How to build a brick partition

They differ from the wall in that they do not perform a load-bearing function and are not subjected to vertical and horizontal loads. Partitions are mobile and stationary. Made of different materials and for different purposes. A brick partition is used where special strength and rigidity is required. Brickwork withstands cantilever loads well, have high moisture resistance and strength.

Let’s say that in your case you need a brick partition. In this example, a partition is used to divide a room into two parts by connecting them with a doorway. For these purposes, a single-row spoonful of masonry in half a brick (120 mm) is sufficient. An ordinary (single) solid brick is used. It should be noted that the brick partition is heavy, which may be unacceptable for your case. To reduce weight, you can use a hollow brick or make a narrower partition of a quarter of a brick, but in this case, you need to take into account the features of such masonry, which, in this article, will not be described.

To fasten the bricks, a mortar from a mixture of cement and sand is mixed. It is assumed that you will build the partition on your own, “from scratch”, without the use of special devices and tools, which means that you will have to make or find items suitable for these purposes.

First, you need the brick itself. To calculate the required amount, measure the intended partition, calculate the required amount based on the size of the brick (250x120x65) and the thickness of the seam (12 mm) and transfer it directly to the place of masonry. Store the brick so that it is convenient to use it when laying. Goats and shields may be needed for laying the upper rows.

Provide adequate lighting for the entire work area in advance. Clear the area around the intended masonry from foreign objects. On the walls to which your partition will be adjacent, you can mark its contours for clarity.

Secondly, you need sand, cement and water. The sand must be sifted, for which it is possible, from four bars and a chain-link mesh, to make a structure familiar to many. Do not throw the sand, but pour it from the shovel onto the top of the net, then it will not scatter, but will roll down to the bottom, sifting in an even heap.

To mix the solution, you will need a container that can be made from a leaky iron 200 liter barrel. The barrel is sawn into two halves with a grinder. Place the resulting trough on the pallet, securing and ensuring stability.

The next step is mixing the solution. It is worth clarifying a few details here. The proportions of water, sand and cement when mixing a solution depend on many factors. This is the brand of cement, and the weather, and even the estimated consumption of the solution. The mobility of the solution is taken into account – the ability of the mixture to spread under the influence of its own mass. Various additives are used to impart color, plasticity, frost resistance or longer setting time. And also many other factors affect the proportions of the components and can confuse the novice builder. In our case, we will proceed from the assumption that the case will occur at room temperature, and the requirements for the solution are moderate. Buy cement, specifying that it will be used for laying a brick partition indoors. Choose fine sand, without any admixtures of clay and other rocks, be sure to sift it to get rid of possible roots, sticks and other inclusions. Take water from the tap, at room temperature. The proportion of cement to sand will be 1 to 3. After pouring 6 buckets of sand and 2 cement into the trough (this is how much it fits into our trough and this, usually, just enough for an hour of laying), stir the resulting mixture a little. Make a small funnel in the center, where you start pouring water, constantly stirring the solution with a shovel.

Your solution should have a creamy consistency. It should be borne in mind that as soon as you mix it, it immediately begins to harden and settle. It is not recommended to add water to “rejuvenate” the solution, so it is advisable to adjust the amount of the mixed solution so that it is consumed within an hour, stirring it every 15-20 minutes.

We proceed to the laying itself. It is assumed that the walls of your room are brick, stone or flooded. The floor is a slab or similar floor. If there is a wooden floor or other covering on the floor, then it must be removed in the place of masonry to the main slab, and, if present, the plaster must be chipped from the walls. Use a broom to clean the floor surface under the first row. Moisten the surface slightly. You can also apply small notches to walls and floors in the place of masonry for a stronger bond to the mortar surface.

Stretch the rope to guide you at the top edge of the first row. Check its horizontalness with a level. Determine where more mortar will be needed to level the first row. Put the solution into a suitable container, bowl or wide bucket. Stir with a trowel until smooth. Put the mortar under the first row, 2-3 cm wider than the thickness of the partition, level it with a trowel, checking it to a level, and let it grab a little.

