How to Build a Block Wall Lay the Blocks

Well, the first thing we're going to do today is give you a layout of the tools you'll need to do these projects. Number one is your wheelbarrow, it doesn't have to be as big as this one, but this is what you're going to mix your mortar in, so get something close by and if you don't have one, you don't want to pay the money for one, come down and rent it. secondly, it's a flat tip shovel like this one, get them. In all material yards only one flat tip is to collect sand and mortar and everything etc.

The round tip will not work. This is a masonry hoe and this is what you will mix the mortar with in that wheelbarrow, but a regular garden hoe will work. and then another tool is your mortar holder and this is what will hold the mortar on the board you placed it on so get a piece of half inch to 5/8 plywood it can even be 3/4 and at least two feet square and this is what it's going to look like, put it on top of this, this is what you're going to take the mortar out of the wheelbarrow and put it here, so let's start with my four feet. level is American made it's made of wood it's very expensive if you probably don't want to go this route but it's very necessary in construction and I'll show you what you can do if you don't want to spend like fifty dollars for a level you can go to one of the hardware stores and get this little one here, there's no plastic in it, it'll work fine and take a four foot board or so and you can put your little level on it and you can use it as a level, so you have four feet and next we'll start with a good net masonry drag approximately 11 inches long approximately four and a half inches wide.

Very necessary, go down to the materials yard and find one that fits your needs. The hand that you feel good with and that will work for you next are the margin trawls, there are small ones like this one, which are good for aiming the tuk plane and another one that is a little square, right here, as we move on the jobs, you will see how necessary they are. Right here we have a concave jointer, this is very necessary and what we will use it for is to join after having placed the

block

s on the brick, etc. use it to join us called a concave jointer and this one here is a rake. assembler and you only use it to remove the joints.

I'm sure you've seen later we'll show you how to do it and we have a brick hammer, this is really necessary, it's like that, so we're down there. find one that fits your hand, select it because you will need it when you start doing your masonry work and a small mallet like this one, it's three pounds for putting in stakes etc., maybe breaking some stones will work well and then a chisel . a four inch chisel, this is necessary and then there's also an inch and a half and two inches, but I like these two here. Go with a nice little square like this, it fits in a cube, it's very necessary when you want to make a square in something.

If you would like to square with a pencil, next we will use a carpenter's pencil, they are approximately eight inches long, are flat and have a lot of lead, so this is a very important tool. and crayons, you can get them in different colors, blue, yellow, red, etc., for making marks and things like that, especially on

block

s, this works well and get yourself a nice little knife to sharpen pencil cut lines etc. The next thing we're going to need is a masonry plane so you can go to the hardware store, they have them there and a good pair of wire cutters, you have to have wire, you have to tie some steel and your

blocks

and so on, it's always good have a couple of good wire cutters and lime colored nylon thread, this one is about a thousand feet, one of our newer colors, really bright and I always like to take a stick, take out about 200 feet and put it on the stick and then I can put the line in my bag and go with this this will last a long time but it's good that it stretches and it can take a lot of force and these here are little adjustable holders that are used as line

blocks

and they fit right over the block same and They are adjustable, you can use it on an 8 inch block, a 6 inch block, a 12 inch block and they adjust up and down and in a moment I will show you how to use them and also a good pair of cotton gloves . different types a much needed couple dollar sentence with a very sharp cos blocker and a set of line blocks would get you to the materials yard in no time.

I'm going to show you how to use them and this little guy was hidden. a little sublevel, this is necessary when you're

build

ing cables and when you're

build

ing cables you want it for plumbing and leveling small things and now we're going to make a batch of mortar, we'll start with 12 shovels. of sand, three shovelfuls of cement and two shovelfuls of refractory clay and if you don't like refractory clay, which I like, you can use lime, so here we are going to make all the shovels, including one at eleven and twelve, and the next step we are going to do to put in three shovelfuls of cement two three right there next step two shovelfuls of fireclay one and two and as I said you don't use fireclay you can use lime the mixture is always the same with a wheelbarrow of this size the first thing I'm going to do To do is take the hoe and move all the material forward and then I'm going to turn around and move it, go to the left side and bring all the material back to that side, prepare it for the water. on this side, but the idea is to mix all the sand, clay and cement, all together, okay, here we go, let's start mixing this, go ahead, take it all to the bottom, take the sand and cement, clay. mixed very well, okay, now we'll bring it back like this.

Center it nice and smooth here, your smoothie, do this and when you mix it with the water it will be a lot easier and it won't get lumpy. Too bad for you, you can see how now we're going to start adding water, so I'm going to go back to that end of the wheelbarrow, always use this end of the wheelbarrow, okay, now what we're going to do is I have a bucket of water from five gallons and what we're going to do is put about two gallons in this guy right now. I like that we can always add more later and here we go with our mixture little by little, doing everything. the way to the bottom that way creates a finger like this is starting to tighten it's probably the hardest part of mixing it's like we're ready to add a little bit more water remember now just a little bit of water at a time like if everything was going to work fine, probably used about three gallons of water, they're getting all the clumps out, almost there, I think we'll have it when you're done mixing with the HOH you put in.

