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Posts Tagged ‘mortar<’
Mr-Skill loves recycling because it avoids over-filling our tips, and it saves on the pocket too, when there is no need to buy new bricks. Assuming your bricks are re-usable after demolishing your old wall, he also suggests that they will make for a rustic and creative effect as you build a new wall. 
All it needs is an investment of time and the application of a little elbow-grease – imagine the feeling of accomplishment when it all comes together. If you don’t have the skills to lay bricks, you can still make a positive contribution by preparing the old bricks for re-use, while you find a bricklayer here on Mr-Skill.
Old for New
Set up a production line in a quiet spot in your yard. Then, examine each broken brick piece and decide which ones to keep, and those destined for the rubble pile. For those that are re-usable, it is a case of tidying up the broken face so that all sides are reasonably flat for the re-building job.
Using a pencil, mark up where you plan to cut out the damaged part of the old brick. Carry your marked line around all four faces to facilitate a flat face for the section you are about to level. Now you can go to work with your chisel, working methodically and safely – don’t forget the goggles and gloves!
Laying out the New Course
If you have decided this bit is not for you, you will have to get a bricklaying quote – remember to ask for some discount because of all the preparation work you have already done. If you are going ahead yourself:
- Spread out the prepared mortar evenly along the foundations of the new wall using a trowel.
- Spread a decent layer of mortar on either side of the brick before laying it on the foundation – you could do this in your hand or once the brick’s laid in position, making sure to anchor the bricks firmly in the mortar.
- Continue along the new brick course until you have completed a row, and so on. One of our London bricklayer chuckles that the beauty of using old bricks is that you can trim them to all sorts of shapes and sizes to fit all the nooks and crannies.
Mr-Skill adds that if you have reached this far without fuss, then you are a natural bricklayer, and you should look to joining up as a member!
Tags: anchor, brick, bricklaying quote, broken, chisel, demolishing, discount, find a bricklayer, foundation, gloves, goggles, investment, london bricklaying, mortar, recycling, rubble, safety, trowel, wall, work
Posted in Bricklaying, Project Advice | Comments Off
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
Posted in Bricklaying | Comments Off
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
Posted in Bricklaying | Comments Off
Posted in Bricklaying on Mar 12
Bricklaying is an art as well as a science. Don’t go it alone. Get a bricklaying quote by clicking on this link to Mr-Skill, where you will find bricklaying experts. It’s not just about the vertical and horizontal dimensions. A good bricklayer will also be checking joint widths, mortar consistency and brick-course levels continuously.
 Foundations – This is the start point of any building project, and stability is paramount. Excessive ground moisture or insufficient compaction could lead to problems with the brick face, and that will not be the bricklayer’s fault. Keep in mind that lack of tensile strength between bricks and mortar inevitably results in cracks – and possible collapse too. Make sure your London bricklayer knows that the City sits on clay.
The Mortar is Too Dry – Mixing mortar correctly is not quite as simple as it looks, and the results of a poor mix could spell disaster. Too little water, and the mortar will not bond correctly between the bricks. The golden rule is that the slower the mortar mixture dries, the better the bond. One trick is to soak each brick in water before building. This method ensures that the mortar will dry slowly where it attaches to the brick. The end result – a stronger wall!
 Plumb or Dumb – A decent plumb line is essential when constructing a brick wall and the age-old trick of suspending a weight on a taught nylon string is hard to beat. The bottom line is that the side of your wall needs to be at right angles to the end. If it isn’t, then the bricks will not combine to form a single structure. The greater the angle of error in your brick wall, the more the pressure on the mortar and the risk of failure of the structure.
It’s far wiser to find a bricklayer on Mr-Skill because we’ve interviewed them personally and you can find out what our other customers think of them too.
How’s that for a good idea. And what’s more it’s completely free of charge to you!
Tags: bond, brick, brick laying, bricklayer, bricklaying, bricklaying quote, collapse, consistency, crack, dimension, expert, find a bricklayer, foundation, horizontal, joint, level, measure, moist, mortar, plumb, right angle, stability, strength, string, vertical, wet
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Posted in Tiling & Flooring on Feb 27
First you notice that the grout between the tiles has begun to crack. You wonder whether it’s time to Find a Tiler. After that, the grout starts going darker in one spot. Finally, when you tread on a tile, it rocks slightly as the moisture squishes out.
