Tips and Tricks for Brickwork and Masonry

Summary: In the information below you will find a great deal of tips, tricks for brickwork and masonry and also other information concerning working with these types of materials.

Select your desired Tips from the list below

Starting a project
Carpentry
Brickwork & Masonry
Decorating
Plumbing
Electrics
Conversion tables & quantities

BRICKS, SPECIAL BRICKS, BRICK CUTS AND POINTING

If there is a special project you have in mind and you are not sure how to accomplish it, it is handy to know that there are several "purpose made" bricks to help. If you are not aware of them, there is a table below. We have also included the names of the various parts of a brick, and different pointing techniques you may need.

Image of the parts that make up a brick and their names

BRICKS SHAPES

Image of all the different types of brick that are available

BRICKS CUTS

Image of the different types of brick cut that are available and their different names

POINTING METHODS

An image of all the different types of poiting methods available and the names of each

BUYING TIME

Building a bar-B-Q or a garden wall? Sand and cement goes hard quite quickly and if you are not very fast you could spend all day adding water and mixing it up time after time...... Add a thimble full of fairy liquid to a 12 sand-2 cement mix at the start and you will find you have lots more time to play with.

Please note: This entry has caused quite a stir in the building world, and for those making a success of their first BBQ we would suggest that to make mortar more workable for any larger project, they should use a proprietary mortar plasticiser.
It is not good building practice to use washing up liquid in mortar. Plasticiser can be bought in gallon containers from all builders merchants.

All article content written and produced by Mike Edwards