Brick is one of the most common building materials. But arranging such masonry requires experience and the use of special tools, which guarantees a high-quality result. The devices can be homemade or you can purchase a standard version from the assortment available in stores.
Before you start laying bricks, you must acquire all the necessary building materials and tools.
Bricklaying Tools
A variety of devices are used to help the mason, which allow them to achieve the following advantages:
- The necessary accuracy is ensured - the wall turns out smooth;
- The worker's work is made easier;
- Has a positive effect on worker productivity.
Hand tool
What a mason will need:
- Trowel or trowel- a small metal spatula in the shape of a triangle on a wooden/plastic handle, a trowel allows you to level or remove concrete mortar from the wall, and rub joints.
- Shovel bucket— is used in the preparation of the connecting solution, and also facilitates the application of cement to the bed during large-scale work.
- Level- another common tool, it is used to measure the horizontal evenness of the wall. The measurement is carried out using a sealed capsule with anti-freeze and an air bubble - the air should be exactly in the middle of the capsule, which indicates the correct geometry of the wall.
- Pick hammer- indispensable for splitting building blocks for repair work.
A mason needs a whole range of tools
Popular devices:
- Plumb- this is the most primitive measuring device for assessing the vertical evenness of the wall and the quality of the corners - and you can control the height of two or three floors.
- Cord (mooring)- indispensable for assessing the height of the wall, which is important at the preparatory stage; you can also assess the straightness and horizontality of the finished wall.
- Joining— helps in forming the decor of the seam profile when laying facing material. The seam turns out to be figured, the stitching comes with different dimensions and profiles.
- Rule- this is just a level bar for assessing the evenness of the walls.
- Order— it is attached to the 1st row, which allows you to predict in advance the location of the next rows of building materials. It is indispensable for making drawings, cladding, monitoring the placement of openings, etc.
Construction tools for bricklaying
Bricklaying devices
Having available materials, for example, polymer materials, plastic, steel, you can create devices for smooth masonry with your own hands. The main difference from factory-produced products will be the method of fastening the parts, as well as the durability of the product.
DIY dispenser
Laying bricks with a dispenser is easier
One of the most common devices is a dispenser that allows you to accurately apply a binder for building materials. Depending on the dimensions and weight of this material, the thickness of the seam, and therefore the volume of the extruded mixture, varies.
The width of the mortar strip corresponds to the geometry of the future wall and is limited by the front planks. The lower level of stops corresponds to the thickness of the seam. An elementary device is a limiter made of plywood - to make it, you just need to buy material up to 25mm thick. We assemble the body according to the specified data; wooden blocks or pieces of plywood and metal corners are installed as front limits and stops.
Control devices
Laying bricks with a template is easier - it allows you to dose the volume of mortar to be laid
The template for laying bricks is a special frame with two parallel sides, a handle and steel crossbars. The internal width of the frame is equal to the width of the wall - it can be 1-1.5 or more bricks. At the bottom of the device, there are special protrusions on both sides that align the block in the wall and at the same time capture the previous row of bricks. The material for the device is plywood or wood slats. In industrial production, metal or plastic can also be used.
To make such a structure, an old box is most often used - we fix the bars of the lower support and the wooden frame with self-tapping screws, when calculating the wall thickness, we take into account the standard seam thickness within 10-12 mm.
Homemade device for laying bricks
DIY device for laying bricks
A homemade device allows you to dose the solution and apply a perfectly even strip of binder to the brick. The device is not complicated— to prepare such a tool you will need a metal sheet, the thickness of which will correspond to the required thickness of the seams. We cut a rectangular hole in the sheet, the width of which corresponds to the width of the brick. You can purchase a factory-made dispenser.
The algorithm for its use is as follows: placing a sheet with a hole on the laying surface, fill the form with the solution, and then level its surface with a trowel, removing excess. As a result, a strip of mortar 10 mm high is obtained on the bed - the wall will exactly correspond to the required dimensions indicated on the drawings.
The solution for joining blocks is a fairly aggressive environment, so it is necessary to protect the devices used. If they are made of plastic or wood, then all internal surfaces in the templates must be treated with wear-resistant ship or parquet varnish. It is better to apply protection in several layers - this will increase the service life of the created dispenser.
After finishing the working day, it is necessary to thoroughly clean the tool from any remaining binder mixture - this reduces the wear of materials and allows you to maintain the internal surfaces in working condition. Otherwise, the tool will fail.
