Thursday, March 29, 2012

brick railing

The jury is still out , at least in my mind. I would appreciate brutal comments.

On this veranda I needed a railing and thought up this . I was concerned how it will look, how strong it is , and the expense. The bricks are mostly overburnt rejects, the mortar after the first two courses are clay/sand , the pointing is portland cement/sand. the last row the bricks are stood on side and then there is 12x 10 cm reinforced concrete with a smooth finish on top.

Me? I think I like it over the steel railing becuase:
-It feels more secure
-gives a space to place plants, drinks, etc on
-it goes with the building
- will block view from outside
-will block some of the wind

Below is before pointing.

4 comments:

  1. I like the brick railing. It looks good and matches the rest of the building. The only worry may be the added weight. My question is educational for me, why only use cement in the pointing and then clay/sand in the bedding of the brick courses? I have no formal bricklaying training and am always looking for good ideas to do better work.

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    Replies
    1. Am learning too. And now I am trying pointing with clay/lime/sand

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  2. the weight is no problem, the roof and wall all will bear it, although makes the house heavier.

    I use clay sand becuase it is cheap and it actually binds really good, almost as good as lime/sand. The pointing with cement makes the joint harder.

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