 Fortunately, this is not the end of the world! The good news is that the tile is loose and will be easy to remove. After that, you can have a Plumber in to fix the leak, and perhaps even replace the tile afterwards yourself.
- Avoid your first reaction to lever out the tile. Chances are that you will chip it, and where on earth will you find a replacement one? One London Tiler I know wets the loose tile generously, and then uses a toilet plunger to create a vacuum and gently ease it out. Try it. You could just be pleasantly surprised!
- Depending on how bad the leak is, you may need to turn the water off. If the water is not bubbling out from where you removed the first tile, you may need to chase the leak by removing several more. This is easy when you gently tap a paint scraper
 underneath the middle of the tile, because the mortar will be water-logged.
- Find a Plumber on Mr-Skill to repair the leak. Then wait patiently until the hole the plumber left behind has dried out completely. After that, back-fill it with a strong mix of mortar, and get a Tiling Quote to put the tiles back and re-grout. If you do the job yourself, use an epoxy as there will be insufficient space for tile cement except where the plumber made the hole.
This information comes to you with best wishes of Mr-Skill, that friendly website where you can find every service that you need. These services include electricians, builders, plasterers, carpenters, gardeners and a whole host more besides. The service costs you nothing, and they are all rated too.
Tags: back fill, chip, crack, dark, dry, epoxy, find a plumber, find a tiler, grout, lever, london tiler, loose, moisture, mortar, paint scraper, plumber, plunger, rated, remove, replace, rock, scraper, service, tap, tile, tiling quote, vacuum, water
Posted in Tiling & Flooring | Comments Off
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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Posted in Handyman Services on Aug 10
 London's old buildings are notorious for letting too much hot air escape! London´s notorious autumn winds can make living in an older house or flat pretty uncomfortable – and more than a little chilly. Although draughts can get into your home through doors, letter boxes, cat flaps and even key holes, windows provide the most noticeable access to the cold breeze as it whistles through gaps between the window and its frame, and your curtains sway in time with each new gust of wind.
Rather than just snuggle up underneath a blanket and turn the thermostat up, draught proofing your windows is a cost-effective way of being comfortable when the winds begin to howl. It can also save you money on heating bills, which in turn makes its own small contribution to reducing CO2 emissions. You can seek the assistance of a local handyman in London (as two pairs of hands are always better than one) or you can attempt this job yourself.
Depending on your type of window, you should find a suitable insulating tape at your local DIY store. Normally coming as a roll of self-adhesive foam rubber, strips should be placed on the frames of outward opening windows so that the window compresses the foam when it is closed and forms a seal. Care must be taken to ensure that the foam is not too thick, or the window will not close. The same principal applies to old-fashioned sash windows, although this is a much tougher job to manage alone, and it is recommended that your local London handyman gives you a “hand” with draught proofing sash windows.
Single glazed windows that do not open but somehow manage to let draughts in, can be secondary glazed by the application of window film. Although the primary function of window film is to add privacy to your home and create an attractive appearance, it can also provide a barrier to draughts. There is also secondary glazing film available in selected DIY stores, which is applied with self-adhesive tape and then shrunk to fit with a hair-dryer. Glazing film however, is incredibly easy to a) fit incorrectly and b) damage once applied, so is only suitable as a short-term fix.
If you have draughts coming through double glazing installations, it is quite possible that a seal within one of the units is broken. In this case, it would be better to consult with a local window fitter in London to obtain a replacement seal rather than installing any of the substitutes on the market which may not have been specifically designed to be effective on your type of window units.
Most window draught proofing jobs can be done from inside, but if you have a London handyman helping you out, ask him or her to check the exterior masonry (if it is accessible!). What you or they are looking for is gaps between the window frame and surrounding masonry. These gaps can allow draughts to enter the building and, if big enough, will also permit rain water to accumulate – which will eventually rot your window frames – or worse still, damage your brickwork through the freeze-thaw process.
Your London handyman will be able to offer a quote to repoint areas of your external masonry which are damaged, and you can use the Mr Skill “Post-a-Job” facility to compare their estimate of the work required against other London handymen quotes from tradesmen featured in our Tradesmen´s Directory.
Tags: CO2 emissions, draught proofing, energy efficiency, Energy Saving Trust, environment, find a handyman in London, freeze-thaw, Home Maintenance, Insulation, masonry, mortar, repointing, save money, Window & Door Fitting, window film, windows
Posted in Handyman Services | Comments Off
Although we are in the midst of a London summer, now is the time to plan forward and deal with any damaged brickwork or repointing that is required on your property to prevent erosion during the wind and rain of the autumn and freeze-thaw effect during the winter.
