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SCAFFOLD , SCAFFOLDING). Bricks are carried to the scaffold on a hod which holds twenty, bricks, or they may be hoisted in baskets or boxes by means of a See also:pulley and fall, or may be raised in larger See also:numbers by a See also:cranes The See also:mortar is taken up in a hod or hoisted in pails and deposited on ledged boards about 3 ft square, placed on the scaffold at convenient distances apart along the See also:line of See also:work. The bricks are piled on the scaffold between the mortar boards, leaving a clear way against the See also:wall for the bricklayers to move along. The workman, beginning at the extreme See also:left of his See also:section, or at a quoin, advances to the right, carefully keeping to his line and frequently testing his work with the plumb-See also:rule, spirit-level and straight-edge, until he reaches another See also:angle, or the end of his section. The pointing is sometimes finished off as the work proceeds, but in other cases the See also:joints are left open until the completion, when the work is pointed down; perhaps in a different mortar. When the wall has reached a height from the scaffold beyond which the. work-See also:man cannot conveniently reach; the scaffolding is raised and the work continued in this manner from the new level. It is most important that the See also:brickwork be kept perfectly plumb, and that every course be perfectly See also:horizontal or level, both longitudinally and transversely. Strictest See also:attention should be paid to the levelling of the lowest course of footings of a wall, for any irregularity will necessitate the inequality being made up with mortar in the courses above, thus inducing a liability for the wall to See also:settle unequally, and so perpetuate the infirmity. To See also:save the trouble of keeping the plumb-rule and levelconstantly in his hands and yet ensure correct work, the bricklayer, on clearing the footings of a wall, builds up. six or eight courses of bricks' at the See also:external angles (see fig. I), which he carefully plumbs and levels across. These See also:form a See also:gauge for the intervening -~ . JIM ~i- ^ 1®1111f11•1T T MOM MINE See also:concrete, work, a line being tightly strained between and. fixed with See also:steel pins to each angle at a level with the See also:top of the next course to be laid, and with this he makes his work range. If, however, the length between the See also:quoins be See also:great, the line will of course sag, and it must, therefore, be carefully supported at intervals to the proper level. Care must be taken to keep the "perpends," or See also:vertical joints, one immediately over the other. Having been carried up three or four courses to a level with the guidance of the line which is raised course by course, the work should be proved with the level and plumb-rule, particularly with the latter at the quoins and reveals, as well as over the See also:face. A See also:smart tap with the end of the handle of the See also:trowel will suffice to make a See also:brick yield what little it may be out of truth, while the work is See also:green, and not injure it. The work of an efficient craftsman, however, will need but little See also:adjustment. For every wall of more than one brick (9 in.) thick, two men should be employed at the same See also:time, one on the outside and th@ line See also:pin 522 other inside; one man cannot do See also:justice from one See also:side to even a r4-in. wall. When the wall can be approached from one side only, the work is said to be executed " overhand." In work circular on See also:plan, besides the level and plumb-rule, a gauge See also:mould or template, or a ranging trammel—a See also:rod working on a See also:pivot at the centre of the See also:curve, and in length equalling the See also:radius—, must be used for every course, as it is evident that the line and pins cannot be applied to this in the manner just described. Bricks should not be merely laid, but,each should be placed See also:frog upwards, and rubbed and pressed firmly down in such a manner as to secure See also:absolute See also:adhesion, and force the mortar into joints. Every brick should be well wetted before it is laid, especially in hot dry See also:weather, in See also:order to See also:wash off the dust from its See also:surface, and to obtain more See also:complete adhesion, and prevent it from absorbing See also:water from the mortar in which it is bedded. The bricks are wetted either by the bricklayer dipping them in water as he uses them, or by water being thrown or sprinkled on them as they See also:lie piled on the scaffold. In bricklaying with See also:quick-setting cements an ample use of water is of even more importance. All the walls of a See also:building that are to sustain the same floors and the same roof, should be carried up simultaneously; in no circumstances should more be done in one See also:part than can be reached from the same scaffold, until all the walls are brought up to the same height. Where it is necessary for any See also:reason to leave a portion of the wall at a certain level while carrying up the adjoining work the latter should be racked back, i.e. left in steps as shown in fig. 7, and