I'm replacing about 100 spalled bricks which have been laid on edge as the top course of my 6-course high garden retaining wall. At each end of this course, two galvanised metal right-angled stays have been laid in the mortar - it looks as though they are meant to retain the bricks in position. They look pretty unsightly. I wonder if they are strictly necessary and I'm thinking about not re-using them, when I get to re-laying the course. Any comments, anyone?
The bricks are Tudor Red and I haven't a clue what the metal stays are called so I'm in need of enlightenment, which I have a feeling I'll get in a big way!
Incidentally, removing the old bricks has been a long, tedious job. I feel I should clean the mortar out of the frogs in the course below, to give the new bricks a decent bedding-in. I am considering using an SDS drill with a chisel bit to clean them up and speed up the job a bit. Is this a wise move? I'd give anything to abandon the hammer and chisel!
Do you mean on edge or on end? - The latter would be normal - a soldier course.
Nom, I don't think they are necessary, esp. if you are DIY-ing. I think that their use is really for when the wall is being built. It gives a firm end against which to but the bricks, otherwise the end one will tend to move. However, what I've done in this situation is carefully bed a couple of bricks at the end of the course. Leave to set firm, and then come back ( a couple of days? later) and fill in the rest.
Hmm, I'd take great care, bashing about on top could well cause the course below to get dislodged. I'd leave it I think if it looked at all like it it is going to do so.
A second hand quality sds will be worth 100 quid to you for such a job. Light and reliable with all the bells and whistles you will enjoy the job. Whatever you get make sure it has a hammer only function and a reverse.
Iron has a similar coefficient of expansion to masonry that is why it is used in concrete and brickwork. All your hard work looks to have been unecessary though if the mortar is so good. Still I suppose an Englishman's garden is his parade ground.
Enjoy your pointless hard work and be dammed, I say.
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Chris, The top course of bricks (now removed) were laid long edge down, across a double row of stretcher bond, 6 courses high. I take your point about "bashing about", but there has already been a good deal of manual "bashing about" with the hammer and chisel and the course below has proved pretty robust. Thanks again for your thoughts.
If the bricks you've removed are spalled, then it's likely that the bricks below will be close to that state. Removing the old mortar from their frogs is likely to take chunks of the brick face with it, especially if it's firmly stuck and you have to use force to remove it.
I disagree. The top course of a wall takes all the water and all the frost..its always the first to go.
Slap the new bricks on, and use a fairly strong mortar with some antiporosity stuff in it...one of the FEB line should do, and it will be pretty good. Using good grade hard bricks with lower porosity helps too.
I don't think clearing the frogs is worth the effort.
You may want to lay ties under the course along the wall to help bind everything together..
I have put a row of bricks-on-edge along the top of a garden wall, as long as you don't knock the end ones before they've well and truly set they're quite robust. I think metal L brackets are more appropriate where vandals might be encountered, the end brick is the easiest one to prise off.
Of course, use bricks with frogs, not holes, or the end bricks will look ugly.
They're frame ties. Absolutely not needed, may even hasten the disintegration of the joint. As you say, ugly, too.
It's probably not necessary to bash the bricks about. If you're worried you could always use a PVA in the mortar (or prime with a weak PVA/water mix and replace the bricks immediately, before the stuff dries).
If the course below is fairly level without clearing the frogs, then leave them full, and if it were mine I would use coping stones (quite a few types of decorative flags about these days) to prevent water ingress and the subsequent spalling when the frost gets in, just make sure you give the backs of the copings / flags a good blob of neat PVA all the way along or they will probably come unstuck...the other beauty of using copings which overhang the wall is that the bed underneath wont be seen, meaning less work re; the beds.
As others said, don't bother clearing the frogs, unless the mortar is loose. The top exposed row of bricks on a wall should be frost resistant type. The BS 3921 designation is "FL" or "FN" for such bricks. FL has a lower salt content and less likely to cause white salt deposits (efflorescence) to form on the wall. Engineering bricks work well if you can find a good colour match or a suitable contrast.
Start by "dry bonding", i.e layout out the bricks on the wall with the right mortar gaps to get the spacing right without ending up with a cut brick somewhere. On a 100 brick run, this shouldn't be a problem by small adjustments to the mortar gap. If old bricks were imperial and new ones are metric, the spacing will be different, and you'll probably want to get more bricks to avoid an excessive mortar gap. If all bricks are metric, you should get 3 to every stretcher below, although you might want to subtly adjust this if you don't have an integral number of stretchers in the length of the wall.
Start by bedding a brick at each end, but not the very end bricks. When bedding these first two bricks down, make sure the tops of them are the same distance above the course below (check with a ruler) and use a spirit level to make sure they are level side to side and front to back. (Remember to leave enough space for the end brick and the mortar gap.)
Stretch a line the length of the wall between the top front corners of these bedded bricks (stand another brick on top to hold it in the right place). This is your guide to keep the top of the row of bricks level (and hopefully the wall is straight).
Now work in a few bricks from each end brick. As you lay each brick, hold the end brick in place so it doesn't move. Keep an eye on the brick spacing and make small adjustments to the mortar gaps to keep them aligned with their dry bonding positions. As you lay each brick, tap it into position so its corner is level with the line but not quite touching it. Use a sprit level to make sure it is level front to back. Once you have a few bricks at each end, enough to remain stable in their own right, you can work in any order you like.
Fitting the very end bricks which were avoided initially can be fiddly. When you lay the bed of mortar, angle it so the end brick falls into the next brick. Otherwise it will tend to fall away, make a weak bond, and be liable to come loose. Bed it in by eye to line up with the rest of the course. As someone else said, a little exterior (waterproof) PVA mixed in the mortar can help increase the bond life by improving the tensile strength of the mortar, particularly for these end bricks.
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