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Tour of Bricks
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Jan 24, 2024
This video tour combines inspiration and information about brick that I hope you’ll find useful as you choose your approach to brick. MY ONLINE COURSES: ► My Cabin Building Course: https://bit.ly/36bRARX ► MIG Welding for the Home Workshop: https://bit.ly/3CGuUFv ► Woodworking for Beginners: https://bit.ly/3w6ZnLW ► How to Build a Deck: https://bit.ly/3i2LWV3 ► Build Traditional Wood Cabinets: https://bit.ly/3JbLQ9v ► Renewable Energy for Your Home: https://bit.ly/3w9K4ls ► 3 Solar Energy Projects: https://bit.ly/3KLNUp9 READ MY POPULAR ARTICLES ABOUT: ► Polyurethane Finish - https://bit.ly/powerbuffing ► DIY Hoop House Plans - https://bit.ly/hoophouseplans ► Submersible Pump Installation - https://bit.ly/pumpinstallation ► Air-Drying Wood Tips - https://bit.ly/wooddrying ► How to Build a Table - https://bit.ly/tablebuilding ► How to Stain a Deck - https://bit.ly/deckstain ► Choosing Waterproof Outdoor Glue - https://bit.ly/exterioradhesives ► How To Build A Wheelchair Ramp - https://bit.ly/wheelchairrampplans
View Video Transcript
0:00
In this video, I want to talk to you about bricks and ways of using them that you might not have thought of before
0:09
A lot of these ways are old ways, because once upon a time, bricks were used with a lot more visual variety and imagination than they are now
0:19
There are a couple of reasons for that, but right now I just want to explain a few design details that you might want to keep in mind as you're planning your project
0:28
This is something that you used to see a lot. That's different colors of brick used on the same building in a certain pattern
0:38
So you'll notice the corners have the lighter colored brick and the corner is accentuated in a kind of a toothed pattern
0:45
This is reminiscent of stone. Stone is often used in corners this way, bigger pieces of stone than the brick you see
0:53
But that's where the idea came from. There's also some banding that goes from one side to the other
1:00
There are many different designs of this sort, some quite traditional. Where I live, there are many old farmhouses that use variations on this theme to make things look great
1:13
So the bottom line is you really don't need to think about just one kind of brick color
1:19
because there are patterns. There are gains to be made by looking at mold
1:25
colors used in this way. And if you like this, then I recommend you pay attention to some
1:31
older buildings because that's where you'll see this taken to its greatest extreme, greatest
1:39
perfection, really. You can see the same thing over here. This is a much older building
1:47
but it has the light tan brick for accents and corners and edges and then the darker color
1:55
in the middle. There's also up here you'll see this there's some corbeling going on. This is where
2:00
bricks partially stick out in a kind of a pattern to create an interesting look. So
2:08
one of the really special things you can do with brick is this kind of this kind of
2:12
corbling. Same sort of pattern, different building. This building and the one
2:19
immediately before it are in a place from a place called Wyrton, Ontario
2:25
Canada. Lots of interesting brickwork there and this is another example of how edges and in this case
2:33
arches above the windows are accentuated so it's not just a functional thing but it's also a
2:41
practical and a visual thing too. Now this is a wonderful old building all one color brick but
2:48
look at all of the visual variety. We've got columns there's some very ornate
2:55
arches going on here. Brickwork like this requires not just regular brick, but specially molded
3:04
bricks to get the kind of shape that you're looking at, especially here on the top of these little
3:11
sort of column-like things. And then on the top of the arch as well, there are some custom shapes
3:18
there. You can still get this stuff done. It's custom work has to be ordered to fit a certain
3:25
building design, but it's still very much worthwhile if you want to go for this sort of
3:32
neat kind of look. Here's the same building just from another angle. You can get a very good
3:38
look at the arches. And here are some of those custom brick profiles I was telling you about
3:44
Same thing going on here on the top of these little column type things here and here
3:50
Just some beautiful stuff. These spikes here there to stop birds. from perching on here and making a mess
3:58
Wonderful old brickwork with a lot of visual variety in the same color
4:05
Now this is an older building. Just plain bricks. You'll notice there's a fair amount of variety in the color of these bricks
4:17
Once upon a time when bricks were made from clay that was just dug out of a hole in the ground somewhere and formed and fired you got a lot more variety of color from one brick to the next
4:34
And that's just because of the natural organic variation of the stuff coming out of the ground
4:39
and also of the position of the brick within the kiln where it was fired to make it hard and weatherproof
4:48
But as I could say ordinary as this brick building is certainly by traditional standards
4:56
It's fairly ordinary. We do have some visual interest here above the windows
5:02
This is what's called a flat arch. And the bricks are all kind of trying to fall down at the same time
