Bricklayer prices

[jordhandson]

What's a muck frame?

when a bricky puts the muck/ cement on the bricks he will then levelish it before he puts the bricks on to aid father and myself to keep a constant gap between each layer of brick father made a a 12 mm oblong frame I think it about a metre long and the width of a brick . you then place the frame on the row of brick put in some muck/cement level it using the top of the frame as a guide remove the frame and put on the bricks give them a gentle tap and repeat the next number of bricks if I remember I will get a pick of it tomorrow hope all that made sense

 

[Gritineye]

Pointing looks eroded. Was the wall built in lime? Lime is a handy system that keeps the bricks dry and reduces spalling. You do need to repoint every 100 years but if you forget to do that then the bricks can be cleaned up and used again. You can get NHL 3.5 from builders merchants. Shame to ruin it with more cement.

Quotes are mad the last couple of years. I'm doing my own partial rewire at the moment as I would need to do a few months work to cover the 10K quoted and I think it'll take a couple of weeks for me to do the work. For bricks 1K probably isn't unreasonable. It would take me more than 3 days to finish that wall. But it would end up beautiful.

I built my own wall (another 10K quote). That took ages.

View attachment 394204

I can't remember when I've seen a tile course that straight before....nope I never have!

Your wall is a perfect example of the enthusiastic amateurs work surpassing that of many so called professionals, hats off to you, well done!

 

[gaz1]

its easy to do if you have a wheel barrow and a mortar hoe

i did same as optima and made my own up comes really in handy i like it and use it often and no back breaking either even the lady can mix with it

Step by step guide.

it seems that the internet is the place to find "step by step" guides, so here's mine Step 0 Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 So there you have it the worlds most useless "step by step" guide for building some steps. :laughing::laughing: just needs a bit of tidying up now.

www.mig-welding.co.uk

as goes for mixing the cement mix it wet enough if too dry add more water

you wont know if you have mixed right until you start laying them they should be able to gently push down and to preline them easily enough by hand if you cant your too dry of a mix

 

[redlig]

Quick question, how many courses can you lay at a time?

Just don't get carried away and overdo it. When I built my place I used to do 2 courses a day ,blocks not bricks, and call it a day . Took forever ,it seemed , but who cared . I had other things to do that were more interesting. If your not used to it tiredness can creep in and then mistakes take over . As the saying goes"Slowly slowly catchee monkee" More rewarding that paying .

 

[bricol]

As a "it'll do" brick stacker, I find gloves hands nearly as useful as the travel for mortar adjustments

I have my dad's trowels - I have no idea what the biggest one was for, blocks maybe. As a mainly CAD-mouse driver, I'm not sure I could lift it one handed fully loaded

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

My first brick laying job was repairing a 1930s bay window.

First thing I learned was throw away my level...seems they hadn't been invented by 1935!

Luckily the house was painted white...a few extra coats of white paint and nobody was the wiser .

 

[brightspark]

My first brick laying job was repairing a 1930s bay window.

First thing I learned was throw away my level...seems they hadn't been invented by 1935!

Luckily the house was painted white...a few extra coats of white paint and nobody was the wiser .

no point in using a level bricking up doorways and above windows on old propertys . just use a string line across the gap and follow the contours of the mortar joints

 

[pedrobedro]

Level the top up to the lowest full course, point it up and put a soldier course on it then sell what bricks you have left or put them on freecycle to get rid, job done

 

[Blicksheep]

There are so many new builds going up that finding a brickie willing to take it on is a mission. My brother-in-law is a fok lift driver on new build sites and he says that pretty much all the trades are hard to come by at the moment.

Standard rates on sites are quite high at the moment because of this. Used to be able to get a brickie for £150 a day, and he would lay 1000 bricks for that. No longer the case.

Ah the old 1000 bricks a day myth

Quick question, how many courses can you lay at a time?

To many factors involved to answer that question

 

[Blicksheep]

The quote is a little steep but as has been mentioned brickies are making good money easily on site atm without the difficulties this job would present.
Go in a local site and offer a trowel £450 cash if that’s affordable for you??

 

[ajlelectronics]

hope all that made sense

It would have been better with the odd bit of grammar.

 

[reb78]

@RaceDiagnostics As half the wall is there, the hard part is done really as you have a horizontal and vertical line to follow, its just a case of putting the bricks back on top with new mortar. I would definitely do that myself I think - it shouldnt take too long and looking at what you have attempted elsewhere, not outside of your skillset. String a line for the new rows and it should be quite a quick process to re-lay and give you the satisfaction of saving £1000!

 

[redlig]

@RaceDiagnostics As half the wall is there, the hard part is done really as you have a horizontal and vertical line to follow, its just a case of putting the bricks back on top with new mortar. I would definitely do that myself I think - it shouldnt take too long and looking at what you have attempted elsewhere, not outside of your skillset. String a line for the new rows and it should be quite a quick process to re-lay and give you the satisfaction of saving £1000!

Don't forget the squirt of Fairy Liquid in the mortar as a plasticiser.

 

[reb78]

Don't forget the squirt of Fairy Liquid in the mortar as a plasticiser.

Haha - yep. It makes the mortar so nice and smooth.... there is some suggestion it may weaken the final set strength though although its not uncommon to use a dash...

 

[jordhandson]

It would have been better with the odd bit of grammar.

sorry about that but im a dooer not a talker

 

[jordhandson]

when a bricky puts the muck/ cement on the bricks he will then levelish it before he puts the bricks on to aid father and myself to keep a constant gap between each layer of brick father made a a 12 mm oblong frame I think it about a metre long and the width of a brick . you then place the frame on the row of brick put in some muck/cement level it using the top of the frame as a guide remove the frame and put on the bricks give them a gentle tap and repeat the next number of bricks if I remember I will get a pick of it tomorrow hope all that made sense

here you go Race, this is what father made years ago. the little bits off the bottom are to keep it from sliding off the bricks.

 

[MetalMonkey]

First thing I learned was throw away my level...seems they hadn't been invented by 1935!

no point in using a level bricking up doorways and above windows on old propertys . just use a string line across the gap and follow the contours of the mortar joints

This is one of the things that drives me absolutely bonkers, especially when putting up trunking or anything with a straight line on an old building - guys will bang it up on level and of course it will stick out like sore thumb. If you comment they will say, "well my bits level". Much better to measure it against whatever reference line your eye will naturally be drawn to and make it match, then at least it all blends in together. Very few old buildings are level, plumb, square or true!

 

[Colin Barron]

Don't forget the squirt of Fairy Liquid in the mortar as a plasticiser.

The proper plasticiser in 5l container is not expensive, febmix was once in powder form to mix with water; a brick layer once told me the inspectors don't like washing up liquid but it does work.

 

[redlig]

The proper plasticiser in 5l container is not expensive, febmix was once in powder form to mix with water; a brick layer once told me the inspectors don't like washing up liquid but it does work.

Main advantage fairy liquid has is that every kitchen has some or the equivalent.

 

[Bobtail4x4]

The proper plasticiser in 5l container is not expensive, febmix was once in powder form to mix with water; a brick layer once told me the inspectors don't like washing up liquid but it does work.

washing up liquid is full of salt, it weakens the morter mix when set.