Then renew the bed (mortar layer) by adding some more mortar. The bed should be laid out with a width of 80-100 mm, a thickness of 15-20 mm, which will provide a seam thickness of 10-12 mm. Start laying the first row. Taking a brick in your hands, apply a little mortar to its end with a trowel, with which it will press against the previous brick (for the first brick in the row it is a wall), a little mortar. Place the brick on the garden bed next to the previous brick and press it against it. Using a hammer, trowel or gloved fist, tap and level the brick, focusing on the stretched rope. Remove excess mortar with a trowel.

If a doorway is planned in your partition, then the door frame must be set up in advance. Using a level and spacers, install the door frame and lay the brick close to it, but you do not need to squeeze the brick between the previous one and the frame if it does not fit. Also, you do not need to put mortar between the box and the brick, it will still fall out due to the inevitable displacements of the box during its fastening..

The door frame will be connected with brickwork with iron strips, which are screwed to the box with a curved tip and placed between the rows of bricks, after 5-6 rows.

Start the second row with half a brick. To do this, use a pick hammer to break the brick into two halves. Trim the edge of the brick with it, if necessary..

Pull the rope to level to align the second row. Start the third row again with a whole brick and so on for all rows, ensuring the dressing of the masonry.

Bandaging is the order in which the bricks are laid relative to each other and is required. It provides an even distribution of the load over the entire partition, gives solidity and strength.

Reinforcement is recommended for this type of masonry. In the seams, between the bricks, bar reinforcement and strip steel are placed, every 4-5 rows, to give strength.

To bind the partition to the wall, use strips of steel, which are attached in the same way as we discussed above, when attaching the door frame to the rows of bricks. Over the doorway itself, additional reinforcement must be provided. For example, you can put a typical reinforced concrete block block for floors or use a channel of suitable dimensions.

Most often, there will be a gap between the last row of the partition and the ceiling. To fill it, you can use suitable pieces of broken brick, which are dipped in the mortar and placed on the last row of the bed, as tightly as possible. The remaining cavities are also filled with mortar. For these purposes, sometimes they use tow soaked in gypsum solution, which are carefully tamped into such gaps..

Throughout the entire process, control the horizontal and verticality of the masonry using a level, plumb lines and a rule (flattened wooden strip 1.5-2 meters long). This is especially true for the case of masonry with an opening, because in this case, you put, at the beginning, two unconnected partitions, which must then be connected above the opening. The wooden box itself cannot serve as a guide to the accuracy of the masonry, and special care must be taken here, avoiding distortions and overlapping rows.

The brick partition requires subsequent finishing. If the wall is plastered, then much attention to the solution protruding from the seams can be ignored. If you need just a beautiful brickwork, as a design element, then when laying rows, you need to remove excess protruding mortar, as well as add the solution to the cavities that arise. This should be done for 20-30 minutes so that the solution retains sufficient elasticity. It is more convenient to do this with special jointing, but with a certain skill, you can do with a trowel. Again, when plastering your partition, the appearance of the brick is not so important to you, which means you can use it in the ranks of including broken or already used.

Partitions often need to be provided with openings for different needs. For wiring, as well as for other small diameter holes, you can use a cut of a suitable pipe, which is placed in the right place instead of brick. The pipes can be overlaid with bricks, but it is advisable not to end-to-end and not to fasten them with mortar, so that, if replacement or other work is necessary, it is not necessary to destroy the solidity of the wall. Unnecessary gaps are best filled with polyurethane foam, which, if necessary, can be easily removed and suitable for plastering.

Separately, it is worth mentioning the tools and devices that were used in the masonry process. Remember to thoroughly rinse the trough, basin or buckets where the solution has been placed. They will still be useful to you. You also need to do with other tools, cleaning them from the solution..