not carried up vertically with merely the toothing necessary for the See also:bond. Buildings in exposed situations are frequently built with cavity-walls, consisting of the inside or See also:main walls with an See also:outer skin Hollow usually See also:half a brick thick, separated from the former by a walls. cavity of 2 or 3 in. (fig. 2). The two walls are tied together at frequent intervals by See also:iron or stoneware ties, each having a See also:bend or twist in the centre, which prevents the transmission of water to the inner wall. All water, therefore, which penetrates the outer wall drops to the See also:base of the cavity, and trickles out through gratings provided for the purpose a few inches above the ground level. The base of the cavity should be taken down a course or two below the level of the See also:damp-See also:proof course. The ties are placed about 3 ft. apart horizontally, with 12 or 18 in. vertical intervals; they are about 8 in. See also:long and . in. wide. It is considered preferable by some architects and builders to See also:place the thicker wall on the outside. This course, however, allows the main wall to be attacked by the weather, whereas the former method provides for its See also:protection by a See also:screen of brickwork. Where See also:door and window frames occur in hollow walls, it is of the utmost importance that a proper See also:lead or other flashing be built in, shaped so as to throw off on each side, clear of the frames and main wall, the water which may penetrate the outer See also:shell. While building the wall it is very essential to ensure that the cavity and ties be kept clean and See also:free from rubbish or mortar, and for this purpose a wisp of See also:straw or a narrow See also:board,, is laid on the tics where the bricklayer is working, to catch any aterial that may be inadvertently dropped, this protection being raised as the work proceeds. A hollow wall tends to keep the building dry internally and the temperature equable, but it has the disadvantage of harbouring See also:vermin, unless care be taken to ensure their exclusion. The top of the wall is usually sealed with brickwork to prevent vermin or rubbish finding its way into the cavity. See also:Air gratings should be introduced here to allow of air circulating through the cavity; they also facilitate drying out after See also:rain. Hollow walls are not much used in See also:London for two reasons, the first being that, owing to the protection from the weather afforded by surrounding buildings, one of the main reasons for their use is gone, and the other that the expense is greatly increased, owing to the authorities ignoring the outer shell and requiring the main wall to be of the full thickness stipulated in See also:schedule I. of London Building See also:Act 1894. Many See also:English provincial authorities in determining the thickness of a cavity-wall, take the outer portion into See also:consideration. In London and the surrounding counties, brickwork is measured by the rod of 162 ft. square, 12 bricks in thickness. A rod of brick-Materials work gauged four courses to a See also:foot with bricks 8'-,-, in, long, and 4 in. wide, and 2.3-1 in thick, and joints 1 in. in thickness, labour. will require 4356 bricks, and the number will vary as the bricks are above or below the See also:average See also:size, and as the joints are made thinner or thicker. The quantity of mortar, also, will evidently be affected by the latter consideration, but in London it is generally reckoned at 50 cub. ft. for a i-in. See also:joint, to 72 cub. ft. for a joint in. thick. To these figures must be added an See also:allowance of about I I cub. ft. if the bricks are formed with frogs or hollows. Bricks weigh about 7 lb each; they are bought and sold by the thousand, which quantity weighs about 62 cwt. The See also:weight of a rod of brickwork is 13.',-1 5 tons, work in See also:cement mortar being heavierthan that executed in See also:lime. Seven bricks are required to face a sq. ft.; i ft. of reduced brickwork—12 bricks thick-will require 16 bricks. The number of bricks laid by a workman in a See also:day of eight See also:hours varies considerably with the description of work, but on straight walling a man will See also:lay an average of 50o in a, day.
The absorbent properties of bricks vary considerably with the See also:kind of brick. The See also:ordinary London stock of See also:good quality should not have absorbed, after twenty-four hours' soaking, more varieties than one-fifth of its bulk. Inferior bricks will absorb as &bricks. 'much as a third. The See also:Romans were great users of
bricks, both burnt and See also:sun-dried. At the decline of the Romap See also:empire, the See also:art of brickmaking See also:fell into disuse, but after the See also:lapse of some
centuries it was revived, and the See also:ancient See also:architecture of See also:Italy shows many See also:fine examples of brick and terra-See also:cotta work. The scarcity of See also: The many names given to the different qualities of bricks in various parts of Great See also:Britain are most confusing, but the following are those generally in use:
See also:Stocks, hard, See also:sound, well-burnt bricks, used for all ordinary purposes.