You put it in a bucket of water and clean it like that and you don't have to worry about mortar building up in it. One shovel and you wet it because you never want to put a dry shovel in that otherwise it's going to be ruined. They all stick to the paddle and will not slide and sit on the mud board. Now we're going to go rest and as soon as we get back we'll get ready to start placing some blocks. Now let's put. A little mortar on the board and start blocking the dirt. Notice how I lifted the shovel like this right here, so you use the muscles under your arm.

If you lift like this, it's a big suction and it's very hard for you, so if you do this. you can lift double that okay back to the water now for everyone who's learning you take some mortar and put it in your fishing net like this and this is look at this right here because this is the way I'm going to spread it on the block or the first inch or so is of the trawl, you take it and you turn it up and this is how you are going to spread it and this is the way you can practice, you can spend hours doing the same thing and when you get it right, you'll be ready for your block, now we're going to start placing some blocks, okay, now okay, I'm going to place our first block, here we go.

I've drawn a chalk line across here so that way I can line it up I know exactly where the expansion joint is here I'm starting so I've got my chalk line there I have to move it right on the line the next thing I'm going to do I'm going to take this little level I'll put there and let's see what we have a little bit high on this end so now we're going to put some mortar here for the half block in the front there we go and then we'll take my trawl around the first three and a half inch or so of the trawl and just cut some water have some on the foundation or pick it up you'll use it running a level here pretty good there a little bit this way right there plum this is called plumbing what you want to do sure it's getting nice and straight there we go, your two corners like this, that lead is ready to go now we're going to go down to this corner right here on this end and we're going to put a little lead like this right there, this

wall

will be five feet and six feet long, this

wall

is exactly the type of wall that I learned to place blocks on when I was in school, so there you have it, okay, now that this is it, let's take and place. this, I'll make sure to measure it with my tape measure, make sure it's right at eighty inches, okay, okay, that little wire is fine, there we go, right on the line, now we'll check it with the Burpee level check it out this way way perfect, we're ready to get on with that now we're gonna put a little bit more mortar on top for you ready for that half of that guy right in place, just like that notice when I take the mortar off there I make a little click like that way it stays in the tie back to level the wire always has to be perfect the perfect wires the rest of the wall will be perfect take your time do a good job with your wire now it's level check the perfect plumb and check this side of the corner look look what we have perfect there you have it now that the wire is in let's stretch a line and place these blocks in the center I'm going to show you how to use that line and Those blocks okay here we go what we're going to do is to set the block here and the line, so what we do is we put the line in the block like this and probably rotate it twice and then lock it. up like this, very neat, you pull it longer and I'll place it on the first course like this and then I take the block and we'll go to the other end, okay, now we're at the other end here.

We'll just put that block the same way so it has enough tension, we'll wrap it twice and you'll go in there and if one isn't enough, we'll wrap it twice right there right now, which we want. The line you want to do is follow the top of this particular block. Okay, now we're going to spread some mortar and place these blocks into a block. There are two sides, that's the bottom, that's the rough side, that's the side you don't want to pick. top that goes through the bottom, this right here has a little flange where you can lift it up as well as a grip, so when you get started, since this block weighs 36 pounds, you're going to want to just grab it and set it up. up like this and like you did your practice here you will be fine just put a block and just put a little mortar just sit like this and a little mortar here just like this I always place them like this their last block When you enter or a brick, it's called an enclosure, like this that there is a lot of mortar here, this is the one that I like to place in the corner of the clay board, a little folded there and she lies down like this, this is perfect.

It goes straight to the line and the line is not always perfectly straight there we will establish the line in this half block away which is the course now once we place them they are perfectly straight this mortar is getting a little stiff and what What am I going to do? do is get that can of water and I'll mix it a little bit with some coffee can water next year, especially on a hot day, put that water in the mortar, work it like this, this end. move this way, yeah, now let's start weighing this side, that little snap on the trawl, there let's put some mortar on the ends, here you can move a little faster if you have a little extra mortar on those nets and that's it, and now. you're ready to fill it, place a block when you're first learning, just put your block down, you don't want to run out, call the head joint, so it's much easier to pick up a block this way, pick them up like this and you'll last all day there is one now we will start cutting the mortar off the first three inches of your trawl and once you remove the mortar it will fit right on the face, you don't have to worry about the "See when I was in school you put the block by picking it up on the web and this is a terrible strain for a guy with a small wine type who goes crazy and would do this like this anyway." you're good Mason, follow the enclosure line, now we'll prepare for the employers and put this guy in his place there in an enclosure, a lot of times you'll lose a head joint so you'll just go like this. and put it back like this, now we are ready to begin our leadership again.

Okay, now this course here is a 2 foot section, this course is the third block and every third block is a steel block and you put it in, it's called a tie beam and this is what I'm going to put in right now, it's a tie beam and the last steel, a little bit more mortar on this guy here, this is a tie beam course. What happened was whenI arrived at work and the material was delivered, they only gave me six bomb spokes and I need 12 for this wall, so what we are going to do is a couple right here, when I get to that end, I will show it.

