• Location and orientation are important. Mark the envisaged position with sticks, plastic sheet or plywood, and look out for possible problems such as the blocking of routes through the garden, unfortunate viewpoints and the casting of shadows.
• If the project is a pond or water feature, does it require a long trench to be dug in the garden to bury a power cable, and is this possible?
• Are there parts of a project’s construction that you don’t understand? Try working out the problem on paper or mocking up the structure with real materials.
• Calculate the costs and time involved, to make sure that the project is feasible.
Siting: Deciding where on the site—in the garden or on the plot—the structure is going to be placed. The aspect, sun, shade and proximity to the house may need to be taken into consideration.
Planning the project
The first part of a project (and one of the most important) is deciding on its precise size and location. For a patio outside your back door, for example, you need to know its finished height, how it slopes in order to drain rainwater away from the house, and its exact size to the nearest brick and mortar joint.
In the projects in this book, a lot of the planning has been done for you, but do take note of any advice or exceptions that suggest you might need to revise the design, and which refer you to a page within this techniques section. Do a survey of the site and draw simple scaled diagrams on graph paper, showing how the foundation is constructed and how the project is built. Some structures pose more obvious planning problems: steps, for example, have to conform to certain dimensions, otherwise you will trip over them; walls that are too high or long can lean or fall down without the benefit of extra support (see here).
Every brickwork project requires a foundation: a firm, level (or sometimes slightly sloping, in the case of a patio) base on which to build, otherwise it will collapse. It is very important to use an appropriate foundation, and to plan it in a drawing to show its size and depth. For example, if you want a patio to be level with the surrounding ground, the patio needs to take into account the thickness of the bricks that will be used for paving.
Buying the right tools and materials
Once you have figured out the project design in detail, you can assess what you need to build it. Sometimes, it is necessary to compromise with both tools and materials in order to make a project affordable. If that is the case, ensure you have enough time to do the work with basic manual tools, and don’t resort to inferior materials that will deteriorate quickly.
If you don’t have a wonderful set of tools, consider borrowing or renting better ones. A cement mixer is worth renting if you are working on a large project, unless you enjoy bodybuilding exercise! Call around for quotes for materials, and order in bulk when possible. The choice of bricks available depends on your location; you can also consider using second-quality bricks (rejects) or reclaimed (secondhand) bricks.
Planning: The procedure of considering a project, viewing the site, making drawings, working out quantities and costs, prior to starting work. Thorough planning is vital in order to avoid hold-ups and the wastage of materials.
Trial run or dry run: Setting out the components of a structure, without using concrete or mortar, in order to ascertain whether or not the pattern of bricks is going to work out.
BRICKWORK DESIGNS FOR THE GARDEN
This plan demonstrates how the projects in this book might be used to fill your garden with attractive brickwork designs.
TOOLS
You don’t need many tools for brickwork, but they should be the best tools that you can afford. If you are working on a fixed budget, purchase top-quality trowels (a bricklayer’s trowel and a pointing trowel) and a level (a traditional wood-cased one is best), and then save money by buying cheap shovels and so forth. The following pages describe essential items for the toolbox, and tools you may want to rent to make a job easier.
TOOLS FOR MEASURING AND MARKING
Big tape measure
Small tape measure
Stakes and string
Level
Measuring and marking out a site
If you are unfamiliar with garden projects and brickwork, it can be difficult to know how to begin. Everything starts from a foundation, so either build on an existing foundation such as a patio (see here), or dig out some earth and make a new foundation.
When building a foundation, use a tape measure (available in various lengths) to establish the dimensions, then mark the site with stakes and string (see here). If the shape is irregular, use marking chalk or spray paint. Dig out the foundation hole: the sides of the hole contain the foundation. Alternatively, wooden boards (formwork) can be used to construct an accurate frame to retain the foundation. A level is used when digging to a level depth. Waste should be removed from the site.
Measuring and marking during construction
The exact dimensions of brickwork projects are (or should be) governed by the proportions of a brick (see here), so you can either calculate the length and width of the first course, and mark it out on the new or existing foundation using a tape measure, straightedge and a piece of chalk; or arrange the bricks without mortar, judging the gaps between each brick, then nudge the layout straight and square and mark around it with chalk.
Once you have laid the first course of bricks, use a level to indicate the horizontal and vertical positions, and a straightedge to check for straightness. A line set (a line stretched between two stakes) is useful for guiding the courses of stone, and estimating course heights, on long lengths of wall (see here).
Leveling: Using a level to decide whether or not a structure or brick is level (horizontally parallel to the ground, or vertically at right angles to the ground), and then making adjustments to bring individual bricks into line.