Old garden walls

[overlander matt]

Thanks Stuart. I should be starting on the arch today.

 

[stuart45]

One tip when putting in the last brick, or key brick. Butter up the bricks either side with only a very thin smear of mortar, and butter up both sides of the key brick. The thin smear on both sides stops the mortar on the key brick being pushed up as you press the key brick down. If you make the mortar a slight wedge shape on both faces as you push it home excess mortar doesn't get trapped between the brick and arch centre. This stops the brick going down properly. It's important not to allow any mortar to get under the brick. If the joints aren't filled properly, it's easy to get more mortar in with a tuck jointer or finger trowel. Make sure it's well compressed in.
I'm sure you'll work out and look forward to the photos.

 

[overlander matt]

Thanks again Stuart. The arch went together OK I think but I'm going to leave the former in place over the weekend. The last brick was not as tight as I had planned but hopefully it will be solid.



How long would you wait before putting on the coping bricks? I have a slight issue with these - I'm missing around 5m worth of these... How easy it will be to find replacements, time will tell.

Time for a cold beer after a warm day!

 

[a twig]

I’m trying to find an excuse to build a brick or stone arch here as it’s something I’ve always wanted to do - that looks brilliant - great job

 

[stuart45]

The arch looks spot on. Building over the arch will give it extra strength. Worth leaving the arch centre in for a while. The time consuming bit now is all the cuts. Enjoy the beer tonight.