Professional Documents
Culture Documents
masonry construction
AN Fried
Surrey University.
General information
1. Queries please contact me by e-mail or
knock on the door.
2. Design is to BS 5628 and supporting
standards.
3. Information on EC6 will be provided
4. U-Learn is used as a repository for
notes, presentations and courseworks.
UNIT 1- Introduction
Total study time 12 hours
Considers :
Development of masonry materials
Developments in design and construction.
Historical Introduction
Consider the historical use of bricks.
History of Bricks
Near East and India - Bricks used for 5000yrs.
No natural stone
Bricks laid orthogonally. Gaps filled with bitumen, straw, marsh
reeds, and weeds.
Introduction to Mortar
Mortar for masonry.
Ancient mortars
Gypsum mortars.
Ash Lime mortar
Lime mortars.
Portland cement mortars
Portland cement mortars including lime.
Masonry cement mortars
Thin Layer mortars.
Ancient mortar.
Most ancient mortar
10,000 years old - Galilee, Israel
Constructions in excess of 5000years exist
Much of the mortar in these is still sound.
Gypsum mortar.
Pyramids Constructed using gypsum.
Paris Much of the old city re-constructed
using gypsum. Encourages damp.
Gypsum render has been used in the
past. Attracts water.
Not a modern alternative
Lime Mortars
Quicklime
Raw material for lime mortar. Calcium Oxide
Hydrated lime
Add water to quick lime = Hydrated lime.
Hardens by carbonation slow process.
Hydraulic lime
Hydrated lime + clay impurities = Hydraulic lime. Gains strength at say 90
days. Acceptable.
Current practice
Factory mortars the norm.
Good quality and consistency
Construction
Site Practices and Requirements
Preparing and Building Reference Panels
When final visual appearance of masonry
important
Guarantees an objective assessment of visual
appearance throughout the contract.
Construct panels close to work on level firm base.
Use materials across several palettes to construct
the panels.
Use same bond and joint finish as specified in
final contract.
Transportation of Mortars
Wet ready-to-use mortar
Delivered in truckmixers
Needs no further mixing upon arrival on site.
Discharge mortar into purpose-made mortar tubs at central safe
convenient location.
Mortar tubs.
Do not overfill.
Protect from frost.
Main concerns
Advantages
Mortar-good practice
Loses its plasticity rapidly - evaporation of the water, increased rate of hydration of the
cement.
Increase water content in a controlled way.
Increase the lime content of the mortar.
Use plasticisers which retain water.
Shade materials and mixing equipment
Introduction
Protect bricks and blocks by covering against rain, frost and snow.
Saturated units may be damaged on freezing.
Mortar-good practice
Masonry-good practice
Cover newly constructed masonry
Workmanship
Basic Laying Techniques
Use correct mortar mix Traditionally the mason
decides.
Place units as near to their finished positions possible
avoid too much tapping.
Use full beds of mortar if possible.
Fill perpends.
Strike joints flush when building. Finish joints later.
If appearance is important avoid getting mortar on brick
face.
Mix units from three packs to ensure colour uniformity.
Jointing
Well filled and tooled joints enhance :
Appearance
Durability
Weather resistance of walls.
Mortar joints :
Uniform thickness
10mm is now accepted as the norm.
Tooling joints.
Commence when mortar resists an easy thumbprint.
Too early or too late affects bond and durability.
Types of Joint.
Flush:
Struck or Weathered:
Bucket Handle:
Recessed:
appearance
performance
ease of use
durability
Concrete Blocks
Three processes exist in the UK.
a foaming process in the case of autoclaved
aerated concrete
a mobile machine called an egglayer
a static machine
The egglayer
Produces a wide variety of solid dense concrete blocks.
Manufacturing technique :
A variety of
concrete blocks
Concrete
Bricks
Blocks - specials
Lintel
and
Bond Beam
Blocks
Clay bricks
Manufactured from fired clay.
Properties of bricks determined by the
type of clay, kiln and the method of
forming the brick.
UK - bricks are either moulded or
extruded.
Colouring can be added before firing
Finishes (textures) can be added before
firing.
Extruding
Hand moulding
Clay units