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Posts Tagged ‘london bricklayer<’
Posted in Bricklaying on Jun 25
A neatly laid pathway can complement any garden. You can even choose to leave rustic grass patches between the pavers, or you may prefer the fully-paved look. Using the right tools, the average homeowner can construct their own dry sub-structure using sand, or go for a wet mortar finish. If you are not practical when it comes to DIY, rather find a bricklayer on Mr-Skill and let them do the job expertly for you. 
What You’ll Need
If you don’t already have them, buying what you require for this job could end up costing far more than getting a bricklaying quote from Mr-Skill in the first place. Now is a good time too, with some sizzling special offers around! If you are going ahead yourself, you will need:
- Wheelbarrow
- Building shovel
- Spirit level
- Plastic ribbon
- Edging stakes
- Builder’s sand
- Rubber mallet
- Hose
- Compactor – probably best to hire this
- Paving stones for your new path
Planning
Start out by laying out your pathway, as you feel led. Now, hammer the stakes into the ground at the starting point. Follow with stakes placed about four feet apart down the one side of your path. To ensure consistent width, use the plastic ribbon to measure across the path for the stakes on the opposite side. 
You are now ready to start excavating the soil and grass between the stakes. Use your shovel to do so, clearing to a depth of around 6 inches. Remove the surplus soil and grass using your wheelbarrow.
Check your levels within the newly excavated area, remembering to slope the path away from your house to avoid water pools forming when it rains.
Compacting
Now you are ready to compact the newly marked and excavated path. Continue using the compactor until the sub-soil is firm. You now need to cover the excavated area with a 2-inch bed of gravel. The path is now ready to have another-2 inch topping of builder’s sand which will need wetting before final compaction.
Finishing With Paving Stones
Position the pavers in your desired pattern and tap each new stone into place with your mallet. Aim to get neighbouring pavers tightly up against those already laid. Throw a final covering of the builder’s sand over your new pathway, and gently wash this into the gaps between your pavers.
One of our regular London bricklayers tells us that he gets a kick out of laying a meandering pathway. Curves are much better than straight lines, and this also makes your new path that bit more inviting too.
Tags: bricklaying quote, builder's sand, compacting, compactor, curves, Excavation, find a bricklayer, garden path, grass, gravel, level surface, london bricklayer, mortar, pavers, paving blocks, paving stones, sand, soil, stakes, surplus soil
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Posted in Bricklaying on Apr 09
Perhaps you are planning your first DIY bricklaying project and are not sure how many bricks to order. Begin by drawing a brick grid on a piece of board to make life easier, and ensure a professional brick course later. Brick grids are like a template for the correct alignment of one brick upon the other, and form an important part of the planning process before you start building.
Things You’ll Need
- Poster board
- Marker pen
- Ruler
If this sounds like too much hard work, why not consider getting a bricklaying quote from one of our many “brickies” right here on Mr-Skill.
Step 1 
Choose a pattern for your brick grid – you can select from one of many. The most popular is the running bond pattern, which results in a row of bricks all pointing in the same direction. Start laying the next row across half-the-brick length it is covering, as this achieves strength as well as unity.
The regular basket weave pattern is also quite popular. This involves placing two bricks adjacently to form a small square. Every other square laid in a given row, comprises two more bricks laid at right angles to the previous set. This results in a row consisting of alternate vertical and horizontal patterns. Keep in mind though that we are simply drawing the brick grid and not actually building the wall yet.
Step 2
First, sketch the outline of the proposed wall. You will need to use a scale that suits your board size. Now, draw a rectangle – which represents a similarly scaled brick at one bottom corner of your posterboard – don’t forget to use your ruler to connect the lines. In the UK, the standard brick size is 8½ inches by 4 inches by 2½ inches, and you’ll need to allow for the mortar too. Some people simply trace the outline around a scale-brick instead. 
Step 3
Continue outlining more bricks, moving across and upwards from your starting point. Keep in mind the grid pattern you have selected, and don’t forget to leave the appropriate gap for the mortar between each brick. When you’ve filled up all the available space, you can check to find out how many bricks you need to buy.
Expert Help
Even the best London bricklayer is charging lower rates these days because of the economic downturn. Why not save yourself a heap of trouble and find a bricklayer on Mr-Skill to do the job for you instead. They can buy the bricks a whole lot cheaper and could have the job done in a matter of days – while you get on with other things that you prefer.
