Stopped by a Brick. A Story

An Inspirational Story with Wisdom
Stopped By A Brick
by Author Unknown
About ten years ago, a young and very successful executive named Josh was traveling down a Chicago neighborhood street. He was going a bit too fast in his sleek, black, Jaguar, which was only two months old. He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something. As his car passed, no child darted out, but a brick sailed out and - WHUMP! - it smashed into the Jag's shiny black side door! SCREECH...!!!! Brakes slammed! Gears ground into reverse, and tires madly spun the Jaguar back to the spot from where the brick had been thrown.
Josh jumped out of the car, grabbed the kid and pushed him up against a parked car. He shouted at the kid, "What was that all about and who are you? Just what the heck are you doing?!" Building up a head of steam, he went on. "That's my new Jag, that brick you threw is gonna cost you a lot of money. Why did you throw it?"
"Please, mister, please...I'm sorry! I didn't know what else to do!" pleaded the youngster. "I threw the brick because no one else would stop!"
Tears were dripping down the boy's chin as he pointed around the parked car. "It's my brother, Mister," he said. "He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can't lift him up." Sobbing, the boy asked the executive, "Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He's hurt and he's too heavy for me."
Moved beyond words, the young executive tried desperately to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat.
Straining, he lifted the young man back into the wheelchair and took out his handkerchief and wiped the scrapes and cuts, checking to see that everything was going to be OK. He then watched the younger brother push him down the sidewalk toward their home. It was a long walk back to the sleek, black, shining, Jaguar - a long and slow walk.
Josh never did fix the side door of his Jaguar. He kept the dent to remind him not to go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at him to get his attention.
Don't let the bricks in life hit you, be sensitive to those around you

News Release - Paver Directory

Paver Directory - now on the web

27th May 2010

http://www.paverdirectory.co.uk/ has been put together by Brick and Paver Man, Tim

Bristow. The Paver Directory (part of the http://www.brickdirectory.co.uk/ Database) is

a comprehensive website of web links which help landscapers/garden designers/self

builders/builders/developers/renovators/architects get in contact with Paver

Manufacturers as well as Garden Centres, Landscape Designers and Architects,

Merchants and Importers. According to Tim Bristow ‘We are not selling anything just

helping people choose the right Clay, Concrete, Slate, Stone paver from the 1,800 or

so oblong, square, triangular, cobble, patterened and other types of paver available in

the UK’. For inclusion in the web site send an E mail with logo and brief description

to info@brickdirectory.co.uk

Ends

For further information, please contact

Tim Bristow, http://www.paverdirectory.co.uk/ Phone 07836 761541. E mail info@brickdirectory.co.uk or brickdirectory@aol.com

Here are some basic tips for Bricklaying, and also for inspecting Brickwork and Bricklayers!!

As Written by REUSSIR LTD "The Premier Brickwork Contractor in South Wales" http://www.reussir.co.uk/ .

Laying

Make sure the Mortar board is at least 600mm x 600mm in size, and does not have any nails in it. Ensure the labourer splashes it with water before putting any mortar on it. This will keep the mortar more workable for longer.

Always cut your mortar down from the top of the pile with the blade of your trowel, and "ROLL IT", before lifting to place on the wall. There is nothing worse than watching a Bricklayer STICK his trowel into a pile of mortar, and lifting a huge lump up onto the wall, most of which falls off and smears the face of the brickwork, or if he is lucky enough to get it onto the wall, he will then have the problem of "overbedding", making more work for himself and putting more pressure on the wet course below, causing bricks below to tip or swim. I completely disagree with those that say it is "too slow" to cut & roll your mortar, It is far slower and more costly trying to correct roughly built brickwork.

When you bed the brick, do so in a relaxed manner, without too much downward pressure on the brick, especially from the base of your hand, as this causes the brick to tip. You must also be aware of the brick laying correctly horizontally as well as vertically, this will prevent any "hatching & grinning". As the brick sinks into the bed caused by its own weight and a little pressure from you, any surplus mortar will spill out, as you run the sharp side of your trowel blade, along the face of the brickwork, keep the back of the trowel as close to the face as possible, before quickly turning it to catch the surplus mortar onto your trowel. If you`ve bedded correctly there will be only enough to use for the perp joint of the next brick you pick up.

When jointing the perp of the next brick, make sure you do so in three quick movements. 1st is the centre of the brick end, then the two edges. Do Not "top & tail" the brick as this leaves a hollow joint, always make sure the joint is full.

After you have finished the length of one course, always run the edge of your trowel along the back of the course collecting any mortar that has spilled out into the cavity face. This is very important, and make sure you catch as much of it as possible, and don't just cut it off, so it falls down the cavity, as this will dirty the ties and build up on any dpc trays etc.

