Temper my expectations of block / brick laying speed

[Moonshine]

I have a gut feeling that my brickies are dragging their heels because they are on day rates (yeah i know).

 

The current stage is getting out the ground to DPC and i get its fiddly, but it seems there isn't much progress. The day rate was agreed as the below DPC work was hard to quantify.

 

Now its getting to the stage where its standard block i am trying to get a gauge on what is reasonable of the number of blocks to be laid in a day.

 

Based on one bricklayer, one laborer / bricklayer what would be reasonable amount of blocks to lay in a day based on machine mixing mortar and blocks already being set out?

[Declan52]

It will vary day by day. He might spend one day going round and just building the corners up which is time consuming and won't look like they have done much. But the next day they will put corner blocks on and build away and it will be a wow they really did do well today. Same thing goes when your at cill height. You spend most of the time cutting blocks and plumbing the revels. 

They really should be covering their wages so should be building upwards of 300 blocks a day as a pair. 

 

[Moonshine]

13 minutes ago, Declan52 said:

They really should be covering their wages so should be building upwards of 300 blocks a day as a pair. 

 

Really? That seems very optimistic to me for two guys.

Say the labourer is laying for half the time that's 12 man hours, or 25 blocks an hour.

That seems very high.

[Gus Potter]

6 minutes ago, Declan52 said:

It will vary day by day. He might spend one day going round and just building the corners up which is time consuming and won't look like they have done much. But the next day they will put corner blocks on and build away and it will be a wow they really did do well today. Same thing goes when your at cill height. You spend most of the time cutting blocks and plumbing the revels. 

They really should be covering their wages so should be building upwards of 300 blocks a day as a pair. 

 

300 a day is quite a big ask on a DIY build. I would go for around the 250 a day. Then factor in the recent weather!

 

Yes the blocks may be laid out for them but do they have a good working space for the mixer? / is it a premixed mortar?

 

If hand batching on site then where and how you store the sand can impact on productivity. If you have let the sand get soaking wet this slows things down, also, if in bulk bags that have not been covered from the rain and sat on a pallet.. then as you work your way down the bag each batch of sand gets wetter.. each batch has to be carfefully monitored.. takes time.

 

Before you take a view then have a look at the quality of their work. Have they kept say the cavities clean, are any solum / cassette vents all protruding the right amount, are they plumb / level. Have they got their wall ties clean, are the right amount inserted, every course around openings etc. Are the ties embedded properly into each leaf say or neatly nailed to a timber frame. Do and cavity trays you can see look neat and water tight. Are the dpcs looking nice and straight.

 

Do the mortar beds look level and of a consistent thickness, are the walls plumb?

 

Good workmanship takes time to execute. Speed an quality are often not good bedfellows.

 

 

[tonyshouse]

Normal is two brickies, one labourer, a hot labourer can service four average brickies. On day rate I would look for above 500 bricks a day 

 

can work to QS rates per m2