Facing brick or block courses first?

[epsilonGreedy]

I have read that it is preferable to lay facing brick courses first then bring the inner block course up to the same height. I have also seen a brickie team do the reverse on a site near me where there were fitting full cavity batts as the wall went up.

 

Is there an accepted industry preference re. blocks or bricks first?

 

The thing in favour of facing bricks first that I can picture is that with the batt in place there are fewer courses to clean up snots against the obstruction of the batt.

[Mr Punter]

On sites they will normally lead with the blockwork and never attempt to clean the snots off the brickwork or use a board to catch any droppings.  The standard is, sadly, just do it a quickly and easily as possible.  I think that brickwork first is better, but there are some decent bricklayers on here who may give better advice.

[Declan52]

It doesn't really make much difference. Some guys like to build overhand so will be on the inner floor and do the bricks first then do the blocks. Only issue here is most health and safety guys will demand a scaffold up. 

Others want a scaffold up and will build the blocks first from the inside then go outside on to the scaffold and do the bricks. The advantage here is when they are pole jointing the bricks they are facing them so it should be done better.

You can of course do the bricks first from the scaffolding and then go inside and back it up with blocks. 

How are you going to load the house out with bricks and blocks?? Are you hiring a telehandler for example???

What are you putting in the cavity for your insulation???

No matter what way it's done it takes 2 secs to drag the trowel along the wall to clean any snots of so there is no excuse for leaving it bad. Not doing this will have major implications in how tight you can get your insulation if you are using cavity boards.

[Brickie]

Normally I would do the blockwork first BUT care needs to be taken when setting out the openings,especially if you’re getting handmade specials. It would really help to have a sample batch on site of say 20 or 30 so you can ‘dry bond’ around the building & see how your openings work to full bricks. It’s normally okay to move an opening 20mm or more from the drawing to avoid having cuts up the reveals,& also to play around a little with the opening sizes for same reason. It’s normal for an architect (if they’re any good) to design the openings & intermediate piers to brick sizes but if your special bricks come in 5mm longer or shorter than standard 215mm then all that’s out the window (excuse the pun.) Also the height of the brick will need to be known-if they’re 73mm or 78mm with a bed joint then allowance will need to be made in the block coursing (maybe with bed joint reinforcement if bigger) or an Abbey style sliding slot system for the cavity ties..Ties running down or up significantly in the cavity sounds alarm bells for whoever’s signing it off,as ties running I. To the building could potentially cause damp issues. 

[epsilonGreedy]

On 12/06/2018 at 13:02, Declan52 said:

How are you going to load the house out with bricks and blocks?? Are you hiring a telehandler for example???

 

 

I intend to follow what the two man team did on the adjacent plot. They had a small pulley attached to the scaffolding and hauled up the bricks 6 or 8 a time using one of those purpose design brick grabbers with a lever handle. The scaffolding already included a storage bay at height which was ignored until the the roof tiles were loaded onto the scaffolding.

 

On 12/06/2018 at 13:02, Declan52 said:

What are you putting in the cavity for your insulation???

 

 

Mineral fiber batts fitted as the wall goes up.

 

On 12/06/2018 at 13:02, Declan52 said:

No matter what way it's done it takes 2 secs to drag the trowel along the wall to clean any snots of so there is no excuse for leaving it bad.

 

 

This is where I now reckon I have misunderstood the process of fitting batts. I was imaging a process where say 3 courses of blocks went up, then the batt was fitted around any wall ties and flush up to the face of the blocks and finally the facing bricks were laid. What troubled me was the thought of the batt pushing up against the freshly laid facing bricks and also not allowing space for the snot cleanup on the inner face of the brick.

[Declan52]

1 hour ago, epsilonGreedy said:

 

I intend to follow what the two man team did on the adjacent plot. They had a small pulley attached to the scaffolding and hauled up the bricks 6 or 8 a time using one of those purpose design brick grabbers with a lever handle. The scaffolding already included a storage bay at height which was ignored until the the roof tiles were loaded onto the scaffolding.

 

 

Mineral fiber batts fitted as the wall goes up.

 

 

This is where I now reckon I have misunderstood the process of fitting batts. I was imaging a process where say 3 courses of blocks went up, then the batt was fitted around any wall ties and flush up to the face of the blocks and finally the facing bricks were laid. What troubled me was the thought of the batt pushing up against the freshly laid facing bricks and also not allowing space for the snot cleanup on the inner face of the brick.

You do realise the longer it takes it get the bricks and blocks up to where they need to be the longer it will take to build and the more money it will cost you. I would want the brickies building and somebody else loading it all out for them. Either yourself if possible or a labourer if you can get one or the brickies have one. 

Or its Either 2 days paying them to pull bricks up and load out each lift or 20mins with an all terrain forklift or a telehandler.

A brick hod would be quicker than a pulley as you can put 12 bricks in them. Plus you will end up with thighs like a Romanian weight lifter.

Have you looked at using cavity beads instead of batts.

As the batts are springy  they won't push the fresh work out. But any droppings that fall down the cavity land on the insulation below and can cause gaps.