Tags: basket weave, brick grid, brick size, bricklaying quote, find a bricklayer, gap, grid, london bricklayer, mortar, right angle, running bond, standard brick, template, UK brick size
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Posted in Bricklaying on Feb 13
Before you rush off and Find a Bricklayer on Mr-Skill to lay your brick paving, you first need to understand the theory of brick bonds. That’s because they are butted up against each other as opposed to being cemented. In a very real sense, we are talking about unity in strength here. If one comes loose others will soon follow.
 Jack-on-Jack works well provided your pavers are identically-sized and your bricklayer has a straight eye too. They are bad news in a long narrow run where every defect shows.
Running Bond is a bit more robust because the joints are overlapped. This can help prevent the rows from staggering. It is however a very common pattern that often fails to excite.
 Basket Weave is a further enhancement because the joints are contra-staggered adding further strength. The bricks actually form sets of squares that can look extremely pleasant.
Half Basket Weave is a variation of the previous bond that gets away from squares to create a pattern that seems almost random. Note though that patches of Jack-on-Jack recur from time to time.
 Herringbone is in many ways the perfect solution. The joints all overlap and the pattern is not noticeable unless you look for it. This is a strong bond, particularly when the pavers are correctly but-jointed.
Diagonal Herringbone is an interesting variation on the theme that helps soften rectangular spaces. Just make sure the triangular filler-pieces are sized to that everything fits in well together.
Some London Bricklayers employ specialist staff that only lay one kind of pattern. Check this out with them before you ask them to submit a Bricklaying Quote. Otherwise you could come home to find the pattern laid that you least wanted.
Tags: basket weave, bond, brick, bricklaying quote, but, cement, diagonal, filler, find a bricklayer, half basket, herringbone, jack, jack on jack, london bricklayer, overlap, pattern, paver, paving, running, running bond, size, square, stagger, straight
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Posted in Bricklaying on Jan 09
Sometimes we come across customers trying to crack walnuts with large sledgehammers. By this, we mean people trying to turn a rowing boat into an ocean liner. Take simple brick paving jobs, for example. If it’s not a heavy traffic area you could even do the job yourself, thereby avoiding the  need for a London Bricklayer or other specialist.
- Obtain a supply of decent quality bricks. By this we mean a product that’s well baked through, reasonably rectangular, and of a pleasing appearance too. Don’t be put off if the colour varies though. In fact, variety can be a large part of the charm.
- Mark out the path or patio and excavate to twice the thickness of the bricks laid flat. Remove any roots you find. Lay a plastic sheet in the hole to discourage weeds. Mix dry cement powder with two-thirds of the soil dug out, in proportions of four parts earth to one part cement. DO NOT MOISTEN this mixture. Mother Nature will do it for you.
- Compact this mixture back into the hole until it is level, and one brick’s height below the ground. Sprinkle fine dry sand evenly over it to about half an inch thick. Lay the bricks in whatever pattern
 you prefer, tapping these down firmly with a rubber mallet, and adding / removing sand as necessary to create a level effect.
- Fill any gaps with brick pieces. Use a hammer and chisel NOT AN ANGLE GRINDER to cut these down to size, and remember to wear thick gloves. Finally, excavate a frame all around the paved area the width of a single brick. Mix all the remaining earth with dry cement powder – in a ratio of three parts to one this time – and tamp it back in. The mixture will harden naturally over time. Cut away any surplus plastic sheet.
How that for service from Mr-Skill? There’s no need to ask us for Bricklaying Quotes if you’d like to do a job like this yourself. Should you decide that you’ve got better things to do though, we can help you Find a Bricklayer working in your area, and We Won’t Charge you a Penny for this service either.
Tags: brick, bricklaying quotes, cement, chisel, colour, compact, depth, earth, find a bricklayer, ground, hammer, harden, height, job, london bricklayer, mallett, naturally, path, patio, paving, piece, plastic, proportion, root, sand, sheet, soil, tamp, thick, traffic, weed
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Posted in Bricklaying on Nov 25
We get queries from time to time from homeowners concerned about the efflorescence on their walls. Sometimes these walls have been rendered, while at other times they are raw masonry. In all cases the powder is caused by leeching salts contained in the raw materials. So there’s little point in trying to Find the Builder who built the wall –  although you could help avoid the problem by employing a professional bricklayer, such as those whose services we advertise here.
The ground salts are contained in natural products like sand, clay and stone. When water penetrates the material it carries the salts out to the surface. There the water evaporates leaving the characteristic white deposit behind. This can largely be avoided by preventing water intrusion and applying a surface sealer. When you get Bricklaying Quotes from Mr-Skill, you should discuss such matters and agree solutions.
• Brushing the efflorescence away is only a temporary solution, although theoretically all the ground salt will leech out in time.
