Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Dec 04, 2007 2:17 am Hi,
New poster here, I thought I'd ask for your thoughts. Photo albums here btw We're building in Perth and our double brick cavity walls went up in only 6 days! Perhaps due to the fact that our lender only allows 3 progress payments so the builder doesn't get their first progress payment till plate height. I've organised a site visit with the supervisor to get his take on the workmanship of the inner walls, in particular since there are plenty of gaps in the mortar to the sides of the bricks. http://images2.fotopic.net/?iid=yqzxyy& ... quality=70 Is it normal? I think I've seen similar during other people's builds .Should we have any concerns about the strength and integrity of the inner walls if the mortar mostly only joins the bricks fully above and below each brick rather than to the sides of each brick? No doubt the builder is expecting the plasterer to cover it all up, but I'm wondering if that might potentially lead to cracks or problems with moisture. Another issue is that they don't seem to have been too concerned about building with damaged or very roughly cut bricks, with one corner of particular concern to me. http://images4.fotopic.net/?iid=yqzxy2& ... quality=70 Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ http://images2.fotopic.net/?iid=yqzi0h& ... quality=70 I may be worrying about nothing, but I thought I might get some advice instead of just accepting whatever the supervisor says. Thank you. Re: Should there be gaps in mortar on inner walls? New pics. 2Dec 04, 2007 9:03 am Internal bricks, External Bricks, either way that bricklayer and his assitants should be hung drawn and quartered. That is disgraceful... I wouldn't be happy at all about the job they have done , If you can afford it it may be worth your while and money to get in your own inspector or at least ring around some brickies and see if they are willing to come and inspect the job for a slab of bear or something..... Gav & Vanessa Building In Melbourne (Sth East Suburbs) http://www.arkraider.blogspot.com/ Rawdon Hill Construction - Canterbury Heritage Re: Should there be gaps in mortar on inner walls? New pics. 3Dec 04, 2007 10:59 am That is perfectly acceptable for a internal fastwall that will be rendered and whiteset, the extra gaps are for helping the render key in.
pritty much every double brick house in WA is made this way, as long as your external walls are ok your in a good state. Re: Should there be gaps in mortar on inner walls? New pics. 4Dec 04, 2007 11:09 am I would second what memphis says. The gaps are delierate and the plaster will bebetter able to stick. The lack of morter is probably also deliberate. Internal walls that are to be plastered generally do not look nice. Just wait until you see how they put the conduit forswitches and plugs.
The building techniques in Perth are quite different from the rest of the country as they are the only city where double brick predominates. Re: Should there be gaps in mortar on inner walls? New pics. 5Dec 04, 2007 11:12 am As long as the walls are all square and lines straight, I don't think it's a big deal. Not a particularly educated opinion, but that's my view. It may pay for you to get a professional opinion (or three).
Ash. Re: Should there be gaps in mortar on inner walls? New pics. 6Dec 04, 2007 12:59 pm The gaps are a good thing as the cement render sticks into the gaps.
Thats the way they do it over here. Once rendered it will all lock together and wont go anywhere. Re: Should there be gaps in mortar on inner walls? New pics. 7Dec 04, 2007 3:11 pm Thank you.
I was gearing up to find an independent inspector this lunchtime after reading the first post by arkraider earlier this morning, but just checked the topic again now and the balance of opinion seems to think it's at least alright if not better even. I'm meeting the supervisor tomorrow morning for the first time, so I hope to get a feel as to whether we can trust him or whether we'll need independent inspectors. Anyway, please feel free to have a look around the other pics and here's the draft plans if anybody is interested. Re: Should there be gaps in mortar on inner walls? New pics. 8Dec 04, 2007 4:18 pm I would still recommend an independent inspector but just not for this particular concern. Re: Should there be gaps in mortar on inner walls? New pics. 9Dec 04, 2007 6:19 pm We are also building double brick, but we used second hand internals so there may be different rules. You can see on some of the pictures, they were a bit mortar happy! My uneducated comment would be that your brickwork will be fine once it is plastered and I understand other people's comments about the plaster sticking better. While our brickies were much 'sloppier' on the internal walls, they still did a pretty good job; here are some photos of our internal walls for comparison (sorry, they are pretty small but go to blog for bigger pics if interested)
Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Should there be gaps in mortar on inner walls? New pics. 10Dec 04, 2007 6:36 pm Well…..I’ve been on to a lot of building sites, and I have to say that’s the worst brick laying I have ever seen…..render or no rendering!