Hard Stocks, sound but over-burnt; used in footings to walls and other positions where good See also:appearance is not required.
Shippers, sound, hard-burnt bricks of imperfect shape. Obtain their name from being much used as See also:ballast for See also:ships.
Rubbers or Cutters, sandy in See also:composition and suitable for cutting with a See also:wire saw and rubbing to shape on the stone slab.
Griszles, sound and of See also:fair shape, but under-burnt; used for inferior work, and in cases where they are not liable to be heavily loaded.
Place-bricks, under-burnt and defective; used for temporary work. Chuffs, cracked and defective in shape and badly burnt.
Burrs, lumps which have vitrified or run together in the burning; used for rough walling, See also:garden work, &c.
Pressed bricks, moulded under See also:hydraulic pressure, and much used for facing work. They usually have a deep frog or hollow on one or both horizontal faces, which reduces the weight of the brick and forms an excellent See also: They are used in See also:engineering work, and where great compressional resistance is needed, as they are vitrified throughout, hard, heavy, impervious and very durable. Blue bricks of See also:special shape may be had for paving, channelling and See also:coping.
Fire-bricks, withstanding great See also:heat, used in connexion with furnaces. They should always be laid with fire-See also:clay in place of lime or cement mortar.
Glazed bricks, either See also:salt-glazed or enamelled. The former, See also: Fletton brickwork in lime crushed under a load of 30.68 tons, in cement under 56'25 tons. See also:Leicester red brickwork in lime mortar crushed at 45.36 tons per sq. ft., in cement mortar at 8336 tons. Staffordshire blue brick work in lime mortar crushed at 114.34 tons, and in cement mortar at 135.43 tons. The height of a brick See also:pier should not exceed twelve times its least width. The London Building Act in the first schedule prescribes that in buildings not public, or of the warehouse class, in no See also:storey shall any external or party walls exceed in height sixteen times the thickness. In buildings of the warehouse class, the height of these walls shall not exceed fourteen times the thickness. In exposed situations it is necessary to strengthen the buildings by increasing the thickness of walls and parapets, and to provide heavier coping's and (=lashings. Special precautions, too, must be observed in the fixing of copings, See also:chimney pots, ridges and hips. The greatest See also:wind pressure experienced in England may be taken at 56 lb on a sq. ft., but this is only in the most exposed positions in the country or on a See also:sea front. See also:Forty pounds is a sufficient allowance in most cases, and where there is protection by surrounding trees or buildings 28 lb per sq. ft. is all that needs to be provided against. In mixing mortar, particular attention must be paid to the See also:sand with which the lime or cement is mixed. The best sand is that Mortar. obtained from the See also:pit, being See also:sharp and angular. It is,
however, liable to be mixed with clay or See also:earth, which must be washed away before the sand is used. See also:Gravel found mixed with it must be removed by screening or sifting. See also:River sand is frequently used, but is not so good as pit sand on account of the particles being rubbed smooth by See also:attrition. Sea sand is objection-able for two reasons; it cannot be altogether freed from a saline taint, and if it is used the salt attracts moisture and is liable to keep the brickwork permanently damp. The particles, moreover, are generally rounded by attrition, caused by the See also:movement of the sea, which makes it less efficient for mortar than if they retained their See also:original angular forms. Blue or See also:black mortar, often used for pointing the joints of external brickwork on account of its greater durability, is made by using foundry sand or See also: It should never be used in See also:foundation work, or where exposed to wet, See also:bias lime is hydraulic, that is, it will set See also:firm under water. It should be used in all good class work, where See also:Portland cement is not desired. Of the variou, cements need in building, it is necessary only tomention three as being applicable to use for mortar. The first of these is Portland cement, which has sprung into very See also:general use, not only for work where extra strength and durability are required, and for underground work, but also in general building where a small extra cost is not objected to. Ordinary lime mortar may have its strength considerably enhanced by the addition of a small proportion of Portland cement. Roman cement is rarely used for mortar, but is useful in some cases on account of the rapidity with which it sets, usually becoming hard about fifteen minutes after mixing. It is useful in tidal work and embankments, and constructions under water. It has about one-third of the strength of Portland cement, by which it is now almost entirely supplanted. Selenitic