5:09
so they can't all fall down, and it'll stay up forever that way. But you'll see the brick is fairly dark, and the mortar is fairly light
5:18
So that creates a really nice visual kind of effect here, however subdued it might be
5:24
This tower here is interesting. It's in Venice, Italy. There is a lot of brickwork in Venice, a lot of very old brickwork
5:35
This tower is actually leaning a little bit. A lot of things lean in Venice because of the foundations underneath of them
5:45
But back more than 100 years ago, there was another tower. on this same spot and it just collapsed
5:51
So this one's been around for a long time and I don't think it's in any danger of falling down
5:56
but look at the design details that have been included into this
6:03
We have that modeled color of brick. So it's not as homogenous looking as a lot of modern brick
6:10
We have these vertical sections here, sticking out to add visual interest, arches and things on top
6:18
So you're not going to want to build something like this for yourself, of course
6:22
But if you're interested in brick, you might find this tower from Venice interesting
6:29
Now, this is a construction site in Durban, South Africa. And you will not see brick construction like this in any kind of cold climate
6:42
But it is traditional brickwork. And you might be wondering, well, it's awfully messy
6:48
Why are they doing such a messy job? Well, the reason they're doing such a messy job is because they don't have to be neat about it
6:54
because traditional brickwork like this is entirely structural. And ultimately, it will be covered with a kind of a plaster or stucco or different things like that
7:05
They're all an option. But this is what a truly structural brick building looks like
7:13
And this is the way, well, this is the British way, actually
7:17
And the reason it's used in South Africa is because of the British influence
7:22
And as I said, it's not something that you'd ever want to use in a house in a cold climate
7:26
because there's no significant opportunity to add insulation. It's just structure. These are clay bricks
7:35
And look at the span here in this opening. Everything is held up by this precast concrete lintel here
7:44
there's metal in there and believe it or not it can it can hold that up and it does so
7:50
I got a tour of this construction site when I was in South Africa 13 years ago and just happened
8:00
to run into a contractor Dave Skates is his name that's the man who's back is facing us and
8:07
he gave me a tour of several projects he had on the go really interesting to see brick used in a
8:13
traditional way that I would never see in Canada, for instance. Here's a closer look of that lintel area with that precast structural element holding
8:24
everything up. Nothing neat about this because, as I said, neatness doesn't count when you're going to be
8:28
plastering everything over and covering it, which often happened with traditional brickwork
8:34
This tradesman here is installing a door frame and it sits within the brick the actual wood frame The bricks are set around it as it going in That the way these things are done So once again very different from the way we hang doors here where I am in Canada or anywhere
8:53
in North America for that matter, but just thought you might find that interesting
8:58
Now, this is an old building. This is part of the Canadian National Exhibition Grounds in Toronto
9:06
Canada. And once upon a time, this was an exterior surface. Once again, really, really nice looking
9:14
arches here and some stick-out parts that make the whole thing look much more interesting than if it
9:20
was flat. This old building and others near it have been kind of united in a structure that
9:27
brings them together and encloses their entrances. So you can kind of pretend you're outside while
9:34
you're walking around inside. But I thought this was a striking example of some very interesting brickwork
9:42
Once again, all the same color brick, but it is old brick. So it's got that variation in color that you don't always see with intentionally colored modern brick
9:53
Here we are in Venice again. Venice is a really interesting place for anyone interested in buildings because they do things so differently there
10:02
Venice formed because of barbarian attacks on the Roman Empire a long time ago
10:13
And some people fled from Rome and they fled to find refuge where the Poe River empties out into the ocean
10:22
It's sort of a swampy area, little islands and things. Well, give this a thousand plus years and this is what people have done
10:30
They've taken those islands and they've made cs between them and buildings
10:37
Now, the buildings are almost exclusively brick and they're usually plastered. But how do you build a brick building in a watery environment
10:49
Well, the way they did it was they pounded logs vertically into the mud
10:53
one right next to the other, to form pylings. And then on top of those pylings, they built a stone foundation
11:00
blocks of stone to get it up above the water level because brick doesn't really survive
11:05
well when it's underwater or when it gets wet regularly and then they built the the brick
11:10
structure on top so you wouldn't think it would work would you but but it works
11:15
now we could be no more different than we are here in this photo this is a typical
11:23