"Remember, Correcting Brickwork is far more expensive, than building correct brickwork"

Brickwork can look good, but may be hiding a full cavity, poorly bedded ties, ties covered in mortar, dpc`s not bedded or split, other obstructions in the cavity etc, or many other defects.

When constructing a corner make sure that when you start on the first couple of courses, you extend your level down below the scaffold boards. This will ensure you carry on the same vertical line of the full lift below. It`s amazing how many times Bricklayers plumb off the top brick only, and when the complete lift is finished it is not on the same vertical line as the entire building. Always read your level correctly, making sure the bubble is not touching any of the lines in the glass vial of your level. Too many Bricklayers "see the bubble go past in the morning and come back in the evening". Take your time and get the bubble right.

When "jointing" or "raking out" the facework timing is critical, keep testing the joints by feeling the moisture content with your fingers every hour or so, until it feels firm but not hard, and damp but not wet.

After jointing, don`t "brush the wall off" immediately, it is best to wait about 30 minutes, then using a nice clean and dry broom head give it a light brush covering the entire face of the wall. Check the mortar joints for any brush marks or holes, then stand back and feel proud as you look at the work YOU have just produced, hopefully it may be there for the next 50-100 years.

Inspecting Brickwork



Does the lift of Brickwork "Look pleasing to the eye"?

Has the wall been built correctly to the drawings, i.e correct bond, openings in the correct place, any features are correct?

Is the brickwork not only to the correct gauge (4 courses to 300mm) but is it to the correct "engineers value" of the building i.e 54.025m for example? This can be easily checked if the Brickwork Sub-contractor, or the Foreman Bricklayer gave you a "Job specific Gauge Sheet" at the start of the project, this cross references the gauge of each course to the Engineer`s value or the site levels etc.

Is the DPC positioned & bedded correctly? Check the "Spec" because many contracts vary, some like to see a few millimetres of dpc protruding from the brick face, others don`t want to see any at all.

Have the bricks been mixed correctly, to avoid banding?

Has the brickwork been covered correctly each night, down to below the scaffold boards, to avoid "Scaffold Rash"? If there is some rashing, it is wise to get a labourer to at least give it a soaking and light brush before the scaffold is raised, this makes it alot easier when you come to do final clean downs, before handover stage.

Is the cavity clean, and ties free from mortar, make sure any cavity insulation is fixed tightly back to the inner leaf, with no spaces visible?

Remember, when inspecting Brickwork you have to be practical and professional, not over critical, anyone can find faults, but it is a real skill to be able to get over Brickwork problems quickly, without causing too much disruption to the contract program and other following-on trades. If there is something concerning you, think about the threat to the lifespan of the building and whether that will be effected.

News Release Directory of Stone in The Brick Directory - now on the web

18th May 2010



http://www.directoryofstone.co.uk/ has been put together by Brick and Stone Man, Tim



Bristow. The Directory of Stone (part of the http://www.brickdirectory.co.uk/ Database) is



a comprehensive website of web links which help self



builders/builders/developers/renovators/architects get in contact with stone quarries



as well as stone merchants, importers and factors. According to Tim



Bristow ‘We are not selling anything just helping people choose the right



Cast, Portland, Slate, Granite, Marble, Ashlar, Sandstone, Limestone, Dressed Stone



from the 2,000 or so types available in the UK’. For inclusion in the web site send an



E mail with logo and brief description to info@brickdirectory.co.uk



Ends





For further information, please contact

Tim Bristow, http://www.directoryofstone.co.uk/ Phone 07836 761541. E mail info@brickdirectory.co.uk or brickdirectory@aol.com

Bricks from a Self Builders Perspective

http://www.theselfbuilder.com/new-features/material-matters/bricks


The Brits have a fondness for bricks. Like Yorkshire pud and Sir Trevor McDonald, they have a special place in our hearts. It’s no surprise then that 80 per cent of new homes are clad at least in part using brick, and that it is still the most popular choice in the UK for the exterior of homes.

Think Victorian terrace housing, quaint church rectories and modern cul-de- sacs – bricks make up a large proportion of our built environment. Why then have bricks been frowned upon by recent generations of architects, spurned in favour of concrete or glass? Seen as too conservative by many and too closely associated with the past, perhaps? But as the projects featured in these pages show, bricks can be versatile, they can be daring and they can most definitely be cool.

Whether handmade or mechanically produced, the basic manufacturing process has remained the same for centuries. You dig the clay, mix and roll it, then dry it before it’s stored. On the day of production, water is added and the moist mud is banged into a wooden mould. Once turned on its head, the mould is prized from the clay and the bricks are dried to remove remaining water. Now ready for firing, they are stacked in the kiln and blasted at temperatures ranging from 900-1,200°C, depending on the type of clay. Checked for mistakes, packaged and placed in the stocking yard, the bricks are finally lorried away.

