contingency, make plans for closing the gap just in case you don't get it all done in the day - I'm not questioning your skill, but it might just rain !

[monthefish]

Deva Link said:

monthefish said:

Disagree - especially if it's a doorway that is being bricked up - presumably it'll be plastered/rendered over, so even if the brickwork skills aren't up to much, it won't really matter.

Except from the outside?

Why? Is this finish of the house not roughcasted/other?

[Deva Link]

monthefish said:

Deva Link said:

monthefish said:

Disagree - especially if it's a doorway that is being bricked up - presumably it'll be plastered/rendered over, so even if the brickwork skills aren't up to much, it won't really matter.

Except from the outside?

Why? Is this finish of the house not roughcasted/other?

I don't know - does it say it is somewhere?

Without any comment this it is, I would assume that it isn't.

Are you thinking most houses are finished that way? I've never counted, but I'd be amazed if that's true.

[monthefish]

Deva Link said:

monthefish said:

Deva Link said:

monthefish said:

Disagree - especially if it's a doorway that is being bricked up - presumably it'll be plastered/rendered over, so even if the brickwork skills aren't up to much, it won't really matter.

Except from the outside?

Why? Is this finish of the house not roughcasted/other?

I don't know - does it say it is somewhere?

Without any comment this it is, I would assume that it isn't.

Are you thinking most houses are finished that way? I've never counted, but I'd be amazed if that's true.

I don't know either, but even with perfect brickwork, it'll still look pretty poor as it'll be immediately apparent that it is a bricked-up doorway. But perhaps aesthetics aren't a consideration, and if that's the case, then the OP shopuld have a go himself.

[Spudler]

monthefish said:

I'm no bricky, but the walls I have built have all looked fine.

Always gives me a chuckle when people are proud to show their brickwork...when, to a trained eye, it looks a bag of st.

Not saying yours is but I've yet to see a DIYer turn out something approaching the standard of a quality bricky.

OP, it all depends on what level of standard you'll accept on your property. I guarantee it will stick out like a sore thumb if DIY.

[stevieb]

The door way leads onto a side passage that is not viable from the road. It is next to a 7 foot brickwall. Plastering is no problem. The inside will be skimmed, but it will not be visable. As kitchen cabinets will be covering the inside all with and the small space left will be tiled.

Also the house is only 10 years old so the colour match on the bricks is not a problem, already got them from teh building merchants. The next door neighbours have had it done to make extra worktop spece but the builder charged them £1400 + Materials. I am sorry but i can not see why it should cost that much when the bricks are only £80.

All this should be done within a day, then i will be starting on a complete kitchen refit.

Edited by stevieb on Tuesday 23 March 21:36

[monthefish]

Spudler said:

monthefish said:

I'm no bricky, but the walls I have built have all looked fine.

Always gives me a chuckle when people are proud to show their brickwork...when, to a trained eye, it looks a bag of st.

Not saying yours is but I've yet to see a DIYer turn out something approaching the standard of a quality bricky.

If I were you, I'd be very embarrased if after 26 years, an as a 'bricklayer by trade' you couldn't achieve a better standard of brickwork than someone who didn't have the experinece you have, but that doesn't mean to say that everyone else's work is a "bag of st", as you so eloquently put it. I'm a chartered engineer (and so my eyes are trained fine, thank you very much) and the jobs that I have done were absolutely fine. It's not like we are talking a beautiful sculptures here - we're talking about nice, even, consistent mortar joins between fairly standard-sized blocks. It's not rocket science.

[andy6581]

Easy peasy

[Deva Link]

Seamless.

[sleep envy]

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/...

[stevieb]

monthefish said:

Spudler said:

monthefish said:

I'm no bricky, but the walls I have built have all looked fine.

Always gives me a chuckle when people are proud to show their brickwork...when, to a trained eye, it looks a bag of st.

Not saying yours is but I've yet to see a DIYer turn out something approaching the standard of a quality bricky.

If I were you, I'd be very embarrased if after 26 years, an as a 'bricklayer by trade' you couldn't achieve a better standard of brickwork than someone who didn't have the experinece you have, but that doesn't mean to say that everyone else's work is a "bag of st", as you so eloquently put it. I'm a chartered engineer (and so my eyes are trained fine, thank you very much) and the jobs that I have done were absolutely fine. It's not like we are talking a beautiful sculptures here - we're talking about nice, even, consistent mortar joins between fairly standard-sized blocks. It's not rocket science.

Needless to say that i am a poor chartered engineer, and was previously employed as a propulsion engineer (aka Ricket Scuentist) for Lockhead Martin!

[monthefish]

stevieb said:

monthefish said:

Spudler said:

monthefish said:

I'm no bricky, but the walls I have built have all looked fine.

Always gives me a chuckle when people are proud to show their brickwork...when, to a trained eye, it looks a bag of st.

Not saying yours is but I've yet to see a DIYer turn out something approaching the standard of a quality bricky.

If I were you, I'd be very embarrased if after 26 years, an as a 'bricklayer by trade' you couldn't achieve a better standard of brickwork than someone who didn't have the experinece you have, but that doesn't mean to say that everyone else's work is a "bag of st", as you so eloquently put it. I'm a chartered engineer (and so my eyes are trained fine, thank you very much) and the jobs that I have done were absolutely fine. It's not like we are talking a beautiful sculptures here - we're talking about nice, even, consistent mortar joins between fairly standard-sized blocks. It's not rocket science.

Needless to say that i am a poor chartered engineer, and was previously employed as a propulsion engineer (aka Ricket Scuentist) for Lockhead Martin!

Exactly, so you have no chance of laying some square blocks in a straight line. I know you may have done it aged 4, but this is different. Leave it to the professionals otherwise it will look like a bag of st.

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