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[botias]

Bricklaying! I have never done it before. I actually rather like it. The results are classy looking, and the work varies, but has a constant rhythm: Scrub the dirt off the bricks and soak them in a bucket, move tools to the worksite, move the bricks to the worksite and leave them to dry, wet down their bed, mix mortar (not too wet, not too stiff, it must be stiff enough to keep the shapes you whip it into (kind of like liquid rock meringue) and wet enough not to stick to your trowel) trowel the mortar onto your mortar board, scoop some up with your trowel and slap down a line of mortar on the bed, make a furrow in the center of the mortar line, pick up a brick (but don't touch the sides that might show!), determine what its most photogenic side is, 'butter' the end of the brick, slap the brick down, nudge it until there is a finger space between it and the brick next to it, nudge it until it is level with the front of the other bricks, whang it down with the handle of your trowel until it is level with the top of the other bricks, consult a level, whang some more, repeat as necessary, turn the level 90 degrees and tap on the brick until it is level front to back as well, scrape off excess mortar and return it to the mortar board.

Voila! One brick is placed. After you've repeated the process enough times to use up your little batch of mortar, and maybe scrubbed up some more bricks, or mixed another batch of mortar and laid more bricks, it's about time to 'point' the mortar on the first batch. Take a small kitchen knife (sorry A!) and carve out the half-hard mortar so that it slopes downward from the underside of the brick you recently placed to the top edge of the brick below. This will help your wall shed water. Use a 'special tool' ($5.95 at the hardware store) to tidy up the mortar between the sides into a nice inward curve.

Start again. :) I like that there's always something to do that moves the job forward; there are no stages where you have to wait 48 hours for each of 10 coats of something or other to dry. Also to my taste about bricklaying is that the brickwork is done and looks finished once you have pointed the mortar.

Comments

[bendy1.livejournal.com]

*happy sigh* I remember many a summers day bricklaying with my dad - it's deeply zen and the sense of accomplishment is huge. Well it is for a nine yr old :D

He used to let me plaster, too. And on a weirdly happy note, he died last year but all the buildings we worked on are still up \o/

[botias.livejournal.com]

That's very cool! It's lovely that you have all those concrete reminders about. *internet hugs*

Here on the California coast, masonry buildings are not exactly eternal so I'm always struck when I travel by all the neat old brick buildings. "Ooohh! The earth must not move here. Feature!"

[brunettepet.livejournal.com]

That sounds nice and relaxing. What are you building?

[botias.livejournal.com]

A planter for my garden. :) I will be posting pics when it is done, definitely. I will be so tickled.