Mate is having some garden walls built after the storms blew some fences
down.

Single brick about a meter high with 9" pillars with wood panels between.
Doing the entire garden - so must look good to neighbours too, as
obviously one of the walls is 'theirs'.

He wanted bricks to match the sort of red ribbed ones used on his 80s
house. But the ones the contractor has brought are only a match on one
face. The backs are a sort of sandy colour. The contractor says the only
option is to go for 9" walls all round - an extra 1000 quid.

Any comments? I know absolutely nothing about bricks. ;-)

--
*Organized Crime Is Alive And Well; It's Called Auto Insurance.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Most facing bricks only have one face a one end, sometimes two ends, finished as the facing side. If I was your mate I would also beef up the pillars if he intends to span the gaps with panels.

Richard

On 24/02/2014 11:03, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
Mate is having some garden walls built after the storms blew some fences
down.

Single brick about a meter high with 9" pillars with wood panels between.
Doing the entire garden - so must look good to neighbours too, as
obviously one of the walls is 'theirs'.

He wanted bricks to match the sort of red ribbed ones used on his 80s
house. But the ones the contractor has brought are only a match on one
face. The backs are a sort of sandy colour. The contractor says the only
option is to go for 9" walls all round - an extra 1000 quid.

Any comments? I know absolutely nothing about bricks. ;-)


Well yes, they're facing bricks - which have fancy surfaces on one front
face and two ends. You don't normally see the other side when it is
built, for example, into a cavity wall.

You can get decorative bricks which are faced all round and designed for
single thickness garden walls etc. - but they are a lot more expensive,
and won't match the house!

You pays your money . . .
--
Cheers,
Roger
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checked.

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
Mate is having some garden walls built after the storms blew some fences
down.

Single brick about a meter high with 9" pillars with wood panels between.
Doing the entire garden - so must look good to neighbours too, as
obviously one of the walls is 'theirs'.

He wanted bricks to match the sort of red ribbed ones used on his 80s
house. But the ones the contractor has brought are only a match on one
face. The backs are a sort of sandy colour. The contractor says the only
option is to go for 9" walls all round - an extra 1000 quid.

Any comments? I know absolutely nothing about bricks. ;-)


Sounds to me like faced commons, which are often used to reduce costs
on houses. Garden walls are wet for ages and easy to frost damage. I'd
look for some stock bricks of a suitable colour which will outlast
commons by a millenia! The worse the shape on stocks and the nearer to
blue, the longer they last. London yellow stocks are a bit soft, I think
that's because they are fired at lower temperatures to reduce costs, but
they will still outlast commons.

In article ,
Capitol writes:
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
Mate is having some garden walls built after the storms blew some fences
down.

Single brick about a meter high with 9" pillars with wood panels between.
Doing the entire garden - so must look good to neighbours too, as
obviously one of the walls is 'theirs'.

He wanted bricks to match the sort of red ribbed ones used on his 80s
house. But the ones the contractor has brought are only a match on one
face. The backs are a sort of sandy colour. The contractor says the only
option is to go for 9" walls all round - an extra 1000 quid.

Any comments? I know absolutely nothing about bricks. ;-)


Sounds to me like faced commons, which are often used to reduce costs
on houses. Garden walls are wet for ages and easy to frost damage. I'd
look for some stock bricks of a suitable colour which will outlast
commons by a millenia! The worse the shape on stocks and the nearer to
blue, the longer they last. London yellow stocks are a bit soft, I think
that's because they are fired at lower temperatures to reduce costs, but
they will still outlast commons.

+1.

You want bricks rated for frost resistance for a garden wall,
which is wetted on all sides and has no heat leaking through it
to dry it (unlike a house). Faced bricks are often not good for
frost resistance, the faces tend to fall off after a few years
of continuous water and frost exposure.

A single brick pillar (9") won't support wooden panels, although
I'm struggling to visualise what you are describing. With suitable
bricks, you can strengthen a pillar by running rebar set into the
foundations up through holes in the bricks and mortared in.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

All I know is that there were over 100 different types with varying colours
and hardness etc. I suspect the contractor has tried to find the cheapest in
stock that sort of match. I guess the other thought is paint of some kind,
but really, would anyone notice after they are weathered?
Brian

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From the Sofa of Brian Gaff Reply address is active
"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
Mate is having some garden walls built after the storms blew some fences
down.

Single brick about a meter high with 9" pillars with wood panels between.
Doing the entire garden - so must look good to neighbours too, as
obviously one of the walls is 'theirs'.

He wanted bricks to match the sort of red ribbed ones used on his 80s
house. But the ones the contractor has brought are only a match on one
face. The backs are a sort of sandy colour. The contractor says the only
option is to go for 9" walls all round - an extra 1000 quid.

Any comments? I know absolutely nothing about bricks. ;-)

--
*Organized Crime Is Alive And Well; It's Called Auto Insurance.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 24/02/2014 11:03, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
Mate is having some garden walls built after the storms blew some fences
down.

Single brick about a meter high with 9" pillars with wood panels between.
Doing the entire garden - so must look good to neighbours too, as
obviously one of the walls is 'theirs'.

He wanted bricks to match the sort of red ribbed ones used on his 80s
house. But the ones the contractor has brought are only a match on one
face. The backs are a sort of sandy colour. The contractor says the only
option is to go for 9" walls all round - an extra 1000 quid.

Any comments? I know absolutely nothing about bricks. ;-)


As others have said, those are single face commons. They may be the only
ones that the contractor can get to match the house, but they are not
the right brick for the job.

The guru:

http://www.pavingexpert.com/featur03.htm

Note the bit about single skin (rather than single brick which,
technically is 9" thick - 4" walls being half brick) walls only being
suitable up to about 450mm. I would also be rather dubious about 9"
piers being suitable for holding fencing panels of any size.

Personally, I would build the wall single skin, no more than 450mm high,
and make up the height difference with the fencing panels. For that, I
think the piers should be 13" square, which will leave a 4" square
cavity up the middle, which should have four spaced pieces of rebar in
it and be filled with concrete. Alternatively, use concrete fencing
posts instead of piers and view the wall as simply a long lasting infill
for the base.

I would also go for grade B engineering brick, which will be cheaper
than facing bricks as well as being more suitable for garden walls, and
ignore trying to match the house.

Colin Bignell

In article ,
Nightjar wrote:
As others have said, those are single face commons. They may be the only
ones that the contractor can get to match the house, but they are not
the right brick for the job.

Right.

The guru:

http://www.pavingexpert.com/featur03.htm

I'll study that later.


Note the bit about single skin (rather than single brick which,
technically is 9" thick - 4" walls being half brick) walls only being
suitable up to about 450mm. I would also be rather dubious about 9"
piers being suitable for holding fencing panels of any size.

That was a mistake on my part - they'll be 13". Interesting about the
maximum height for a 4" wall, though.

Personally, I would build the wall single skin, no more than 450mm high,
and make up the height difference with the fencing panels. For that, I
think the piers should be 13" square, which will leave a 4" square
cavity up the middle, which should have four spaced pieces of rebar in
it and be filled with concrete. Alternatively, use concrete fencing
posts instead of piers and view the wall as simply a long lasting infill
for the base.

I would also go for grade B engineering brick, which will be cheaper
than facing bricks as well as being more suitable for garden walls, and
ignore trying to match the house.

I've a feeling the match to the house will win in the end. Style over
function. I'd guess if the colour looked ok from a distance (after
weathering) that would be fine. But not what looks more like a yellow than
red brick.

--
*Can atheists get insurance for acts of God? *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 24/02/2014 15:03, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Nightjar wrote:
....
I would also go for grade B engineering brick, which will be cheaper
than facing bricks as well as being more suitable for garden walls, and
ignore trying to match the house.

I've a feeling the match to the house will win in the end. Style over
function. I'd guess if the colour looked ok from a distance (after
weathering) that would be fine. But not what looks more like a yellow than
red brick.

You can get red engineering bricks, but they won't have the same texture
as the house bricks.

Colin Bignell