# brick laying board??



## lugo35 (26 Mar 2007)

back many years ago, can remember seeing a brick laying stand at one of the woodwork expos. basicly a piece of board that gave the mortar joint spacing. is this still avalible. 
suppost a piece of 12mm mdf sealed with something would do same job.
will have a small area of bricks to lay and am on a tight budget  must be the mean wales side comimg out hehe :lol:


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## Newbie_Neil (26 Mar 2007)

The 'Bricky Wall Building Tool' sold on QVC in the past is now sold at MachineMart for £34.95 +vat

I remembered reading this on the SFX site a little while ago.

Cheers
Neil


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## TonyW (26 Mar 2007)

Not sure if this any help. Seems to be a jig for laying correct levels of mortar. Remember seeing this on TV some time ago and made a mental note that if I needed to lay my own bricks would invest in one.

http://www.brickytool.com/html/offer.htm

Cheers  
Tony


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## lugo35 (26 Mar 2007)

thats the ickle blighter made same mental note  
thanks


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## Gaz_XB9R (27 Mar 2007)

May be wrong here but is the idea of the holes or groove in the brick not for the mortar to part fill it to give the wall sideways strength?

Looking at that video of the brickies tool, it gives a flat top and hence you may well lean against your wall and have it slide sideways.


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## suprasport (27 Mar 2007)

It would only do for small garden walls in my opinion from the way i have seen them laying them, and the mix of the mortar not enough of the moisture in my opinion will soak through to the brick to make a good enough bond, unless you are laying blues or such like, and if you are laying commons just wet the mix up a tad more and you would get away with it, same for breeze blocks or any masonry that is frogless.

Then again it is designed for the hobbyist and will be fine for those sort of projects, but there should be a warning on them because no building inspector i have ever met would pass any bricklaying using it other than that just mentioned.

Another thing to consider is that bricks are not in the slightest bit uniform and can very in size by upto 10mm
The frogs and holes were originally to save on clay but found to give extra strength as well 
(a bit of useless information)

Sorry i went on a bit there  Just be wary of what you are using it for :wink:


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## lurker (28 Mar 2007)

So............ here we "woodworkers" all agreeing that gismos are no substitute (more trouble than they are worth) for a modicum of skill, trying to de-skill bricklaying.

I have only built a few garden walls but once you have got your head round how wet (dry) to have your mortar mix, the thickness issue fades to nowt, so long as you use a line.

Save your money and have a bit of a practice beforehand within say a dozen bricks you will have mastered the thickness of the mortar joint problem.


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## Smudger (28 Mar 2007)

Isn't the trouble that the public (DIYers) watch Tommy Walsh do something and want to do it themselves straight away? The idea of practising something (which I guess we would all take for granted) before committing yourself is anathema to them.


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## suprasport (28 Mar 2007)

bricklaying is not the hardest building skill to pick up on a diy basis, if you have the skill for joinery you have the skill for bricklaying you just need a one good eye, patience, and practice :wink: read a couple of articles on the net for the basics and you will be away.
and if you are still struggling then lay one brick either end level with the brick below and inline with it, level them horizontally and put a tight line across the 2 of them, then lay the rest to that line making sure they are not twisted ie. square to the wall and the line.


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## DomValente (28 Mar 2007)

My father-in -law was a master at his craft, bricklaying, and even when he retired the McAlpine family insisted that he do any repairs to their homes and castle.

Well, I asked him to teach me as I wanted to build a long high wall in my back garden.
This wall had buttresses and even a curve at one point.
Yes I learnt and learnt well, in fact I still have two little scars on the backs of my left hand, this was twenty five years ago, where the lovely old b*****d hit me with his trowel whenever I made a mistake.

That was and will be the last sodding wall I'll ever build.

Dom


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## Slim (28 Mar 2007)

Smudger":18w732bl said:


> Isn't the trouble that the public (DIYers) watch Tommy Walsh do something and want to do it themselves straight away? The idea of practising something (which I guess we would all take for granted) before committing yourself is anathema to them.



Not only that, but following Tommy Walsh's example is not good to begin with. As a professional landscaper, I could not bear to watch Tommy Walsh on Groundforce. Leveling flagstones by stamping on them with his size 12 boot :roll:


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## TonyW (28 Mar 2007)

Interesting points made by all you guys with experience. Thankfully I for one do not want to build a wall - and I will scrub the thought of this product out of my head and learn to build properly if needed or employ a pro.

Funny thing I was quite suckered into the old advert the guy was supposed to be a professional brickie and seems to have built an amazing array of brick structures.

Thanks for the warning  
Tony


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## suprasport (28 Mar 2007)

> Funny thing I was quite suckered into the old advert the guy was supposed to be a professional brickie and seems to have built an amazing array of brick structures.



when i first saw it for a couple of seconds i thought what a great idea, as i had given some thought to designing something along those lines, but as you can see i never got around the problem of it being rubbish :lol: 



> Not only that, but following Tommy Walsh's example is not good to begin with. As a professional landscaper, I could not bear to watch Tommy Walsh on Groundforce. Leveling flagstones by stamping on them with his size 12 boot



i agree, you lose all the pleasure of watching something like that when all you do is sit there and say 'thats not right you should do it like this'  :lol:



> Yes I learnt and learnt well, in fact I still have two little scars on the backs of my left hand, this was twenty five years ago, where the lovely old b*****d hit me with his trowel whenever I made a mistake.


it must be brickies that are bad tempered, i would get up and kick a pile of bricks over and have a go at the labourer rather than stretch for one or move the pack.  yet if i was doing any other work like joinery or plastering i wouldnt dream of doing anything like that :?


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## Shultzy (28 Mar 2007)

The best way to learn how to lay bricks is to go to a building site and watch the brickies. Ask questions, make notes, then go home and practise. As long as you don't get under their feet I'm sure they would be quite happy to pass on their knowledge.


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## lugo35 (30 Mar 2007)

opened a can of worms there :? 
thanks for your replies, think i'll just have a go  (with out brick tool)

re the side ways movement, if you lay the bricks yoke up surely they should bind together when filled with mortar. (with brickytool)


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## andycktm (30 Mar 2007)

Slimjim81,don't quite know what you mean by that comment about Tommy Walsh, but if you mean he isn't good at what he does ,that's rubbish talk :? .


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