Michael's 42" in Portland

[mklingles]

Re: Michael's 42" in Portland

I just mortared in the first two courses. (Pictures tomorrow) Everything went smoothly. I think it took me about 5 or 6 hours including cleanup. It was the first time I've done any masonry so hopefully I'll get faster

I've seen lots of discussions about cleaning up excess mortar. I definitely will have some clean up to do. Is it best done sooner (within a few days) or is it safe to wait for next weekend?

[dmun]

Re: Michael's 42" in Portland

Sooner! You want to sponge off excess mortar within hours, or at the max the next morning. Much longer than that it's solid to the brick. That was my experience with heat-stop, other types may vary.

[fxpose]

Re: Michael's 42" in Portland

It's best if you remove or sponge off excess mortar as you go. I've always removed excess mortar which oozed out by using my finger immediately after joining pieces together, and later followed by a light sponge cleanup.
A caked on mortar on a brick face is a b*tch to clean, especially if you have a large area to clean.

George

[countryboy]

Re: Michael's 42" in Portland

They've already said immediately or very soon with a wet sponge. Agreed. A hand held wire brush the next day also works well and is pretty quick. I just spray water on it, brush and rinse. (Part of that is the price for letting my 9-y.o. stuff mortar in a few cracks, but he feels good about helping... LOL!)

I have a circular wire brush I may chuck into my drill to try for final cleaning, but that remains unproven.

Definitely, though, sooner is better.

CB

[mklingles]

Re: Michael's 42" in Portland

Thank you thank you! Dmun responded soon enough and I got it sponged off last night. It cleaned up easily. I was probably cleaning about 3 hours after I stopped working.

I'm keeping my mortared bricks covered with some old bed sheets soaked in water then covering the whole thing with plastic. I'm trying to keep the mortar moist as it cures. I also soaked my bricks for several hours. Some threads have indicated that soaking for too long can be a problem. I did not have a problem with the bricks being too wet.

Do other people worry about keeping the mortar moist? I think this should reduce the risk of cracks in the mortar.

[mklingles]

Re: Michael's 42" in Portland

Here's the photos from my first go with the mortar:





I'm keeping the bricks covered with wet sheets and plastic to help the mortar cure:

[mklingles]

Re: Michael's 42" in Portland

Just mortared the arch in place, and cut bricks for 2 more courses. Should get those in tomorrow.

my excell spreadsheet is finally seeming to be correct. If it is still on track after a few more courses I'll clean it up and post it.

Here's a plot of the bricks for each course. This is a visual check that things are calculated correctly. I'm using this to calculate dimmensions for cutting the bricks, and to calculate the length of the tool.

[mklingles]

Re: Michael's 42" in Portland

Had I gotten my spreadsheet working before I started, I would have used an upright soldier course with the top edge cut on an angle to minimize that large gap. Instead I cut a bunch fo brick wedges to fill in the gap.

[mklingles]

Re: Michael's 42" in Portland

Here's the photos of the next few courses. Things finally went smoothly on course 4. I'm using the tool distance to the top edge of the brick and the angle of the course to set the bricks.

[mklingles]

Re: Michael's 42" in Portland





I'm happy with the arches. I think I calculated how to cut the bricks correctly, but then I miss measured - oh well you know what they say about practice and theory. So I have a mix of cut trapezoids and square bricks. That made the angles come out correct in practice.

[Jon in Albany]

Re: Michael's 42" in Portland

Looks like it is coming along nicely. I'm looking forward to checking out your spreadsheet. I've made some scale drawings, but when I lay everything out it doesn't seem to some out right.

I'm enjoying following your thread. Please keep the pictures and information coming.

Jon

[mklingles]

Re: Michael's 42" in Portland

Two more courses in this past weekend. Looking to skip work on Thursday and Friday to try to get the dome finished and move onto the vent opening and chimney.

[Millstone Man]

Re: Michael's 42" in Portland

Looking good. Good luck on the vent opening and chimney. I'm still working out my vent and arch and really impressed even more as I cross this part by those that have come before me. Good luck.

[Tscarborough]

Re: Michael's 42" in Portland

This is not a problem, but you should always try and avoid head (vertical) joints extending though 2 courses. You have big and small brick and should always attempt to make the upper joint fall in the middle of the brick below it. This is called "bond", and the goal is called "half bond" meaning that the joint above always falls in the middle of the brick below. This adds a lot of strength to the dome.

[Tscarborough]

Re: Michael's 42" in Portland

Also, best practice says that the smallest unit should be no less than 1/4 of a full unit, so if if takes a smaller piece than this, cut two bricks to fill the (larger) gap to close the course.

Head joint issues in black, small pieces in red.


Don't worry about what you have completed, just work to avoid more as you finish.