562

THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE. Book II.

stretchers and 42 headers; from which the great superiority of English bond may be at
once inferred.
1899. Bond Timber should be used in pieces as long as circumstances will admit. In
walls where tlie thickness will allow of it, some jirefer that the timber should be laid in the
centre, so that when it decays no material damage is done. Also that in case of fiie, the
bond timber is not afftcted by it. If so placed, when dressings of wood are rerjuirt'd,
wooden plugs must be provided to which to secure them. When a fire occurs and the
bond is next the inside face, it is burnt out, and the strength of a thin wall, say 9 or
1 4 inches thick, is seriously affected thereby. Two or three tiers in the height of the room
are usually employed.
1899(/. However useful timber may be in bonding thin walls whilst the brickwork is yet
green, it has for some years hjen entirely superseded by hoop iron bond. Tliis consists of
narrow and thin stiips of iron (see Smitueky) laid between two courses of bricks. Tlie
iron should be tarred and sa ided, the former as a preservative from rust, the latter to
afford a firmer hold to the mortar. Some authorities go so far as to state that hoop iron
bond, unless it is set in a cement course, is not so efficient as wood bond. A tier of bond is
placed in each three feet of iieight, one strip of iron to each half brick. In extensive works,
or in s])ecial cases, two, three, or more, tiers are recommended. In addition to the use of
concrete on clay soils, it may be occasionally useful to build all the footings for four or six
couises in htight of iirickwork in cement, each course well bonded with hoop iron, laid both
longitudinally and diagonally
;
it is perhaps better than a course of Yorksliire stone (par.
1 882.) as the bond is continuous. During the execution of the works, the iron is continued
through all openings as with wood bond
;
the latter is cut away when rtquisite, but the
former should be turned down ajiainst tlie brickwork. The laps at a junction should be care-
fully made to secure the continuity of the tie. An addition to the plain band of iron has
been introduced, and I'l/eniian'n
j
atent 7uitched hoop iron ho?id has been extensively iin-
ployed. It consists in forming a slight notch at intervals of
11^
inches on both sides al-
ternately, and turning it up in succession, in contrary directions, forming a triangular
piece, whereby a better key is obtai.ied upon the bricks and mortar.
1903. Miirtarjoints. The propriety of using mortar beds as thin as possible, has been
inculcated in this work, and most specifications state that four courses of brickwork formed
of the ordinary sized bricks are not to rise more than
11^ ;
sometimes 12 inches is nanu'd. as
tlie joints shoidd not exceed |ths of an inch. When good mortar is used that sets rapidly,
the joint might be thicker than thus allowed. In Roman and most Eastern work, the joint
was usually 1 and
1]
inches thick, and where the inortar has been good, such buildings so
executed are sound after centuries of wear. "In modern practice, in all masonry and brickwork
wliere strength is required rather than ornament, thick beds and joints of good mortar
will be useful. Thin bricks or tihs will also be lietter than thick bricks, as the material
will l)e bitter burned, and consequently more enduring. More good mortar can also be
used, which in such work gives strength." Such is the practical opinion of R. Rawlinson
(IJu'/diT, xxi. page
152),
who declares that "the proportion of mortar to rubbli> stonework
should lie about 1 to 3, that is, in 4 cubic yards of rubble wall there should not be less i ban
1 cubic yard of mortar. In lirickwcik (ordinary bricks) the proportion will be 1 ti 4.
If tliin bricks be used, or it very small stone be used for rubble- work, the proportions may
be as I to
1."
It has been urgid that the peculiarity of i arly Norman masonry, even of the
perijd of bishop Gimdulph, is that of \ery thick beds of mortar. Mr. Rawlinson further
adds,
"
As a general rule, buildings whether of marble, limestone, sandstone, or of brickwork
alone, or of brick and terr-aeotta combined, which are oi-namental in character, must all
liave </u'h joints and buds. Tliiik beds and joints of mortar would destroy the harmony of
design by deteriorating tlie ap])earance of labour bLStowed on the rich materials in such
buildings
"
J90Pa. The fine joints of rubbed brickwork are formed by lime ))utty, being mortar
reduced to the consistency of cream; tlie bricks are dijiped into it to take up a coating, and
then driven close upon each other. Ashlar work is usually set in a putty formed of liine,
white lead, and a small (juantity of very fine sand.
IDCOb. The surfaces of ruany of the machine-made bricks are so hard as to prevent the
jnortar sticking, unless first coated with sand. Many walls on being pulled down have
shown that the moriar had had no hold upon the bricks; a key had only been formed be-
tween two bricks liy the holejs at their ends. A wall, thougli built in first-rate work,
was easily shaken to pieces, even after it had been built four or five years. Bricks, espe-
cially in hot weather, should be so.iked in water (par. 18;52fl.); and even some of the
courses of hiicks should lie sprinkled with water, to prevent the brick absorbing all mois-
ture from the mortar before tlie lime has had time to crystallise. The walls, however,,
take longer to dry
;
as is also the case when groirling (par. 1860.) is employed. An in-
tere-.ting communication from Norway has been printed in the Jo irnah of January, 1888,
ex|)laining how brick woik is c;u-iied on there in the winter
;
"
such walls dry quicker than
those rui;ed in summer." The desL-riptioa is too long to be here further adverted to.