Cost of factory products
If we are talking about large volumes of work, it is better to buy devices manufactured at the factory. Most often they are sold as a set, for example, the “Brick” or “Bricklayer” set includes the following elements:
- Templates for laying out the mixture on the bed;
- Trowel;
- The shape of the wall is one and a half bricks - 88 mm;
- The shape of the wall is one brick - 65 mm;
- Angle - allows you to check the angular parameters of the wall; the mooring is attached to it;
- Operating instructions, most often in video version.
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This simple device for laying bricks, “BRICKY”, received the Oscar De L'Invention award for the best construction invention in 2011.
Of course, the tool is not suitable for large volumes, but for clean, unhurried and accurate work and for a novice mason it is a good thing. I think that for most of the participants in our channel it will not be difficult to make this instrument with their own hands.
Jig for perfectly smooth brickwork
In connection with the development of industry and the production of various building materials, so-called panels or other, lighter or cheaper material have recently been preferred to brick. It cannot be said that other materials are not able to outperform brick in terms of properties. This is probably where everything is heading. But the appearance of a brick or “stone” building is always appreciated. Especially if the hand of a real master mason is visible.
There is no need to do this
But like any other type of construction work, builders without experience also undertake the construction of a brick wall, which is called “for themselves.” Indeed, if you do everything carefully, then the difference (with small errors) between your masonry and the mason’s masonry will be especially visible only in the speed of work. However, it will constantly move closer to the standard.
It’s not a problem to find out how to tighten a string, mix a mortar or how much reinforcement you need. But how much mortar should be thrown under the brick so that you don’t have to add, rake or hit with a mallet, deforming the previous work, is a more serious question. Of course, with experience this will happen automatically, but what should a beginner do? There are two options: learn as everyone else has learned, or use an amazingly working device created just to solve this problem.
The jig or template for distributing cement mortar is made of durable plastic. It consists of a rectangular frame with provided cutouts and protrusions. In the process of work, you should install it on a laid row of bricks, pour the mortar into the recess and, leaning the trowel closely against the upper part of the jig, clean off its excess.
The result is an inter-brick layer of the same thickness along its entire length. Simply lay the brick flat on it and press down lightly. A similar device, only smaller in size, is also provided for applying cement mortar to the end part of the brick. Using such a template also allows the outer edge of the seam to be positioned at the same distance from the outside of the wall, which looks very nice.
The price of such pleasure is on average 1,500 rubles. Plus or minus half a thousand depending on the company, quality and completeness of the set
How to make smooth brickwork with beautiful brick joints?
Construction today is perhaps the most popular type of craft activity. Having mastered the construction profession, you will never be left without work. And if you become a master of your craft, then you will have no end to expensive “fat” customers.
Look carefully. The so-called guest workers, but in fact, former residents of the Soviet Union, all work as builders.
Do you think they earn little? If their earnings do not seem too large to us, then they themselves, on the contrary, consider their monetary reward worthy. And this is all because in their homeland, the amount of money they earn here is considered a fortune.
However, construction specialties are different. The most difficult to implement, accordingly, are also the highest paid.
The mason profession is one of the most difficult. No one can just pick up and start laying brickwork. To do this, you need to learn, both theoretically and gain practical experience from real masters of their craft, working alongside them and gradually performing, first simple operations, step by step moving on to more complex ones.
Only when you go through everything - from simple to complex - will you be trusted to lay brickwork. Brickwork of a multi-storey building is the pinnacle of any mason's skill.
Smooth brick joints are perhaps the most difficult element of brickwork. Always wondered how they are made? How do master masons manage to apply the mortar in an even layer and then lay bricks on it one by one?
He was building a brick garage on his property. I did the brickwork myself. Did this for the first time. It took a hundred sweats until I somehow got used to laying a more or less even wall. I’d rather not say anything at all about the brick joints on the walls of my garage, as you yourself understand, everything turned out crooked))
But don't be discouraged
Recently I found a special device for masons on the Internet. With its help, it is possible, even for the most inexperienced beginner, to make smooth brick-to-brick joints, both horizontal and vertical.
This miracle device is sold on a well-known foreign online store. Amazon. It's called there Bricky – Wall Building Tool.
Costs 39.99 euros. To be honest, the price is clearly too high!
Yes, we need it, it’s a device, and we don’t need to buy it. Just see how it's made and make your own, completely free - from ordinary corners!
The operating principle is simple
Install the device on the brickwork, fill its frame with mortar, level the mortar over the frame, and remove the excess. Remove the frame. Place a brick on a flat strip of mortar.
Do the same with a vertical seam.