How to break it with?a hammer, here we go, okay, check the level, look what we have almost perfect there and we'll check this way Murphy, now I'm going to cut the mortar and make sure this is plumb, this level is of 100 years. old and it only has a bubble on one side so okay years I'll take my time there it is and let's check this side right here to see what we're on that's it now let's go to the other end and place one of these beams of Union. Okay, now we're going to have to make a tie beam for this end.

Here I already broke the other tie beams and I'm ready to start, but I wanted to show you how to do it. Make a block, turn it over, so, little by little, you will break this. I'm going to break it off about a half inch or so, enough so that two half inch pieces of steel can fit. up here, take your very smooth time blocks, no big deal, just go about half an inch down, okay, that one's ready to go in, okay, now we'll put that link beam in, let's put that guy in here, let's go , align it. on this side now we will check the level there it is, let's check this way, okay cut the mortar now we will check the plumb line and then we will check the plumb line this way, let's see what we have here oh that looks good, very nice, it looks good, now we'll place our line on each end here.

Lyon's loosening up a little bit, so I think what we'll do is tighten it up there, just pull it towards the middle. one inch right there I want to make sure the line is tight enough okay okay now we're going to spread the mortar after a while you'll be able to spread it like I do take your time at the beginning it's going to get right there a little bit of mortar in The joints help the block stand up on its own and, well, here we go, it joins the row of beams, this is the row that holds the steel.

There is a bit of rock, which is a problem when just making the block. cocked so I'm going to take it out, put it on my knee, sign the rock, take it out and get back there, we're perfect, now move a little faster like me, we won't even take the time to put it down, just spread the mortar come on here we go perfect and we'll cut it for this guy there we go around the enclosure we'll close it up, we put that last block in there that nice full joint and she goes around the enclosure for each enclosure, usually you have to add a little bit of mortar in that joint.

Okay, when you're building the wall, it doesn't really matter if it's five six feet or 20 feet, you always start with a steel bar at one end, which is the first one. net and then you go 1 steel bar every two nets, it says every two blocks like every block and you always have one at the end, okay, I have two pieces of steel cut and when we come back I will show you how we are I will put them on the wall, okay, I cut these two bars of steel and we're going to place them and we're just going to cut that block half an inch to place this steel.

It will work great as well as those two 1/2 inch bars next to each other and then we have our steel vertical bar which always starts at the end and then you have a steel bar every 16 inches per two square feet, typically It comes out of the foundations where we didn't want it. Do it here since this is a classroom and we didn't want to drill any holes in the floor, so I'm basically showing you that the steel needs to be at the foundation and up to 16 inches, but anyway, drop the steel from each corner. and then each block and it would be like this, each other net would have its own steel bar, which would make it every 15 16 by 2 square feet and this one right here and it happens to be near the end, so you have to leave this bar here and you always have another one at the end, you always have a steel bar at the end, great, okay, now we'll put that last half block up there and it'll be a tie beam. and another set of steel, okay, the verticals are every 16 inches, okay, back to the same thing, we'll see how our level is, then we'll check it this way and we'll check the plumb line and then we'll check it here, perfect, I like that.

We're done with this side, now we're going to move some things, we're going to take a little break and we're going to move our mortar and there now we're going to use these little supports and the reason for this is so you can work. on a wall and let's say you had a corner here and you couldn't stretch a line block over here, so they made these little brackets and we'll put our line on it and when we pull it, it will form. to strangle it to the side that will put that all the way and that's the way we're going to use it bring it in and just strangle it and that's what they're for for now, we'll place these blocks now that I have that The wall will be placed on our horizontal steel since the walls ended up as high as we go and we'll drop the vertical bars starting here at the end and down now if the walls end we'll take this concave connector and We're going to attach this wall and I'll do all of our verticals first meaning up and down then we'll cross the horizontal ones, since this was the first row below, that will be the hardest joint, although we will polish it.

It's like this, like this, like this, there's a little bee hole there, so we'll take some mortar and put it in place. Never use your finger because you only get ten of these guys so use your tools just fill it in with the little carpenter bee hole right there we'll just take some mortar and fill it in a nice full joint okay last row, now that we have this side done, we're going to let this set up for a little while so we can brush it when we don't want to stain anything, it's nice and polished now we'll just move on to the other side, let this sit for a couple of minutes and then we'll go back and brush it now. what we're going to do, take this brush and get the little bumps out of it, clean it up and make it look really nice, and if you're really worried about little spots like this one here and everything, take a piece of burlap sack.

You just rub it right there and clean it off this wall. Overall it's very clean but take a little time and let the mortar dry so you don't stain it but you can still brush it and everything underneath. Down here, you take your trawl and you move away from the wall and you clean everything everywhere so that you don't carry it everywhere, you just take this, cut it, this wall like this, trying to keep everything as clean as possible a part of this job is to keep everything clean and I'm going to continue, we're done, well there you have it, we're all clean.

I hope you learned something here today. I think you at least know how to place blocks and place steel is important and together, keep everything nice and clean. I'm Steve Kelly, see you next time.