Diy brickwork of arches, vaults and lintels

Recommendation points

• Varieties of brick overlapping openings
• Ordinary jumpers
• Wedge lintels
• Arched lintels, arches and vaults

Lintels, vaults, brick arches are today, rather, a tribute to the design of the exterior of the building. The device of wedge-shaped, arched lintels allows you to fit a modern building into the existing development of the past. Arches and vaults are an integral part of many types of stoves and fireplaces. The proposed technology for laying brick openings will help to perform work with high quality.

Varieties of brick overlapping openings

A lintel is an overlap of a door or window opening. Reinforced concrete lintels are most widely used in construction. They can bridge long spans and withstand heavy loads.

Brick lintels are used only for curtain walls, as they do not have sufficient strength for this. In this case, the span width should not exceed 1.7 m..

1 – private; 2 – wedge-shaped; 3 – bow; 4 – arched arched

Ordinary brick lintels are called ordinary. The brick in them is supported by reinforcement. Wedge, bow, lancet, arched, semicircular and box lintels are used as an architectural detail of the facades..

1 – semicircular; 2 – lancet; 3 – box

Their variety is due to the shape of the opening, or rather, the outline of its upper part. According to the principle of an arched lintel, vaults are laid out, which are the overlap of buildings.

Before the invention of concrete (the end of the 19th century), the openings were covered with brick lintels. It was not only a tribute to beauty. Wedge and types of arched ceilings of openings kept the load from the wall due to the spacer, which provided the fan arrangement of the brick in the masonry.

In temple architecture, arches and vaults, as a way of overlapping openings and rooms, have become over time the canon of church architecture. Modern brick arched openings and vaulted ceilings are only an architectural solution.

The use of arched or wedge-shaped lintels is necessary for the reconstruction of buildings and structures of the XVII-XIX centuries.

Stoves, fireplaces are still being erected in almost every country house, where arched or wedge-shaped lintels and cylindrical vaults are often used when erecting a baking oven or guardian.

Ordinary jumpers

Ordinary lintels are made according to the principle of ordinary brickwork. It is also carried out with bandaging and ensuring the horizontal and vertical seams. Its difference from simple masonry is the observance of a special quality of work. Careful filling of the joints is necessary to create a joint work of all the bricks of the opening.

Ordinary lintels, unlike ordinary masonry, not only shrink under the weight of the overlying wall, but also bend, having no support in the opening. The size of the brick lintel is taken from the calculation of its work in the opening for bending. The height is 5, 6 rows of masonry. In length, the size is considered to be the width of the opening plus 500 mm in each direction from it.

Due to the particular importance of the structure of the overlap of any opening, a brick is selected for masonry, selected, the grade of mortar is used at least 25. In an ordinary lintel, the brick rests on reinforcement, which is monolithic in a layer of cement-sand mortar.

Reinforcement is assigned by calculation and depends on the size of the load on the opening. At low values, the reinforcement is installed structurally from round steel with a diameter of 4–6 mm. At the same time, its quantity is – one rod for half a brick of the wall. The reinforcement should go into the masonry at least 250 mm beyond the edge of the opening. Their ends are bent up around the brick.

1 – fittings; 2 – solution; 3 – formwork

For the device of an ordinary jumper, like any other, you will need a tool that is used for ordinary brickwork. To make a reinforced support for a brick, formwork must be installed. It can be made from boards 40-50 mm thick.

You can avoid the leakage of the solution and give the bottom of the lintel a smoother look by laying any roll waterproofing or a simple plastic film on the boards. It must be remembered that irregularities on the surface of the formwork will affect the appearance of the upper part of the opening..

A mortar layer is spread on the formwork, on which reinforcing bars are laid and embedded in it. Then the second layer of mortar is laid, which covers the reinforcement. It is important to observe the thickness of the protective layer for metal products. It is at least 3 cm.

During hardening, the mortar must gain the necessary strength so that further laying of the lintel can be carried out. The period of keeping it in the formwork is at least 12 days in summer, in autumn – at least 20 days. During the period of negative temperatures, it is necessary to comply with special measures developed for winter laying.

