Brickwork questions

[Gilesda]

Hi all.

I'm looking to make alteration to my conservatory and was after a bit of info about brickwork.
I want to add corner piers to the existing dwarf walls and also add brick dividers between the windows. The piers and dividers will be like the picture below but only one and a half bricks wide.
What I want to know is how the cavity is closed on this type of brick work. Are the half bricks at the ends full bricks which have been turned inwards to close the cavity? How would the bricks and blocks be laid to make the piers as strong as possible and also retain the cavity?
Sorry if these are daft questions, I've searched the net looking for pictures or diagrams of this but I can't find any.

Thanks.

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• Gilesda
• 23 May 2014
• 1

 

[jeds]

Close the cavity with standard insulated cavity closers. Tie the two leafs together with wall ties. At 1.5 brick wide it's not going to be that stable so you will need wind posts as well.

 

[Gilesda]

Some pictures I've seen on the net looked like bricks were turned across the cavity which would show a neat uncut half brick at the front and strengthen the piers at the same time.
It was only the neatness of the half bricks that made me think it was the end of a full brick. They didnt look like theyd been cut at all. I suppose damp would be a problem if bricks went from the outside to the inside of the building though.
Would wind posts add any real extra strength if they are sitting on the dwarf wall? Wouldnt posts have to go down to the foundations to be effective and are windposts fixed at their base?
Sorry for all the questions I can lay bricks reasonably well, if not slowly, but I know little about something like this.

Thanks for your help

 

[tony1851]

Windposts can be useful for narrow sections of brickwork, and in some instances are the only way of ensuring stability.

But to be effective they have to be securely fixed top and bottom, which usually means to the top of the concrete foundation, and some sturdy element at roof level.

 

[Gilesda]

The only base fixing I'd have is to the top row of bricks on the existing walls.
I don't think I'll have anything at roof level to fix to other than the conservatory roof itself.
So the roof would be using the brickwork to secure it, but the brickwork would be using the roof for the same reason.

 

[wakey77]

Id get someone to take a look at this for you properly brick and half pillars are weak flimsy and not really stable also you,ll need to take into consideration the type of roof you are using and the weight of it.
although it may look a simple thing adding and changing bits here and there on conservatory bases its not always that straight forward
also id pilot hole your foundations to check depth when considering any extra load.

 

[Gilesda]

The foundations won't be a problem I went OTT with them when I originally built the conservatory, because it has one full height wall. They are the same depth as the house.
The existing has wood frames and a thin polycarbonate roof. Because of the direction the garden faces we get a lot of sun and it is unbearably hot in summer. It's a few years old and is looking jaded so I'm going to change it to upvc and also reduce the window area. I'm also thinking of doing an orangery type roof with a glass or poly lantern.

I've been looking at this again and I was going to have, like in that pic, two corners of brick and two windows with a pillar of brick between the windows. I'm now thinking that I'll not bother with the pillar of bricks and just have one bigger window which will mean I can increase the size of the corners from the one and a half bricks.
Can anybody give me an idea of the minimum number of bricks in the corners to make the corners strong enough so as not to need additional strengthening?
Thanks.

 

[tony1851]

Two-and-a-half bricks on the outer face of the return should be fine - possibly two bricks if the adjoining window is not too tall.

 

[Gilesda]

The windows are 1300 high, the dwarf wall isn't too dwarfy.
I'm not quite sure what you mean by the return. If one face of the corner is two and a half bricks is there a minimum number of bricks for the other face of the corner?
I'll likely do both faces the same to keep it symmetrical but I'm tight for space each side of the French doors. I might end up with two fairly narrow windows each side of the doors.