Think I have bitten off more than I can chew ???

[garrymum]

Well my first experience in bricklaying is a small garden wall. Only about 4 courses in height about 12 feet long. However, it is curved, see picture below. Started to dig out earlier tonight and am now wondering if I should get a bricky in to do it. I know it's only a rough guide bit what do you think a pro would charge to build the wall? 4 courses, 12 feet in length with a coping stone on the top. Needs to tie in to the existing wall which can be seen to the left of the picture. Is it a days work for a pro?

 

[^woody^]

Someone will probably charge a days work for this. £120 - £150?

Why can't you DIY? For 4 course you can't really go wrong

 

[Alastairreid]

have confidence in yourself garry..........you can do it!!!....dont forget a piccy once its built

 

[stuart45]

The hardest bit is bending the coping stones to follow the curve.

 

[garrymum]

Woke up at 3am thinking about the wall this morning. Will probably have a go myself, will post a pic once complete. Rather than try and get it curved I will do it 3 straight runs (a little like the edge of a 50p piece), that way I can fit the coping stones to each section easily.

Also realised at 3am this morning, that the end of the wall (top of the picture near the fence) will have to be slightly higher that the front part. Think it may only need 1 more course, so will either step it up on the last leg of the wall, or remove the existing coping stones and add another course to the existing wall to bring it all up to the same level.

Getting the right consistency for the mortar is also in the back of my mind.

 

[CortinaV8]

I would try and go for a curve as opposed to squaring off the edges personally, if I were you I would build the wall dry first to see if I could get the overall look right then build properly once you are happy.

For what it's worth when I did a small wall like this recently for my mum, she mixed up the cement while I built the wall, it's not that hard.

 

[EddieM]

Come on, go for it. Stop over analysing, mix up the muck and get laying bricks, really, what's the worst that could happen?

 

[garrymum]

ok thanks for all the help / motiviation!!

Just a couple more questions regarding number of bricks and amount of mortar required.

It's more like 10ft not 12ft. So, I work out I need about 85 bricks + a few extra.

27 for the footing - stretcher set along the trench. Then 14 per course, so 56 for 4 courses. Does this seem correct? I found a brick quantity calculator online which said I needed 196!

How much mortar will I need? Will 2 bags of cement and 8 bags of builders sand be enough?

 

[big-all]

if you do go the the angles route make shure the wall segments are around 4" shorter than the capping

 

[garrymum]

if you do go the the angles route make shure the wall segments are around 4" shorter than the capping

Is this so the capping can be cut at the required angle?

 

[noseall]

If you are building a curved masonry structure then finish it off with a tile crease and an engineering brick. The tiles can be segmentally cut to a radius and the brick-on-edge can follow a fairly slow curve.

 

[big-all]

yep spot on it also allows you enought spare so your not trying to finnish/start your cut exactly on a corner

i just didnt want you to get disheartend when you finnished up with a small "V" on the outside edge

if you only have to angle one end then 2" will be fine

 

[garrymum]

Think I'm going to go angled route, i.e. 3 straight runs (like edge of a 50p piece) as I can then get the coping stones to match the existing wall I am tieing into. Also, being the first time I have built a wall, thinking a curved wall is a little ambitious!

 

[EddieM]

If you are building a curved masonry structure then finish it off with a tile crease and an engineering brick. The tiles can be segmentally cut to a radius and the brick-on-edge can follow a fairly slow curve.

That sounds great, and correct I'm sure, but

 

[noseall]

brick-on-edge with tile crease coping: