Brick Pier

[pete_l]

I tried making my own paving blocks once. Big mistake. Although I'd seen it done on some silly home-improvement programme, it wasn't at all easy in practice and most of the blocks cracked.

What I'd be inclined to do would be to cut the corners off some standard bricks, either before building or once the pier had been completed. An alternative would be to add a render coat to the completed brick/block pier and shape that. (I'm a great believer in a mortar render: it covers over a lot of "sins" committed during the bricklaying - just as painting covers a lot of sins made while mortaring.) Also, the mortar can be coloured quite successfully.

[fwm891]

Some walls (old mainly) have half round capping stones/bricks ? Some garden centres have shaped stone or brick paving...

Found this site: http://www.caststoneuk.co.uk/wall-coping/

Edited June 15, 2012 by fwm891

[Steve Ward]

Half-round bricks readily available at most builders merchants ,

Glad I wasn't the only one to spot the dodgy door , these things do tend to jump out to some of us . . . ;-)

Glad I'm not the only Gate-maker here too...........

My latest..............

Before.....

New.......

Just wish I had room for a pier or observatory myself.

[RogerTheDodger]

Lovely work on those gates

[Tinker1947]

There some nice work gone into them......well done...

[Gina]

A superb restoration job - well done

[Steve Ward]

Thanks , not restored , brand new handmade identical replacements ,

I like a challenge .......

[nightvision]

Tinker1947, going back off subject for a moment, (in the first picture of the very nice gates) why have you put those strips down the gate posts? I just had some large gates fitted and don't have them, am I missing out?

Edited June 16, 2012 by nightvision

[Tinker1947]

Tinker1947, going back off subject for a moment, (in the first picture of the very nice gates) why have you put those strips down the gate posts? I just had some large gates fitted and don't have them, am I missing out?

No real reason for them......some get them some don't....

[Petrol]

Nice gates! Impressive craftsmanship

As for pouring concrete / laying bricks – Bricks have frogs (that’s the hole / recess in them) This allows the mortar to key and prevents lateral movement. Allowing the mortar to dry and laying courses on top does not weaken the structure. Pouring a pier in two sessions does weaken it mainly because the first pour is left flat; it just flows out with gravity. The second pour has little to key to

From my understanding the best budget pier is concrete in a plastic tube with rebar. I also used a scaffolding pole in mine. Since this is a combination of plastic / steel / concrete, it offers the best solution. Composite construction is often the strongest.

I like the brick pier a lot. Blends in to the garden, easy and not expensive to build. Also not a nightmare to get rid of if you move. Anything is better than a tripod and personally, I can’t see the brick edges being a problem.

Good job

[RogerTheDodger]

Thank you

[RogerTheDodger]

While we had a bit of sun yesterday I thought I'd get the lot out and try a bit of solar viewing - here's the pier with most of the kit on it.

[Peter Drew]

I still think the concrete block system (shown on another thread) is worth considering, costs around £25 and takes about 15 minutes to make once you have all the components, cellular blocks, paving slab, 10/12mm screwed studding, nuts and washers, masonry drill bit and drill ready.

[swamp thing]

Half round bricks are called double bull nose or cow nose.

They are usually an engineering brick so hard, dense and Impervious to water ingress. This makes them hard waring but horrible to work with as they have almost no suction for the mortar. This means they "swim" as we brickies say (this means move about at the slightest touch. Building a small pier with few bricks per coarse and keeping it plumb isn't as straightforward as you may think with them.

If you mix the mortar too wet it will run out of the joints and down the face work too ruining the appearence. Remember no suction.

have fun

Ps I lime based mortar will allow for any movement better than cement based mixes this means it will absorb vibration better.

worth considering it's not that expensive for small jobs like this either.

Edited July 13, 2012 by swamp thing
Added info

[RogerTheDodger]

I still think the concrete block system (shown on another thread) is worth considering, costs around £25 and takes about 15 minutes to make once you have all the components, cellular blocks, paving slab, 10/12mm screwed studding, nuts and washers, masonry drill bit and drill ready.

Indeed, I'm sure that would be almost as stable, but the Mrs wanted it to look nice too

[astrofox]

Got me thinking about all the spare bricks I have

[sbj]

resurrecting an old post I know, but just wondered if anyone else had attempted anything like this? 

Or how the original poster is getting on with it?

[mhard26339]

Great Job!!

[RogerTheDodger]

resurrecting an old post I know, but just wondered if anyone else had attempted anything like this? 

Or how the original poster is getting on with it?

Mine is still going fine just wish the clouds would go away more often. If I was doing it again, I haven't thought of anything I'd do differently, just make sure the base you are building on is solid.

[RogerTheDodger]

Just about to move the pier in the garden - yes I'm still using it another 8 years on  I updated it about 6 years ago so that it is on it's own concrete slab and movable - with a lot of effort - so I can get different parts of the sky. Vibration is still a non-issue.

[MichaelBibby]

Thanks for sharing your project RogerTheDodger. I'm in the process of making a brick pier right now, and I have a very simple question which I'm hoping you can help me with. When you embedded the threaded rode into the bricks did you use the brick mortar or did you use concrete? I'm using bricks with three large holes (like yours it seems) so as to give me enough room to fit the galvanized 1/2" rods I'm using to secure my pier adapter (a disk brake), and my initial plan was to fill the cavity around the threaded rod with brick mortar, but my concern is that the brick mortar might not be strong enough and that concrete might be a better option. Can I ask how you did it? Did you use brick mortar and then some concrete to 'cap' it off with?

Thanks in advance.

Edited September 26, 2022 by MichaelBibby

[CraigT82]

This is the kind of thing you want for that purpose:

https://www.screwfix.com/p/rawlplug-r-kem-ii-styrene-free-polyester-resin-300ml/32863?kpid=32863&ds_kid=92700048793290424&ds_rl=1249413&gclid=Cj0KCQjw1bqZBhDXARIsANTjCPKfz2W-3koY6YC1IY0bZhlaj8puhwvqOLLauMQz3fGvja7XrYNR6D0aAvt6EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds#product_additional_details_container

edit: just browsed through this thread and the Google book linked and I also spotted the gate brace the wrong way round, wonder if it’s sagged and been fixed in the last ten years?! 

Edited September 25, 2022 by CraigT82

[MichaelBibby]

I forgot to ask: what do you use the Playstation controller for Roger? Is it to slew the telescope?

Edited September 30, 2022 by MichaelBibby

[900SL]

Brickwork / blockwork is weaker in tension so if you plan on any heavy eccentric loading offset from the centerline I would reinforce the pier. Or be really structural engineer and post tension the pier to the base using a central stressing rod 😂

An eccentric load will induce bending in a pier. Depending on the load and offset this may result in tension in one side of the pier

Masonry is very strong in compression but relatively weak in tension. 

For most uses you should be fine but if you have a tall slender pier and a large mount and counterweight be aware 

 

[MichaelBibby]

 

All finished, pretty happy with the results (apart from my shonky brick laying). Used a disc brake for the adapter. Ended up using a piece of pipe to prevent mortar filling in the holes while laying the bricks and then filled the cavities with concrete and the 1/2" threaded rods. And capped the whole thing off with some concrete.

Edited October 15, 2022 by MichaelBibby