Tall and Thin Bricklaying

[diy_darren]

Not a real life situation, but a random question!

Is there a limit to how high you can build upwards on fresh mortar before the weight causes the mortar to squash out of the joints below?

For instance, if you're building a wall 5m wide, by the time you get 4 or 5 bricks on top of the newest layer the mortar has hardened enough not to deform.

If you're building a 50cm wide wall you'll make progress so quickly you'll have a lot more weight of bricks on fresh mortar. Is there a limit or rule of thumb?

 

[noseall]

it is simply down to the porosity of the bricks or blocks being used.

you are right in thinking that a single skin wall is more prone to buckling. using hard dense bricks, a fast pair of brickies have to be careful as to how many courses they can run in or corner up before they risk buckling.

also, laying in the winter exacerbates this effect, as does laying wet bricks or using very wet mortar.

when running in on the line, a brickie will sometimes notice the wall creeping out towards the line. this is due to the top heavy wall leaning out of its own volition. time to halt laying!