General principles to be observed in brick masonry
The points to be observed in supervising brick masonry construction are as following:
The points to be observed in supervising brick masonry construction are as following:
- The bricks to be used should fulfill all the requirements of the specification of the work.
- The bricks should be sound, hard, burnt well with uniform color, shape, and size.
- The bricks should be immersed in fresh water at least for 2 hours before using in masonry.
- Do not use broken bricks unless they are essential for making good bonds.
- The bricks should be laid on their proper bond. The frog of the bricks should be kept upward.
- Brick bats should be avoided.
- The thickness of the joints should not exceed 13 mm.
- The masonry walls should be always truly vertical and verticality should be checked continuously using a plumb bob.
- Brickwork should be raised uniformly. Any part of the masonry should not be raised more than 90 cm to the rest of the masonry work.
- The work should be raked back in successive courses if it is to be constructed later.
- In masonry work, large voids should not be filled with mortar only. It is uneconomical.
- Cement mortar should be used to enclose all the iron fixtures of doors and windows.
- To achieve easy and adequate bond for plastering and pointing, the facing mortar joints should be raked for a depth of 13-19 mm when the mortar in the joint is green.
- The finished brick masonry should be cured at least for 7 days.
- Any brick masonry wall should not be constructed more than 1.5 meters in a day.
- In brick masonry piers, buttresses, counter-forts etc should be constructed along with the main walls, maintaining a proper bond between them.
- Suitable scaffolding should be used to carry out masonry work at higher levels.
- The scaffolding should be made by giving one end of horizontal bullies into the new masonry work and secured to it properly.