Nobody can call bricks boring. They come in an astounding range of colours and texture – indeed 38 varieties are produced from one Ibstock pit alone. The colour of a brick varies depending on the depth of clay used and the components added. To darken a brick, coal is added; to lighten it, lime can be used. There’s also a plethora of glazed bricks available. For texture, sand is commonly added to the clay to create a rough finish, while the use of oil or water when extracting the brick from the mould ensures a smooth surface. Other methods include dragging rollers indented with various patterns over the bricks and adding glass beads. Using these simple processes, blobs of mud are turned into an attractive and solid construction material. It’s now up to the architect to do the bricks justice and be creative with their designs. 

SITE RULES

Storage: inspect the bricks on delivery. Unload them directly onto a dry level area or scaffold and protect from the weather.

Mortar: correctly proportion and thoroughly mix the mortar. Add nothing but clean water after this point and never use mortar after it has started to set.

Uniform walls: to avoid patches or bands of different shades, use bricks from at least three packs at the same time and don’t place all the bricks from one pack in one patch of the wall.

Protection: all brick walls must be covered during breaks in construction. Rain on recent brickwork can cause the mortar to change colour, or create lime stains, efflorescence and saturation. In cold, wet weather cover with a water-resistant material; in dry weather use hessian.

 

BRICK: A BRIEF HISTORY

The mud brick was invented between 10,000 and 8,000 BC making brick one of the oldest building materials known to man. The Mesopotamians developed the moulded brick in around 5000 BC, but the greatest breakthrough came with the invention of fired brick in about 3,500 BC. From this moment on, bricks could be made without the scorching heat of the sun and they soon became popular in cooler climates.

Brick was adopted in the Islamic world and in parts of India, South-East Asia and China – the Great Wall of China was constructed in brick during the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644). The Romans introduced brick building to Europe and it continued to dominate during the medieval and Renaissance period, with the red bricks of the Mediterranean and the austere brickwork of Northern Europe. The Georgians, Edwardians and Victorians all relied heavily on brick for their burgeoning cities.

Bricks crossed the Atlantic with Dutch and British immigrants and many early American skyscrapers are clad in brick or terracotta – an astounding 10 million bricks were used to construct the Empire State Building. It was used by some of the 20th century’s most famous architects including Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Kahn, but towards the end of the century brick was perceived, unfairly, to be a cheap and uninspiring material. Brick lost out to stone, steel and glass, and became synonymous with uninspired developer-fare design.

But Now comes a new attitude: brick is back with a vengeance. Despite competition from prefabrication and other new technologies, brick has regained its place.

News Release - Brick Directory

Directory of Bricks - The Brick Directory - now on the web

13th May 2010

http://www.brickdirectory.co.uk/ has been put together by Brick Man, Tim Bristow.

The Directory of Bricks is a comprehensive website of web links which helps self


builders/builders/developers/renovators/architects get in contact with all brick

manufacturers as well as brick merchants, importers and factors, brick services


companies, builders merchants, roof tile and paver manufacturers. According to Tim

Bristow ‘We are not selling anything just helping people choose the right

red/buff/grey/orange/blue/black, handmade/pressed/wirecut/stock,

reclaimed/rough/smooth textured, metric/imperial Brick from the 1,800 or so types

available in the UK’. For inclusion in the web site send an E mail with

logo and brief description to info@brickdirectory.co.uk

Ends

For further information, please contact

Tim Bristow, http://www.brickdirectory.co.uk/ Phone 07836 761541. E mail info@brickdirectory.co.uk or brickdirectory@aol.com

Planning permission required for paving your driveway?

Over the last 18 months, there has been much talk on the changes imposed by the Government to the ways we pave our front gardens.

This is the gist of it… As of 1st October 2008 planning permission is required to lay traditional impermeable driveways that allow uncontrolled runoff of rainwater from front gardens onto roads, because this can contribute to flooding and pollution of water courses. However, householders will not require planning permission if they use permeable paving, or have sufficient drainage or soak away to ensure runoff from non-permeable surfaces does not go onto roads.

Basically, this is a great move. In times of heavy or sustained rainfall our drainage systems comes under extreme pressure. Catastrophic flooding in parts of the UK in recent years has demonstrated the distressing consequences of overloading the system and the importance of water management in our urban areas.
Permeable paving is certainly the best option environmentally, and the easiest choice when it comes to the new legislation. However not everyone has the right soil conditions for permeable paving and for it to work well, it really does need to be installed by a professional.

Whatever your choice – permeable paving or planning permission – there are plenty of products on the market that will suit every project.