cement or lime, invented by See also:Major-General H. Y. D. See also:Scott (1822—1883), is See also:lias lime, to which a small proportion of See also:plaster of See also:Paris has been added with the See also:object of suppressing the See also:action of slaking and inducing quicker setting. If carefully mixed in accordance with the instructions issued by the manufacturers, it will take a much larger proportion of sand than ordinary lime. Lime should be slaked before being made into mortar. The lime is measured out, deposited in a heap on a wooden " See also:bank or See also:platform, and after being well watered is covered with the correct proportion of sand. This retains the heat and moisture necessary to thorough slaking; the time required for this operation depends on the variety of the lime, but usually it is from a few hours to one and a half days. If the mixing is to be done by See also:hand the materials must be screened to remove any unslaked lumps of lime. The occurrence of these may be prevented by grinding the lime shortly before use. The See also:mass should then be well " larried," i.e. mixed together with the aid of .a long-handled See also:rake called the " larry " Lime mortar should be tempered for at least two days, roughly covered up with sacks or other material. Before being used it must be again turned over and well mixed together. Portland and Roman cement mortars must be mixed as required on account of their quick-setting properties. In the See also:case of Portland cement mortar, a quantity sufficient only for the day's use should be " knocked up," but with Roman cement fresh mixtures must be made several times a day, as near as possible to the place of using. Cement mortars should never be worked up after setting has taken place. Care should be taken to obtain the proper consistency, which is a stiff See also:paste. If the mortar be too thick, extra labour is involved in its use, and much time wasted. If it be so thin as to run easily from the trowel, a longer time is taken in setting, and the wall is liable to settle; also there is danger that the lime or cement will be killed by the excess of water, or at least have its binding See also:power affected. It is not advisable to carry out work when the temperature is below freezing point, but in urgent cases bricklaying may be successfully done by using unslaked lime mortar. The mortar must be prepared in small quantities immediately before being used, so that binding action takes place before it cools. When the wall is left at See also:night time the top course should be covered up to prevent the penetration of rain into the work, which would then be destroyed by the action of See also:frost. Bricks used during frosty weather should be quite dry, and those that have been exposed to rain or frost should never be employed. The question whether there is any limit to bricklayers' work in frost is still an open one. Among the members of the See also:Norwegian Society of See also:Engineers and Architects, atrwhose meetings the subject has been frequently discussed, that limit is variously estimated at between -6° to -8° See also:Reaumur (181° to 14° Fahr.) and -12° to -15° Reaumur (5° above to i 1° below zero Fahr.). It has been proved by hydraulic tests that good bricklayers' work can be executed at the latter minimum. The conviction is held that the See also:variations in the opinions held on this subject are attributable to the degree of care bestowed on the preparation of the mortar. It is generally agreed, however, that from a See also:practical point of view, bricklaying should not be carried on at temperatures See also:lower than -8° to -10° Reaumur (14° to 9!° Fahr.), for as the thermometer falls the expense of building is greatly increased, owing to a larger proportion of lime being required. For grey lime mortar the usual proportion is one part of lime to two or three parts of sand ; lias lime mortar is mixed in similar proportions, except for work below ground, when equal quantities of lime and sand should be used. Portland cement mortar is usually in the proportions of one to three, or five, of sand; good results are obtained with lime mortar fortified with cement as follows: one part slaked lime, one part Portland cement, and seven parts sand. Roman cement mortar should consist of one or one and a half parts of cement to one part of sand. Selenitic lime mortar is usually in the proportions of one to four or five, and must be mixed in a particular manner, the lime being first ground in water in the mortar, See also: Grout is thin liquid mortar, and is legitimately used in gauged arches and other work when fine joints are desired. In ordinary work it is sometimes used every four or five courses to fill up any spaces that may have been inadvertently left between the bricks. This a,tthe best is but doing with grout what should be done with mortar in the operation of laying the bricks; and filling or See also:flushing up every course with mortar requires but little additional exertion and is far preferable. The use of grout is, therefore, a