2019-07-01 Homebuilding & Renovating

homebuilding.co.uk 79

BUYER’sgUiDE

ABovE: Bricks(suppliedbyBeaclaysolutions) have been laid at 90° creating

a strikingaestheticthatgivesthishouseitsowncontemporaryidentity.

BEloW:thisPassivhaus-certifiedself-buildwasconstructedfromstructural

insulatedpanels(siPs)andis cladinbrickslipstomeetplanningrequirements.

the brick and steel façade has been softened with red cedar louvres.

Incontrast,softmudbricks

(alsoknownasstock)aremade

bydroppingtheclayintosand-

coatedmoulds,whichproducea

sandedfacewithslightcreases.

Thiswasoriginallydoneby

hand(seemorebelow)butis

nowgenerallya machine-made

process.Waterstruckbricksare

madeina verysimilarwaytosoft

mudbricksbutnosandis usedin

themouldingprocess,justwater,

whichmeansthebricksurfaceis

a lotlessgrainy.

hAnDMADEIf youwanttomatch

existingbricksoryou’rebuilding

a homeina conservationarea

forexample,handmadebricks

provideanauthenticlook.

Theclayis rolledinsandthen

‘thrown’skilfullybyhandinto

a mould.Handmadevarieties

offermoreflexibilityastheycan

bemadeupasstandardornon-

standardsizedbricks.“Traditional

handmadebricksofferlongevity,

qualityandanaestheticappealthat

cannotbematchedbystandard

machine-madebricks,”saysJason

Hughes.“Theimperfectfinish

addsinstantcharacterandcharm.”

REclAiMED If you’re knocking

down a property and building

a new one on the plot then you

can use bricks reclaimed from

the original building(s) if you

want to replicate the look or need

to due to a planning condition.

Reclamation yards are another

good source of second-hand

bricks but getting the quantity

and quality for a whole house or

a large extension can be difficult.

Wastage can be high and you may

need to discard a few.

Picking patterns

Once you’ve chosen the brick

type you want to use, you’ll need

to think about the bond: the

pattern the bricks will be laid in.

Brick bonds have an impact on

aesthetics but they also have a job

to do structurally, too. The way

the bricks are laid will determine

how the load is distributed. Each

horizontal row of bricks is called

a course and a course is made

up, most commonly, of headers,

stretchers or both. A header is

the smaller end or ‘face’ of a

brick and a stretcher is the long,

narrower ‘face’.

The most common brick bond

is stretcher (which, as the name

suggests, uses stretchers only).

The joins on each course are

centre aligned with the bricks

above and below. However, there

are a number of options available

to the self-builder and extender,

including more traditional

Flemish bond, English bond and

contemporary stack bond.

BUilDAtEstPAnEl

“if you’re building your own

home, ask for a test panel

to be made up, so you can

see exactlyhowthebricks

willlookwhenthey’relaid,”

saysJasonhughes,MDof

imperialBricks.test panels

should be around 1m^2.

image: mole

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Simon maxwell (below)

Adding detail

To add form and character to what can sometimes be a

mass expanse of flat wall there are design details that you

can incorporate to add interest. A dentil bond features

alternating indented bricks in one or more courses.

Dogs-tooth features a projecting course of bricks laid

at 45°, cropped at the cavity. The design can be used to

create corbelled eaves or decorative banding. A corbel is a

bracket that projects further than the face of a wall often

in and around the eaves of a roof.

Design & Materials