To support the formwork, bricks are produced from the masonry, which are subsequently cut down after the mortar has been set to full strength and the boards have been removed. You can arrange a groove in the masonry and bring a formwork into it, after removing which a brick is installed in this place with a masonry joint device.

1 – formwork; 2 – brick release

Large openings (wider than 1.5 m) require the installation of props under the formwork. It is possible to install support boards under the deck for rigidity on the edge.

Wedge lintels

Wedge lintels do not require reinforced mortar support. The bearing capacity of such a lintel arises due to the expansion in the wedge-shaped brick installation.

There is a variant of the device of wedge-shaped jumpers:

• wedge-shaped vertical masonry seam;
• wedge-shaped brick.

In the case of a wedge-shaped seam, its thickness from below is taken at least 5 mm, and from above – no more than 25 mm. If a wedge brick is used, the seam in the masonry is made of the same thickness, no more than 10 mm. Wedge lintels are installed using circular formwork.

If a window or doorway is laid with quarters, then three circles are required to construct a wedge-shaped lintel. One is made shorter and installed at the level of quarters, the other two are inside the opening. Formwork is laid on longer circles, which can be made from planks.

The wall is laid up to the level of the upper part of the lintel with a heel (support) device. In this case, the angle of inclination of the edge of the lintel (bricks) relative to the vertical is immediately determined. Next, it is necessary to mark all rows on the formwork of the future overlap. Their number must be odd. It is important to take into account the seam thickness when calculating the device of each row..

The central brick row is inserted vertically and is a lock. It creates compression in the lower part of the bulkhead and makes it possible to withstand the overlying load without reinforcement.

1 – lock; 2 – heel

They begin laying the wedge-shaped lintel from the toes to the middle on both sides, in order to eventually come to the central brick – the castle. It is possible to maintain the exact direction of each seam by finding the point of intersection of the direction lines of both feet. A nail is driven into this place on the formwork and the line of each seam is determined using a rope tied to the nail.

Arched lintels, arches and vaults

The principle of the arrangement of arched ceilings of openings and vaults does not differ from the laying of wedge-shaped lintels. The shape of the arch can be bow, lancet, semicircular, box. Their difference lies in the choice of the center, the size of the segment and the radius of the circle..

In any case, the center line of the seam is perpendicular to the inner surface of the lintel or arch. A curved line is formed by a wedge-shaped seam or wedge-shaped brick. In the case of an arched opening, the center line of the seam is the continuation of the radius of the curve.

Calculation of the arch lintel: 1 – onion arch; 2 – semicircular arch; h – arc height; s is the width of the window or door opening; r – radius of the arc

The thickness of the seams is taken as in the wedge-shaped lintels:

• at least 5 mm – for the bottom of the vertical seam;
• maximum – 25 mm – for the upper part.

1 – lintel brick; 2 – wedge-shaped solution; 3 – castle brick; 4 – circled

The form of the formwork is made in accordance with the selected form of the slab. Checking the radial direction of the seams and the correctness of the curvature of the arches is made with a rope tied to the center of the circle of each section of the lintel. You can make a square pattern for the desired shape of a semicircle or segment.

Arches are laid out according to the principle of an arched lintel. Vaults are erected today during the construction of public buildings, churches or temples. For their device, a continuous formwork of the required shape is made. Cylindrical vaults are often laid out in a “Christmas tree”. Laying is carried out simultaneously parallel to the axis of the arch and in rows at an angle of 45 °.

Wedges are placed under the formwork, which are gradually removed during stripping in order to ensure its even lowering. Fresh masonry is very stress-sensitive. You cannot put containers with mortar on it or place a brick for masonry. This can lead to a distortion of the shape of the floor and a violation of the binding of the brick to the mortar.

Vaults and arches of complex configuration require high qualifications of a bricklayer, and it is better to entrust the work to a specialist. Having figured out the intricacies of the technology of brick floors of openings, the construction of lintels and arches of a simple configuration will not be difficult..

Brick lintels, arches and vaults that came from the past will decorate the facade of the house, fencing, small architectural forms, fireplaces and stoves, harmoniously blending into the interior or exterior of almost any architectural style.