modern brick Canadian slash North American home and it's got brick veneer
11:30
This is probably what you're considering for your project. Brick veneer is, it sounds thin, but it's not really
11:38
It's one layer thick, so that's three and a half inches of brick thick, applied outside of a wood frame structure
11:47
So the house on the left looked just like the one on the right until it got its brick
11:53
Now, you have to understand that with brick veneer, the brick isn't glued to the wood frame
11:59
it's actually not supported by the wood frame in any significant way
12:04
Vertically speaking, the weight of the brick is carried on a ledge that is part of the foundation
12:11
And between the brick and the wood is an airspace, about an inch or so
12:17
And that separation allows any condensation or leaked water to run down on the inside of the brick
12:24
and to run out through little weep holes. These are missing mortar joints every three or four mortar joints at the bottom
12:33
That's how brick veneer works. And it's a great system, actually. I mean, it's using a minimal amount of masonry
12:41
but it creates a wonderful effect. It's very durable. It dries out nicely
12:47
It contributes to healthy home performance. As I said, this is the common way brick is used now for modern projects
12:55
And it's probably the way you're going to use it too. There's still lots of room for old-time design features, though, even with brick veneer
13:05
A closer look at brick veneer going up This is a subdivision house part of a sort of a tour I took with my camera a number of years ago and you can see if you look closely there is a separation between the brick
13:18
and the underlying house. Now technically speaking this wood frame should be protected
13:26
completely from the weather before the brick even goes on. You don't really want to
13:31
rely on the brick necessarily to provide all the weather resistance. I'm
13:36
big fan of multiple layers of safety and that's what's supposed to happen here and
13:40
that's what will happen once the brick gets up higher but you can see the brick here is just covering a part of a stepped foundation so that's why they haven't
13:46
applied the the waterproof membrane yet to the walls this is part of the world
13:54
North America's largest brick manufacturing plant it's called Brampton Brick and even though there's only seven or eight people
14:06
running this thing at any one given time because it's also automated there is
14:12
tons and tons of brick that comes out of this plant I was lucky enough to have a
14:19
tour taken on a tour by the man who actually designed the plant with my video
14:24
camera and produced a video you can see that as part of this course it's a fascinating
14:29
example of how brick is made now efficiently and in lots of variety
14:35
and, you know, it does a really great job at allowing ordinary people to afford brick
14:43
because the cost of brick today, compared with what people earn, is lower than it's ever been
14:51
It's a really very accessible building material and one that I happen to really love to
14:58
This is a freezer, believe it or not, inside the Brampton Brick plant
15:03
and this is some bricks that are being tested. They're being tested for resistance to what's called spalling
15:12
Spalling refers to a flaking off of brick that's caused by absorbed water freezing and expanding inside the brick
15:23
It never happens very quickly, but in any place that gets cold weather
15:28
the danger is that if the brick absorbs enough moisture, going to be freeze thaw cycles, which basically reduce the brick to powder over a period of
15:39
years. So it's pretty important that bricks be fired enough so that they're not absorbent
15:45
enough to take in enough water to be damaging. This particular arrangement here, this freezer has
15:51
been hooked up and it goes through hundreds and hundreds of freeze thaw cycles, testing
15:58
every batch of brick that comes out of the plant to make sure that it is, in fact, going to
16:03
to resist weather forever out in the real world. So very important part of modern brick testing
16:10
Some more bricks in the Brampton brick plant. Some of them have been tested. Some of them are just
16:18
cut open. There's all different kinds here. They take testing quite seriously there
16:24
Now this is a lovely, lovely home. It's an example of, I would call it, some subdued
16:33
ornamentation on a modern type home. So you could do this design with a brick veneer
16:41
And notice what's going on here. You've got the color of the brick is not entirely
16:45
homogenous. And you can get a modern brick with a variety of colors like this. It really
16:51
adds a lot. You've got the arches with the stone keystone in place here, as well as in the
17:00
four places around the window. steep gables. I find that the higher off the ground masonry gets, the more impressive it is
17:10
So if you're going to build a brick building, just spring for the extra cost and take the brick right up to the peak
17:15
Because as I said, the higher it gets, the more impressive it is. I really don't like it when I see people chicken out
17:21
They use stone or brick part way up and then switch to siding
17:26
Well, you can do that if you like, but I think you're missing out on a really good opportunity
17:31
and this house shows that
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