The construction of walls of almost any building involves the installation of brickwork. Of course, if you are starting to build a house and you do not have specific experience in performing construction work, you can turn to a specialist mason for help. But when building an outbuilding, you can do the brickwork yourself using some tools. These simple devices will help to significantly speed up the process of building a brick wall and get a fairly high-quality result of the work.
Using devices with the device various brick designs:
- Helps align seams between rows and the entire plane of the structure.
- Facilitates the working conditions of the mason.
- Increases the productivity of brick laying work.
Auxiliary tools for masonry
When carrying out work on the construction of the wall of a building, a mason uses a certain set of tools and devices.
Hand tool
Most often with brickwork hand tools are used on walls; without a mason's kit it is impossible to perform this type of work. Brickwork Tools:
There is another group of tools, which is actively used in the construction of brickwork, which can be called measuring.
Measuring instruments include:
Super DIY bricklaying tools
Using all these tools, even with not very much experience as a mason, you can build small brick buildings. But if the task is set, it is sometimes very difficult to build a building that will be subject to increased requirements for the condition of the facing surface, without the use of special super devices that increase the quality and accuracy of work.
Order
Using this device, the verticality of the wall surface and corners of the building is monitored, and the horizontalness of the brickwork joints is also checked. Ordering constructively consists of a wooden strip or metal corner on which marking lines are applied. The size of the marking division determines the vertical size of the block or brick and the thickness of the mortar layer. The mooring cord is attached precisely at these points and allows you to control the horizontalness of the seam. The order is installed on part of the wall after laying 5-6 rows and the mortar has completely hardened.
Do-it-yourself ordering
Make such a device it is possible from wooden slats, but such a device will not be quite strong for masonry of large buildings. Therefore, such a tool is often made from a metal corner with a shelf of 40–50 mm and verified edges. The length of the ordering slats is 1.5–2 meters. The marking is done depending on the thickness of the seam (10–15 mm) and the vertical height of the brick or block. Holes with a diameter of 4–8 mm, for attaching the mooring cord, are drilled at the control points. Side supports, for fixing to the walls of the building, are located at the bottom of the device. The device is installed on the wall using a plumb line and level.
Device for quick brick laying
The accuracy of a brick structure directly depends not only on the skill and experience of the mason, but also on the correct and even application of the mortar to the masonry. This solution dispenser template is a rectangular structure, the width of which is set in accordance with the thickness of the building wall. A through hole is made in the center of this template for loading the solution.
Such a dispenser is installed on the previous row of bricks and filled with mortar using a ladle, shovel or trowel. The trowel is also used to level the mortar layer, and removing excess solution.
It’s easy to make a super device for bricklaying with your own hands from wood, plastic or metal. The geometric dimensions of this device depend on the size used for laying the material (brick, block). In accordance with the thickness of the future wall, the working width of the template is selected, which is fixed on the sides with limiters. The thickness of the mortar joint is determined by the height of the stops at the bottom.
The simplest, but short-lived, the template structure is made of plywood. Wooden blocks can be used as side stops and limiters from below.
- To increase the service life of a wooden or plastic template, it is necessary to cover the most worn parts of the template with several layers of parquet varnish.
- The thickness of the seam is set to 10 mm, which is ideal when constructing a wall with a thickness of one or one and a half bricks.
- To protect the entire tool from premature wear, it must be periodically cleaned of the solution.
When laying brick, it is very important to maintain the same thickness of the seam. Even the best mason can hardly cope with such a task without special tools. You can make your life and work easier with the help of such a device. It will allow you to make almost perfectly even masonry while maintaining all distances. Need I say that such a thing will significantly speed up the process?
Device design
The device consists of two horizontal strips measuring 11x25 mm, two horizontal strips measuring 19x40 mm, and four vertical strips measuring 19x40. The design also includes two 10mm diameter studs with wings, bolts and nuts.
They connect the vertical slats. To fasten some parts, 40 mm finishing nails are used, the ends of which are bitten off from the inside of the parts. Finally, there are two screws with heads with a diameter of 20 mm, with nuts and washers for them.
The total length of the structure is 850 mm. Horizontal planks are placed according to the letter “G” principle. The sections of the tool from the edge to the vertical bar are 130 mm long. The height of the planks above the entire structure is 100 mm. The entire structure should be varnished to protect it from moisture that may enter from the solution.
Principle of operation
The mortar is applied to the masonry, after which it is leveled to the level of the tool strips. After this the tool
stretches forward. The overhang from the vertical planks is needed in order to work on the edge of the wall.
