Alright, let’s talk about bricks and cement, you know, the stuff houses and walls are made of. I ain’t no fancy builder, but I’ve seen enough of it in my days to tell ya a thing or two.
First off, ya gotta figure out how many bricks you need. It ain’t just guessin’, ya know. You gotta measure and do some figurin’. Like, how long ya wall gonna be? How high? Then ya gotta think about them bricks, they ain’t all the same size, see? Some are big, some are small. So, get your measurements right, that’s the first thing.
Then comes the cement, or what them fancy folks call mortar. That’s the sticky stuff that holds the bricks together. Now, you can buy that stuff already mixed, or you can mix it yourself. If you’re mixin’ it yourself, ya gotta get the right amount of sand and cement and water. Too much water, it’s all runny. Too little, it’s all crumbly. It’s gotta be just right, like makin’ dough for bread, ya know?
- Sand
- Cement
- Water
Now, layin’ bricks, that ain’t as easy as it looks. You gotta start at one end and work your way across. And you gotta keep it straight, else ya wall gonna look like it’s drunk! They use this string thing, a guide, to keep it all in line. Smart, ain’t it? And you gotta tap each brick down a little, so it sits right. They say “bed in”. Fancy words for makin’ sure the brick ain’t wobblin’.
You also gotta put that cement stuff on the ends of the bricks, so they stick together real good. They call it “butterin’ up”, like butterin’ bread. You put it on the end and stick the next brick to it. Keep doin’ that, brick by brick, and followin’ that string, and pretty soon, ya got yourself a wall.
Sometimes, though, you want somethin’ stronger than just a regular wall. Maybe you want a pillar, somethin’ to hold up a roof or somethin’. For that, you gotta turn the bricks sideways at the end of the wall, to make it thicker and stronger.
Before you even start layin’ bricks, though, you gotta have a good foundation. That’s the base, what the whole thing sits on. Can’t build a good house on shaky ground, that’s for sure. There’s different kinds of foundations. Sometimes, it’s just a big ol’ slab of concrete poured right on the ground. That’s what they call a slab foundation. Other times, they dig a ditch and fill it with concrete, that’s called a strip foundation. Whatever kind you use, it’s gotta be strong and level, else your wall gonna crack and fall down.
When I was young, I saw folks buildin’ stuff all the time. Nobody really showed me how to do it proper, just had to watch and learn. Took me a while to figure out that trowel thing, ya know, that flat tool they use to spread the cement. At first, I was just makin’ a mess of it. But you keep at it, and you eventually get the hang of it. It’s like anything else in life, I guess.
So, that’s the long and short of it. Bricks and cement, measurin’ and mixin’, layin’ it all straight and true, and makin’ sure you got a good foundation. It ain’t rocket science, but it ain’t exactly easy neither. But if you take your time and do it right, you can build yourself somethin’ that’ll last a good long time.
And remember, even if you ain’t got no fancy learnin’, you can still build somethin’ strong and solid, just like them old timers did. Just gotta have a little common sense and a whole lotta elbow grease.
That’s about all I know ‘bout bricks and cement. Hope it helps ya out some.
Tags: [bricks, cement, mortar, bricklaying, foundation, building, construction, wall, pillar, DIY]
