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How to build a brick masonry wall?

Building a brick masonry wall

When you are considering building a brick masonry wall there are many considerations. The first is to make sure your local zoning and neighborhood regulations allow it. You need to know if any permits or inspections are necessary. An unstable brick wall is dangerous, so you need to be sure the job is done properly in order to keep the wall safe for the people and property around it.

Next step is to honestly assess if you have the strength, the time and the patience to build the wall to completion. This is a painstaking, rather tedious job, and involves some fairly heavy labor such as digging the trench for the foundation, and mixing of mortar. If you feel you have the time and skills necessary, then a brick wall is a good project to take on, as it can add beauty and value to your property.

Stability starts with the foundation

The foundation will need to be level. Concrete is poured into a trench to create a perfectly level base for the entire length and width of the wall you want to build. Guideposts to align the bricks are usually set into the concrete. It cannot be overstated the importance of this foundation, or footer, and it is absolutely critical that it be perfectly level or the wall will not be level. If the wall is not level, it is not stable.

A double thickness of bricks will be twice as stable and solid as a single brick thick wall. When it comes to bricks, you have three grades to choose from: Severe weathering, medium weathering and no weathering. For an outdoor wall, you must choose either severe or medium weathering. No weathering bricks are strictly for interior use.

Our friends at wiki-how.com have good information on the details and specifics of building a brick wall. We encourage you to review these steps carefully and lists of materials you will need, as well as other sources of information, before beginning your brick wall project.


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