sign of in-efficient workmanship, • and should not be countenanced in good work. It is liable, moreover, to See also:ooze out and stain the face of the brickwork. Lime See also:putty is puree slaked lime. It is prepared or " run," as it is termed, in a wooden tub or See also:bin, and should be made as long a time as possible before being used; at least three See also:weeks should elapse between preparation and use. ,The pointing of a wall, as previously mentioned, is done either with the bricklaying or at the completion of the work. If the Ppintipg pointing is to be of the same mortar as the See also:rest of the work, it would probably greatly facilitate matters to finish off the work at. one operation with the bricklaying, but where, as in many cases, the pointing is required to be executed in a more durable mortar, this would be done as the scaffold is taken down at the completion of the building, the joints being raked out by the brick- layer to a See also:depth of 3 or in. By the latter method the whole face of the work is kept uniform G in appearance. The different forms of joints in general use are clearly shown in fig. 3: See also:Flat hi or flush joints (A) are formed by pressing the protruding mortar back flush with the face of the brickwork, This joint is commonly used for walls intended to be coated with distemper or limewhite. The flat joint jointed (two t1 forms, B and C) is a develop-
ment of the flush joint. In
order to increase the See also:density
and thereby enhance the dura-
K bility of the mortar, a semi-
circular groove is formed along
the centre, or one on each side
L of the joint, with an iron jointer and straight-edge. Another form, rarely used, is the keyed joint shown at D, the whole width of the joint in this case being treated with the curved key. Struck or bevelled, or weathered, joints have the upper portion pressed back with the trowel to form a sloping surface, which throws off the wet. The lower edge is cut off with the trowel to a straight edge. This joint is in very See also:common use for new work. Ignorant workmen frequently make the slope in the opposite direction (F), thus forming a ledge on the brick; this catches the water, which on being frozen rapidly causes the disintegration of the upper portion of the brick and of the joint itself. With recessed jointing, not much used, a deep See also:shadow may be obtained. This form of joint, illustrated in G, is open to very serious objections, for it encourages the soaking of the brick with rain instead of throwing off the wet, as it seems the natural See also:function of good pointing, and this, besides causing undue dampness in the wall, renders it, liable to damage by frost. It also leaves the arrises of the bricks unprotected and liable to be damaged, and from its deep recessed form does not make for stability in the work. Gauged work has very thin joints, as shown at H, formed by dipping the side of the brick in See also: Where the wall is to be plastered the joints are either left open or raked out, or the superfluous mortar may be left protruding as shown at J. By either method an excellent key is obtained, to which the rendering firmly adheres. In tuck pointing (K) the joints are raked out and stopped, i.e. filled in flush with mortar coloured to match the brickwork. The face of the wall is then rubbed over with a soft brick of the same colour, or the work may be coloured with pigment. A narrow groove is then cut in the joints, and the mortar allowed to set. White lime putty is next filled into the groove, being pressed on with a jointing See also:tool, leaving a white joint to i in. wide, and with a See also:projection of about T in. beyond the face of the work. This method is not a good or a durable one, and should only be adopted in old work when the edges of the bricks are broken or irregular. In See also:bastard tuckpointing (L), the See also:ridge, instead of being in white lime putty, is formed ,of the stopping mortar itself. Footings, as will be seen on reference to fig. 1, are the wide courses of brickwork at the base or foot of a wall. They serve to spread the pressure over a larger See also:area of ground, offsets 2i in. Footnga. wide being made on each side of the wall until a width equal to See also:double the thickness of the wall is reached. Thus in a wall 133 in. (ti bricks) thick, this bottom course would be 2 ft. 3 in. (3 bricks) wide. It is preferable for greater strength to double the lowest course. The foundation See also:bed of concrete then spreading out an additional 6 in. on each side brings the width of the surface bearing on the ground to 3 ft. 3 in. The London Building Act requires the projection of concrete on each side of the brickwork to be only 4 in., but a projection of 6 in- is generally made to allow for easy working. Footings should be built with hard bricks laid principally as headers; stretchers, if necessary, should be placed in the meddle of the wall. Bond in brickwork is the arrangement by which the brides of every course See also:cover the joints of those in the course below it, and