Lets hope everyone’s theory is right, buy the way……did you pay for those seconds bricks as seconds?? Or did you get charged full price for them? Just wondering. Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com Re: Should there be gaps in mortar on inner walls? New pics. 11Dec 04, 2007 10:38 pm hi michelle,
our seconds were free!! father in law owns demolition company. hence we weren't too picky about using some funny shaped (or funny coloured) bricks; it will all be covered with the plaster. They took great pride in their work on the external walls where it counted! great workmanship Helen Re: Should there be gaps in mortar on inner walls? New pics. 12Dec 05, 2007 10:16 am Helen…..my comment was to jayp!!!!
Your brick work looks great!! Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com Re: Should there be gaps in mortar on inner walls? New pics. 13Dec 05, 2007 6:49 pm aaah, i wasn't sure so thought i would answer. i was a bit confused because you referred to 2nds bricks and jayp didn't.
Helen Re: Should there be gaps in mortar on inner walls? New pics. 14Dec 05, 2007 6:57 pm Yeah just wondering if he knew he got seconds!
More that likely they used the crappy ones left over…..but still, I can’t help wounder what he got charged for? Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com Re: Should there be gaps in mortar on inner walls? New pics. 15Dec 06, 2007 9:13 am Michelle Well…..I’ve been on to a lot of building sites, and I have to say that’s the worst brick laying I have ever seen…..render or no rendering! I'm sure you have but I doubt you have been to many in Perth. Having built there, I visited dozens of building sites (no exagerration) and can say what you see above is not untypical. The difference between Perth and the Eastern state citys is like another country in some respects. Since nearly all houses built over there are double brick and since at least until recently a double brick house could be built for cheaper than the equivalent veneer in the eastern states, I think they must have got some pretty good techniques down pat. It is a shame that double brick is extortionally high price in the eastern states, perhaps it is over emphasis on pre completion asthetics that does it. I would personally love to have the option of double brick in Melbourne WITHOUT the extra cost. Re: Should there be gaps in mortar on inner walls? New pics. 16Dec 06, 2007 1:32 pm Michelle Yeah just wondering if he knew he got seconds! More that likely they used the crappy ones left over…..but still, I can’t help wounder what he got charged for? you keep making assumptions that the brickwork quality is sub par.... the bricks are called internal fastwalls, and look like that from the brick plant.. http://www.midlandbrick.com.au/docs/pro ... Utility%20 and since double brick is standard...not an additional cost, he didnt get "charged" for anything more than standard internal fastwalls. Dont want to be rude but please stop casting judgement on what you dont know. Re: Should there be gaps in mortar on inner walls? New pics. 17Dec 06, 2007 1:34 pm Slightly OT:
What gets me about most modern so-called "brick" houses is that the brickwork is purely aesthetic. They aren't load-bearing walls. The whole concept seems extremely odd - why even bother pretending it's brick ? I used to live in a art deco place where ALL the walls (interior & exterior) were double-brick cement-rendered. That was a fantastically solid, quiet, and warm house. Re: Should there be gaps in mortar on inner walls? New pics. 18Dec 06, 2007 7:48 pm Sorry I haven't returned to reply till now, I've been too busy.
Anyhow, the internal bricks are indeed Midland Fastwall & came in bound pallets so I doubt that they're seconds! I met with the supervisor yesterday morning and felt reasonably reassured. He confirmed without prompting the theory that it's deliberate for better grip and that the big gaps between the roughly reduced bricks won't be a problem. Apparently they fill up the gaps when they cover the walls with a 10mm thick layer of cement before it's plastered. Given that the lintels I saw installed to the ensuite are brick encased in cement, it would seem that these internal walls are going to be pretty damn strong! So thanks for your thoughts. Given the speedy progress to this point, we had wondered how far they would get before the Christmas break. Not much further would appear to be the answer! The roof truss factory lost power for a couple of days after delivery had already been delayed so nothing will happen at all for 2 weeks from when they finished the brickwork. Re: Should there be gaps in mortar on inner walls? New pics. 19Dec 06, 2007 8:01 pm memphis Michelle Yeah just wondering if he knew he got seconds! More that likely they used the crappy ones left over…..but still, I can’t help wounder what he got charged for? you keep making assumptions that the brickwork quality is sub par.... the bricks are called internal fastwalls, and look like that from the brick plant.. http://www.midlandbrick.com.au/docs/pro ... Utility%20 and since double brick is standard...not an additional cost, he didnt get "charged" for anything more than standard internal fastwalls. Dont want to be rude but please stop casting judgement on what you dont know. Only know what I have seen….many times! But for you I’ll stop casting judgement Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com Re: Should there be gaps in mortar on inner walls? New pics. 20Dec 07, 2007 12:41 am Building Standards; Getting It Right! Hi, sorry if this is the wrong place - I’m new to the property/building journey (trying to buy my first home) so not sure where/who to go with these sorts of… 0 14066 Hi I live in a 100yr old semi and my neighbour added an additional floor last yr and our architect has advised that we can knock down our semi and build a free-standing… 0 28686 10 12467 |