Replacing Damaged Bricks
 Replacing a damaged brick is a quite straightforward job – in fact the hardest part can be to find a replacement that matches the bricks surrounding it. Often, a chat with your local builder can prove fruitful in the pursuit of a suitable brick or two, or an old trick – depending on the condition of the brick – is to remove it, reverse it and mortar it back into the wall. It can save you a little money if the brick is generally sound, and will save you the trouble of finding a brick similar in style and colour to the rest of the wall. We have prepared a simple Project Advice item on replacing damaged bricks which you can access by clicking > here < or a simple job such as this, is one that the highly rated builders in our tradesmen’s directory can resolve in just a few hours.
Repointing Brickwork
Repointing your brickwork is a job that requires a little more dedication. Although this can be quite a therapeutic occupation over the course of several weekends, in order to completely repoint the side of a house you will need scaffolding, a selection of specialist tools, quite a lot of safety equipment and be fairly confident that you can use a trowel consistently over the duration of the job. This is not a job to be done up a ladder when inadequately prepared on a Sunday morning, and except for the very ambitious DIY-er, (for whom we have prepared a Project Advice item) this is a job for which it would be far better to employ the services of a local builder. Even though the cost of using a recommended tradesman to repoint your brickwork will be more than doing it yourself, the final effect will be worthwhile and add value to your property as well as giving it a much nicer appearance.
Painting Your Brickwork
Depending on your personal preferences, you may like to leave the finished job just as it is, or now paint the wall(s) of your house with a paint that further protects the property against the elements. A good tradesman will be able to offer professional advice on which product is most suitable for your property, depending on factors such as orientation, protection from neighbouring properties or trees and environmental considerations – e.g. if you live opposite a council depot and find you get a lot of salt or chemical corrosion during periods of heavy gritting activity.
Whilst checking over your brickwork, it is a good idea to keep an eye out for any signs of subsidence. Normally, vertical cracks will appear in the brickwork in corners of the wall or surrounding windows and doors. If you feel that there is a possibility that your property is suffering the effects of subsidence, minor problems can be cured by crack stitching and replastering. If in doubt, speak with one of the local builders featured in our tradesmen´s directory.
Whatever level of work you plan to undertake on your property, now is the time to put your good intentions into practise. These tasks are much harder to perform when the weather changes and you will be glad that when the winds blow and the rain falls, your property will be draught-proof and dry.
Tags: brickwork, builder, Construction, crack stitching, doors and windows, freeze-thaw, Home Maintenance, mortar, Painting, replastering, repointing, subsidence, tradesman, Tradesmen´s Directory
Posted in Dealing With The Four Seasons | Comments Off
Posted in Building A-Z on Jul 27
 Crack Stitching is a technique used by local builders to repair walls and prevent further damage when a property has suffered from subsidence. Even though the cause of the problem may have been removed, the effect the subsidence will have had on the property is normally unsightly, with vertical cracks showing in exterior masonry. In cases where the damage is slight, a good builder may recommend plastering over the damage, but for a permanent and effective repair, crack stitching can be the most cost effective.
A good builder will initially calculate areas of the affected wall on which “bed plates” can be introduced. These will be stronger points of the building which will be able to cope with the redistribution of structural stress. Your local builder will then grout reinforced rods into areas of the wall which are still sound, and connect them using chemical bonding materials. This operation redistributes the tensile areas of the structure and promotes future stability, whilst allowing for sufficient flexibility to account for natural building movement in the future.
Once the rods are in place and allowed to set, a good builder would then put you in touch with a recommended tradesman in order to plaster over the affected area, providing a little more stability to the structure, and delivering a nicer finish.
If you witness cracks forming in the exterior walls of your property – particularly in corners and the surrounds of bay windows – now might be the time to find a builder in our tradesmen´s directory. Our recommended tradesmen are happy to offer no-obligation builders quotes, and with the facility within the directory to search by postcode, you could have your local builder assessing any potential damage within just a few hours.
Tags: brickwork, builder, Construction, crack stitching, Home Improvements, Home Maintenance, Kerb Appeal, mortar, Painting, renovate, replastering, repointing, subsidence, tradesman, Tradesmen´s Directory
Posted in Building A-Z | Comments Off
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