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To adhere or not to adhere to prior (poor) bricklaying
Anonymous user 09/03/2024 - 3.04 PM
I am having a brick porch built. The existing brickwork on my house is unevenly spaced (with the mortar thicknesses varying). So for the porch bricklaying, the options would be to a) adhere to the uneven gauge of this existing brickwork so that it all lines up or to b) ignore the existing brickwork and lay the new bricks with consistent, proper (10 mm) gauge. My builder wants to do b) but I'm worried it will look shoddy as the lines of mortar won't be lined up. What is the standard practice, a) or b)?
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23 Answers
D and D Property Maintenance.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Personally, I would do a).
Although the existing gauge is not quite correct, if the porch were to be built using the correct gauge, it would be an immediate eye catcher. It's all down to the pointing; with good pointing you wouldn't even notice that the beds were that big. However, the lintel/sill heights may need to be adjusted in order to avoid split bricks.
Answered19 September 2019
3
Hawkbay construction
Rating: 5 out of 5
Go with b .do correctly and put your name to it .turing to go with old poorly workmanshipbwill take time and money
Answered19 September 2019
1
Moore brickwork
Rating: 5 out of 5
Depends on the bricks your builder is using if he is using old reclaimed brick which match your old (A) would be standard practice but if you have bricks that are a close match then (B) will be standard practice as old and new bricks are different sizes
Answered20 September 2019
1
AJ brickwork
No reviews yet
I personally would follow the original brick work otherwise it might look odd .. (steps where the new bricks meet the old) or (you see a run in the brick work looking out off level)
Answered22 January 2024
0
Anonymous user
Go with B would be my opinion.
Answered2 January 2024
0
Danny
No reviews yet
For me would definitely be A. Nothing worse than brickwork not looking even to the eye , always follow existing brickwork.
Answered27 October 2021
0
Anonymous user
I would only go with answer b. As a bricklayer you lay bricks the right way or no way.
Answered27 October 2021
0
MasonCraft Brickwork & Patio Specialists
Rating: 5 out of 5
I would recommend doing a) providing the bed joints are not absolutely huge
Answered7 October 2021
0
Anonymous user
I would match the brick size to existing but keep the correct gauge for window and door openings. The porch will be your first visual on a guests eye so a variation of joint sizes will be very noticeable on the eye.
Answered6 October 2021
0
NK Sharp Developments
No reviews yet
It all depends, Iv had it on jobs when the gauge is that bad and mismatched to the point of a 5mm bed and a 15mm bed where you would most certainly not go with it and on other occasions old bricks the London brick is a prime example an old London is a good few mm different in sizes either way from todays where I don't personally follow, if it was my build I'd like my new porch done to correct gauge all the way up looking fresh.
Answered22 September 2021
0
Anonymous user
As much as you are dissatisfied with the gauge of the brickwork, on the original house. There’s a common sentiment among builders that you always go with what is originally there. Otherwise the change will draw even more attention to the uneven beds on the house.
Hope this helps!
C
Answered15 November 2020
0
Anonymous user
I’d definitely go with A) looks a lot smarter as of looking the same it would be uniform to the front of the house if that’s worded correct haha but personal I’d go with the work your coming off in this case anyway
Answered25 June 2020
0
Ryan Heston
Rating: 5 out of 5
It's a tricky one because we all wanna do b and have nice 10mm joints. I would go with b if the joints are too big and all over the place because it will Just spoil your New porch it'll become too noticeable to the eye. Do a if it ain't too bad and wouldn't be that noticeable. Another thing is if the existing property isn't level and your governed by that and that effects your New porch and makes it not level. Could disguise where new and old meet by having your downpipe there so you can't see the bed joints not meeting up
Answered19 June 2020
0
Anonymous user
I’d defiantly chose B . There’s nothing you can do if the existing is un gaged or not level . It’s just what it is I’m afraid.
If he’s a proper bricklayer he will know what to do .
Personally I’d get wall starters on it and lay to gage for you new doors and windows (lintels) and all should look fine :)
Answered18 February 2020
0
Anonymous user
It would look better with option a. But depending on how big the existing bed joints are option b. Might be your better option. Also if you have certain heights to work to for example if you have a door or Windows in the porch you may need to work brickwork gauge in order to fit them in so that's something to bare in mind.
Answered6 January 2020
0
Jamie Palfreman
Rating: 4.8 out of 5
I personally would go with b. Going with choice a might mean that the brickwork will look uneven and bad workmanship and standards.
Answered4 December 2019
0
UNIQUE BRICKWORK & BUILDING LTD
Rating: 5 out of 5
I would follow what the house is like as it will be a real eye catcher. Brickwork would end up at different levels
Answered3 December 2019
0
Anonymous user
It all depends on the bricks. Imperial is different to the newer metric brick sizes. If the gauges are too dissimilar then option b will look the best. However there is an option c) If within your budgetary requirements you could purchase reclaimed imperial bricks with the closest match to your existing house.
Answered19 November 2019
0
Blaine Gordon
No reviews yet
Personally I would go with a
But if the customer ( yourself in this matter ) wants b then you advise the customer on you're thoughts but also value theirs and if you want option a then I will do option a
Answered13 November 2019
0
Anonymous user
ask your builder to measure the gauge of your existing brickwork, because if your gauge is imperial and the joints are bigger than 10mm when you build using metric bricks the joints will be massive and look disgusting, if this is the case then plan B is a no brainer
Answered25 October 2019
0
Coughlan brickworks
No reviews yet
If the bricks are a match size wise you could go with the gauge of the existing. New bricks could be a different size so keeping to the correct gauge would be the way to go.
Answered19 October 2019
0
Abide Brick & Pointing Specialist
Rating: 4.8 out of 5
To keep even joints just pencil up ur joint using a leval to keep plum on top of ur Harris of brick
Answered20 September 2019
0
Anonymous user
It all depends what your existing brickwork looks like, if it looks ok then yes u would match it. If not then do 10mm beds , another thing to consider is if the new bricks are exactly the same size as the existing, sometimes they aren’t and therefore would have to go with 10mm beds option.
Answered20 September 2019
0