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They can be laid with straight joints if the wall has been designed that way, known as stack bond, but normally the bed joints are reinforced. It's more difficult to lay as the joints have to be kept perfectly plumb. I've never really liked the look of it, and even when tiling I prefer to half...

Straight nick, means the vertical joints are almost on top of each other. They should be halfway along the block below, known as half bond.

Depends on what you use it for, but 7lbs is normally enough for DIY work. Using the correct method helps with better results from a lighter hammer.

Building regs for these have changed since the introduction of phaal currys. Your idea would only work for a max vindaloo.

I've seen this problem a few times. When first built, instead of using a 6 inch lintel to bridge the cavity they often used a 4 inch lintel and stuck a course of bricks over the timber window. When new plastic windows were installed the brickwork fell out. The window fitters used to just balance...

If you look at raft foundation design you'll see what stevie888 means.

You wouldn't use plaster for block laying. The colour of the sand gives the mortar it's colour.

Gypsum mortar has got it's uses, but building a block inner skin isn't really one of them.

I'd agree with Ivor. There looks to be loads of ties in the wall, and if it's a single story building would be less likely to suffer if the ties did fail. I might spend a bit of time filling any holes in the blockwork though. It's been found through air testing that a certain amount of warm air...

Looking at the photo you have wall ties every course. The regs for ties back then with a 2 inch cavity were 3ft horizontal and 18inches vertical, or every block at openings. As you have so many I wouldn't worry. You could clean up the rusty ones and get some red oxide spray. It's easy to...

You don't need to remove butterfly wall ties, because they are too thin to damage the brickwork when they rust. It's only the thicker twist type that need removing. Butterfly ones just tend to break and become ineffective.

When it's hit with the churn brush it exposes more of the aggregate. Different NHL manufacturers produce slightly different colours of lime. When you mix it up, mix it dry for 5 minutes. Then add enough water so it's not balling up, but just a touch too dry. Leave it mixing for about 15 minutes...

It's not a structural problem. I've always stuck a few frame cramps in the joints on jobs like this to tie it to the wall better. As noseall said, worth getting the angle beads out. They can also go a bit rusty.

Thinking ahead is always the best. One of the problems in the construction trade is that you can never be sure about how things were built if you can't see them. For example, the original builders could have left out the rebar and just relied on the trimmer joists to wedge it in place. It's...

There's a few different methods of supporting the upper floor hearth. Can be a reinforced slab cantilevered into the brickwork. Older properties sometimes had a brick trimmer arch under it.

It's only 10 years for works that were completed after the new laws were brought in. Ones that were built 9 years ago from today can't be served with an enforcement notice. Building Control can go to the High Court if needed, in which case there is no time limit. You would be talking about a...

Our local farm shop got P/P and regs for an extension. They thought that they would get away adding an extra metre to the width, but the BCO spotted it in the foundations and reported it to the planners. They had to stop work and submit new plans. Since Grenfell Building Control have now got 10...

He would have been better to use weather cut and struck, rather than just weather struck. At least you can get straight lines on the bed joints with a straight edge and frenchman. Using a flush joint finished with a churn brush is quite a popular finish for older rustic brickwork. Toning down...

Weather struck isn't the best style for brickwork like yours.

Pick and dip is quite efficient as you're picking up mortar and a brick at the same time. I knew a trowel years ago that used to prefer working backwards, by picking up a brick, buttering up the end for a full perp, then picking up enough for the bed. He reckoned working backwards was better...