My brickwork is passable but only just.... I have some basic questions I'm using a 3:1 mix. The engineering bricks I'm using have 3 large holes straight through. Should I be filling these with cement as I go along? Should I lay excess cement on each course so there is enough sticking out to point up? If I do this it tends to dribble. Or should I point afterwards with a dry mix. I can do it better this way, but I can't get smooth flowing lines to my pointing because it's too dry. If i make it wetter, it'll stain the brick surfaces.
So my problem is one way or the other, how to get a nice finish to my pointing without staining the outer brick surfaces.
My brickwork skills are about the same as yours by the sound of it. I do the pointing as a separate process, and I think the staining problem can be overcome by not trying to clean up the excess mortar too soon. Smooth it with whatever you're using, but leave the surplus ridges for a couple of hours so you can chop them off with the edge of the trowel when they've dried out a bit. If you get dribbling, you probably need a thicker mix. My pointing is actually pretty good. I just have trouble keeping the bricks level and straight :-)
Oh, and another thing. I've never mastered the art of "throwing" mortar into the joints from the edge of the trowel the way brickies do. I use a mortar board and a narrow metal thing which I don't know the name of to push it in. Very quick for the horizontal runs but a PITA for the verticals.
AIUI; the three 'holes' are to permit heat to reach the interior of the clay during the firing process. Imagine a solid bick (prism); some parts of the interior are a long wasy from the face. Old bricks had a frog - indentation- to achieve a similar effect.
If your mortar is dribbling onto the face of your bricks then I think your mix too wet. Don't drag the excess of mortar off the wall with your trowel. ALWAYS cut into it or you will just succeed in staining the brick face. Think of a block of butter, you want to cut the corner off with a knife to leave a nice clean edge on the block of butter remaining. Rather than taking the knife and spreading over the corner. The principle is the same in bricklaying.
Google has loads of stuff on bricklaying / pointing. Here is just one of them
That's quite strong, but should be OK for engineering bricks.
No. Mortar will ooze in when you tap the brick down, which is fine. They don't need to be filled.
It needs to ooze out a bit, to ensure full coverage. You slice that off flush with an upward action of the trowel edge. You might have too much water in your mortar, particularly with low absorbancy engingeering bricks. There shouldn't be anough for it to run down the wall -- if a lot comes out, it will fall away, but cut it off before this happens so you get a flush cut.
Wet the tool, and use it to create a compressed surface on the mortar. If you cut the mortar off flush as above, pointing up is easy. Wait for at least ½hour after laying the bricks so you are less likely to move them and damage the mortar bond. (If you are doing the top course, you might need to hold them in place whilst doing it too, to prevent any possible movement.) Point up the perps (verticals) first, and then point up the beds (horizontal runs). As you run the tool along, the excess mortar will crumble out as it's started setting now. Use a bucket to keep wetting the tool and rinsing any mortor off it.
If you do end up with staining, you can wash it off with an acid (brick acid is intended for this, kettle descaler works too) and a soft brush (don't use a metal brush as you'll mark the brick faces). Wait at least 24 hours before doing this or you will damage the pointing. Wear goggles.
First remember the difference between cement (grey dry powder) and mortar (cement/sand/water). You don't fill the holes with cement (or mortar) before laying the brick, as they will be filled when you lay the bed of the next course.
You really need a picture or video to see how to lay a brick as words are difficult, but you lay the bed with just enough mortar so that when you press the brick down, some mortar is sqeezed out, and this is then cut off and used for the perp joint of the next brick.
After laying the mortar will start to dry, but with engineers this will take a while. Press the mortar with your finger, and if you just make a slight indent, it can be pointed. If your finger sinks in, its still too wet.
All the mortar should be cut off flush with the wall prior to pointing (after laying really) and not left hanging out. Point any gaps with a semi dry mix, and not wet mortar - as you have found out this will stain the face of the bricks.
Use a bit of fairy liquid in the mix and this will reduce the water content requirement and makes it easier to use, and cuts down on possible staining.
Thanks to all. Reassuring Stuart to see someone's at a similar level to me. Waiting a while for mortar to dry before pointing is good advice that I'll take on board. And cutting upwards to remove excess. And watching a video. I just ordered a DVD via youtube. Steve's bricklaying. Not too expensive at =A310 +=A32p+p
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