so tend to make the whole mass or See also:combination of bricks act as much together, or as dependently one upon another, Bonding. as possible. The workmen should be strictly supervised as they proceed with the work, for many failures are due to their See also:ignorance or carelessness in this particular. The object of bonding will be understood by reference to fig. 4. Here it is evident from the arrangement of the bricks that any weight placed on the topmost brick (a) is carried down and See also:borne alike in every course; in this way the weight on each brick is distributed over an area increasing with every course. But this forms a See also:longitudinal bond only, which cannot extend its influence beyond the width of the brick; and a wall of one brick and a half, or two bricks, thick, built in this manner, would in effect consist of three or four half brick: thick walls acting independently of each other. If the bricks were turned so. as to show their short sides or ends in front instead of their long ones, certainly a compact wall of a whole brick thick, instead of half a brick, would be produced, and while the thickness of the wall would be double, the longitudinal bond would be shortened by one-half: a wall of any great thickness built in this manner would necessarily be composed of so many See also:independent one-brick walls. To produce a transverse and yet preserve a true longitudinal bond, the bricks are laid in a definite arrangement of stretchers and headers. In " English bond "(fig. 5), rightly considered the most perfect in use, the bricks are laid in alternate courses of headers and stretchers, thus combining the advantages of the two previous modes of arrangement. A reference to fig. 5 will show how the See also:process of bonding is pursued in a wall one and a half bricks in thickness, and how the quoins are formed. In walls which are a multiple of a whole brick, the appearance of the same course is similar on the elevations of the front and back faces, but in walls where an See also:odd half brick must be used to make up the thickness, as is the case in the See also:illustration, the appearance of the opposite sides of a course is inverted. The ex-ample illustrates the principle of English bond; thicker walls are constructed in the same manner by an See also:extension of the same methods. It will be observed that portions of a brick have to be inserted near a vertical end or a quoin, in order to start the See also:regular bond. These portions equal a half header in width, and are called See also:queen closers; they are placed next to the first header. A three-
See also:quarter brick is obviously as In this and following illustrations of available for this purpose as a bond in brickwork the position of bricks header and closer combined, but in the second course is indicated bydotted the latter method is preferred lines.
because by the use of it uniformity FIG. 5.-English See also:Bona, of appearance is preserved, and
whole bricks are retained on the returns. See also: Great insistence must be laid on this point, especially at the junctions of walls, where the See also:admission ,of closers already constitutes a weakness which would only be increased by the use of other bats or fragments of bricks. Another method of bonding brickwork, in-See also:stead of placing the bricks in alternate courses of headers and stretchers, places them alternately as headers and stretchers in the same course, the appearance of the course being the same on each face. This is called " Flemish bond." Closers are necessary to this variety of bond. From fig. 6 it will be seen that, tive weakness of the transverse tie, and the numbers of half bricks required to be used and the thereby increased number of joints, this bond is not so perfect nor so strong as English. The arrangements of the face joints, however, presenting in Flemish bond a neater appearance than in English bond, it is generally selected for the external walls of domestic and other buildings where good effect is desirable. In buildings erected for manufacturing and similar purposes, and in engineering See also:works where the greatest degree of strength and compactness is considered of the highest importance, English bond should have the preference. A See also:compromise is sometimes made between the two above-mentioned bonds. For the See also:sake of appearance the bricks are laid td form Flemish bond on the face, while the backing is of English bond, the object being to combine the best features of the two bonds. Undoubtedly the result is an improvement on Flemish bond, obviating as it does the use of bats in the interior of the wall. This method of bonding is termed " single Flemish bond," and is shown in fig. 7. In stretching bond, which should only be used for walls half a brick in thickness, all the bricks are laid as stretchers, a half brick being used in alternate courses to start the bond. In work curved too sharply on plan to admit of the use of stretchers, and for footings, projecting See also:mouldings and corbels, the bricks are all laid as