• The permanent solution lies in preventing water from entering the material in the first place. If it is  intruding from the outside, then this is relatively easily cured. If the wall is a retaining one though then a big job lies ahead as every London Builder knows. That’s because a leak is only stopped at its source, and that’s behind the wall!
• If you are lucky, then the problem is the result of a permeable surface on the weather side. The solution in this case is to allow the wall to dry out, thoroughly brush the surface clean, and then apply a proprietary clear sealer.
The Bricklayers advertising on Mr-Skill are properly trained and know how to mitigate against irritating efflorescence. Their rates are generally lower too, because they compete among themselves for work. There is no charge for requesting quotes from us and no obligation to accept them either. Doesn’t that sound like the perfect consumer-driven solution you’ve been looking for?
Tags: bricklaying quotes, brush, clay, clean, deposit, dry, efflorescence, enter, evaporate, find a bricklayer, ground, intrusion, leech, london bricklayer, masonry, natural, outside, penetrate, permeable, powder, prevent, render, retain, salt, sand, seal, stone, wall, water, white
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Posted in Bricklaying on Nov 10
United Kingdom soil is always damp provided you dig down deep enough, and when it gets saturated, capillary action causes moisture to rise up to the surface.  If that happens and you rest a cardboard box upon the ground, the water dampens the cardboard too. Similarly, moisture naturally rises up through porous brick walls, and that’s what we call rising damp.
A damp course is a physical damp-proof barrier above the ground on which the walls of a building rest. It may also be a vertical barrier to prevent rainwater intrusion from outside, although this is less common. The earliest horizontal barriers were inserted using slate which being dense is impervious to water. These days cheaper plastic strips are more common.
If you are planning to Find a Builder outside of Mr-Skill we recommend that you carefully research the details of what they propose by way of damp courses. Should you source a tradesman through us though, there is no need to worry. That’s because all our craftsmen follow the practices of the best London Bricklayer Firms.
 A horizontal damp course should be laid between two brick courses at least six inches above the ground at the highest point, and it should never be covered afterwards by soil because this can counteract it. Should the brick course subsequently fail, then there is little point in getting Bricklaying Quotes. The only workable solution is to arrange expensive chemical injections.
This is why we always recommend employing qualified, Rated Bricklayers such as we provide at Mr-Skill. The pleasures of saving a few pounds on a bricklaying job through employing glorified handymen is easily forgotten, after you receive an expensive chemical injection repair bill.
Tags: barrier, brick, bricklaying quotes, capillary, chemical, course, damp, damp course, dig, earth, find a bricklayer, ground, horizontal, injection, intrusion, london bricklayer, moisture, plastic, rain, rise, rising damp, slate, soil, surface, vertical, water
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Posted in Bricklaying on Aug 12
Most brick walls are finished off with some or other kind of capping, which is called coping in the trades. While the main purpose of this is to prevent water seeping into the structure, coping also often provides a decorative feature too. Coping may be pitched or flat according to the tastes of the designer.  The most important thing of all though is to ensure that the coping is at least an inch wider that the finished wall, and preferably an extra inch wider in total too. This is to prevent capillary action dripping off the surface onto the wall itself.
Do you need to Find a Bricklayer on Mr-Skill to lay coping for you? Perhaps not, if you are reasonably skilful and have the right tools. But definitely, if the wall is high or if the site is dangerous in other ways.
o Span a suitable length of builders twine along the wall at a height above it equal to the coping plus the settled bed of mortal. This is a critical factor for success, so take your time. Mark the approximate position of each coping stone, to determine where to start and where to site the filler piece.
o Mix sufficient mortar, but not more than you can use in one hour. Lay a generous bed of it along the top  of the wall, starting at one end and one and half times the length of a single coping stone. Make regular slashes in it to help your work bed down nicely.
o Set the first coping stone in place remembering to obey the level of the builders twine. Immediately check your levels in both directions and adjust where necessary. Continue on the same basis without worrying too much about filling in the grouting. This is often easier the following day when the stones have settled. London Bricklayers invariably like do this the same day though, because they do not want to have to come back again.
This really is a simple job, provided you have the time and patience, and a straight eye too. If you lack one or more of these, then why not Ask Mr-Skill for Bricklaying Quotes instead. Our tradesmen are competent and pleasant enough to work with, and their rates are really keen.
Tags: bed, brick, bricklaying quotes, cap, capillary, capping, competent, coping, dangerous, decorative, filler, find a bricklayer, finish, grout, height, high, lay, level, london bricklayer, mix, mortar, patience, rate, seep, set, settle, skill, slash, straight eye, time, tool, top, twine, wall, water, wide
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