headers, i.e. with their ends to the front, and their length across the thickness of the wall. This is termed " heading bond." In thick walls, three bricks thick and upwards, a saving of labour is effected without loss of strength, by the See also:adoption of " See also:herring See also:bone " or " See also:diagonal bond " in the interior of the wall, the outer faces of the wall being built in English and Flemish bond. This mode should not be had recourse to for walls of a less thickness than 27 in., even that being almost too thin to admit of any great advantage from it. Hoop-iron, about ti in. wide and See also:fit in. thick, either galvanized or well tarred and sanded to retard rusting, is used in order to obtain additional longitudinal tie. The customary practice is to use one See also:strip of iron for each half-brick in thickness of the wall. Joints at the angles, and where necessary in the length, are formed by soac,o a kffo p o o . sods, ti • Oa p .<, I and other reasons of keeping -------- - walls dry is admitted by all who ' '-""""~- have observed the deleterious FIG: 8. action of damp upon a building. Walls are liable to become damp, (I) by wet rising up the wall from the earth; (2) by water soaking down from the top of the wall; (3) by rain being driven on to the face by wind. t~reyeatioa Dampness from the first cause may be prevented by the of damp. introduction of damp-proof courses or the construction of dry areas; from the second by means of a coping of stone, cement or other non-porous material; and from the third by covering the exterior with impervious materials or by the adoption of hollow walls. After the footings have been laid and the wall has been brought up to not less than 6 in. above the finished surface of the ground, and previous to fixing the See also:plate carrying the ground See also:floor, there should always be introduced a course of some damp-proof material to prevent the rise of moisture from the See also:soil. There are several forms of damp-proof course. A very usual one is a double layer of s ,und roofing slates laid in neat Portland cement (fig. 8), the joints being well lapped. A course or two of See also:Stafford-See also:shire blue bricks in cement is excellent where heavy weights have to be considered. Glazed stoneware / perforated slabs about 2 in. / thick are specially made for ff use as damp-proof courses. See also:Asphalt (fig. 9) recently has come into great favour with architects; a layer ir` or $ in. thick is a good protection FIG. 9. against damp, and not likely to crack should a settlement occur, but in hot weather it is liable to squeeze out at the joints under heavy weights. See also:Felt covered with See also:bitumen is an excellent substitute for asphalt, and is not liable to crack or squeeze out. See also:Sheet lead is efficient, but very costly and also somewhat liable to squeezing. A damp-proof course has been introduced consisting of a thin sheet of lead sandwiched between layers of asphalt. See also:Basement storeys to be kept dry require, besides the damp-proof course horizontally in the wall, a horizontal course, usually of asphalt, in the thickness of the floor, and also a vertical damp-proof course from a level below that of the floor to about 6 in. above the level of the ground, either built in the thickness of the wall or rendered on the outside between the wall and the surrounding earth (fig. to). By means of dry areas or air drains (See also:figs. 11 and 12), a hollow bending the ends of the strips so as to See also:hook together. A patent stabbed iron now on the See also:market is perforated to provide a key for the mortar. A difficulty often arises in bonding when facing work with bricks of a slightly different size from those used in " backing," as it is technically termed. As it is, of course, necessary to keep all brickwork in properly levelled courses, a difference has to be made in the thickness of the mortar joints. Apart from the extra labour involved, this obviously is detrimental to the stability of the wall, and is See also:apt to produce unequal settlement and cracking. Too much care cannot be taken to obtain both facing and backing bricks of equal size. Dishonest bricklayers do not hesitate, when using for the face of a wall bricks of a quality See also:superior to those used for the interior. to use "snapped headers," that is cutting the heading bricks, in halves, one brick thus serving the purposes of two as regards outward appearance. This is a most pernicious practice, unworthy of adoption by any craftsman of repute, for a skin of brickwork 41 in. thick is thus carried up with a straight mortar joint behind it, the proper bonding with the back of the wall by means of headers being destroyed. /i// See also:American building acts de- / (/ See also:scribe the kind of bond to be ~~/ used for ordinary walls, and the /r,i kind for faced walls. Tie courses also require an extra thickness ~f•. where walls are perforated with over 30 % of flues. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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