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I want to know

19K views 188 replies 30 participants last post by  JBM 
#1 ·
How many of you brick guys clean up completely when you finish? And I mean leave the job site clean of all brick not used, mortar splashed on the ground, all of it?

I used the same mason for many years, and he always raked up the broken brick, and pretty much cleaned up his own mess...now he wouldn't touch anything that wasn't his, but he left no mess.

My last regular crew was not as "tidy", but still not a big deal since we have to clean the job site anyway....but the last job was awful. Left broken brick everywhere, mortar piles all over, had to threaten them to come and acid wash, and then clipped me on the bid.

I told them as I wrote the check I wasn't happy...they said it was now "extra" to clean up....really?

So I old them to get lost, I would never use them again, ever.

The guy who is the chief brickie called yesterday and said that he had a guy who wants me to build a house for him, and maybe we can patch things up? :no:

I asked if he had a short memory, told him to not call again, and hung up.

Too much?
 
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#146 ·
Centuries? Brick hasn't been a common building material for homes for that long. Heck most commercial buildings were wood. The Chicago fire comes to mind. Decades maybe, but not centuries, at least as a common material used as it has been for the past 60-70 years in residential construction.

I believe it's actually illegal to bury construction debris in Georgia due to all the problems it created.

The question is why? Because it's cheaper? I just don't think that filling a yard with brick is the best way to leave a site, regardless of how long it's been done. The length of time a practice has been in use doesn't necessary prove its the best practice.
 
#157 ·
Yes, poor people can afford to purchase a home that has brick in it. I didn't say 10k veneers, or new construction. I said that they can afford homes that have brick on them. Look at the 1940's post WWII bungalows. They had brick and wood facades. Those men were not wealthy. They were mostly blue collar workers.

Obviously poor people aren't building homes, but they are buying inexpensive ones that have brick as a common material. A hundred years ago, it was wood. There was no track homes then. Brick was expensive and not widely used in most dwellings.
 
#159 ·
A Brief History of Masonry:
In 1666 the great fire of London, England consumed 13,200 homes, transforming the city from one of wooden buildings to one of brick construction. The manufacture of brick attained a high degree of excellence and dominated the building field in this period of history. Nonetheless, the history of masonry certainly didn’t begin in 1666—skilled craftsmen have been creating architectural marvels out of stone, granite and other materials since ancient times.

While masonry has evolved over thousands of years, it is also a tradition encompassing great proficiency from the earliest days of its development. Among the ancient techniques developed throughout the world were folded stone corners, multi-facetted stones, vitrification, and metal block-ties. These ancient techniques show an impressive grasp of engineering which was probably carried over from earlier wood constructions. The ancient Egyptians cut their blocks in such a manner as to create an angle within the block (instead of allowing corners to be the result of two intersecting blocks). A fine example of these folded stone corners is the Valley-Temple in Giza. Archaeologists believe that this construction was intended to prevent earthquake damage.
 
#162 ·
There are homes and many of them, built in the late 1700's and early 1800's in the United States. Your books regarding Chicago fires are not the tell all book of masonry in the USA.

It's becoming pretty funny to see how stubborn you are. Perhaps part of the reason you have trouble with your subs...
Again, I never said that it wasn't used. But it wasn't widely used until after WWII in residential construction

It's sad that not only do you not read about the history of your own trade but you don't even read what I have said. I have never said I have trouble with my subs. In fact it's quite the opposite.
 
#165 · (Edited)
It must be something in his nature.

To say that something isn't common because it wasn't on the face of a typical house is silly. And you do know that masonry waste isn't limited to brick right?

I just can't do this anymore. it's like when he argued with me about how the dictionary was wrong because it didn't agree with what he said. It's just ridiculous. I'm done
 
#167 ·
It must be something in his nature.

To say that something isn't common because it wasn't on the face of a typical house is silly. And you do know that masonry waste isn't limited to brick right?

I just can't do this anymore. it's like when he argued with me about how the dictionary was wrong because it didn't agree with what he said. It's just ridiculous. I'm done
Brick was the subject, but read my posts, I have said masonry a few times. It was said that bricks gave been used as fill for centuries. That's what I had issue with. Most homes were not brick before the industrial revolution. It just wasn't cheap enough.

As for the dictionary the definition you speak of want debated, it was context.
 
#171 ·
Dom... So I'm just supposed to roll over because some guy on the internet said I'm wrong? No one had provided anything that remotely backs up the claim that brick debris had been thrown in the yard fill for centuries. Why? Because it's just not true. That's why I said that brick want a common building material... and then clarified it by meaning widely used. It was only used when it could be afforded. And even then with out modern gas powered excavation equipment I just don't buy that it was the common practice. It's more likely that the waste was used for another purpose.

The biggest reason they use it as full is cost. It's cheaper to plow it under than hall it away. It's just not feasible that they would just toss the waste in a yard 100 years ago. They would have put it to use.
 
#188 ·
Couple of years ago I replaced a set of exterior stairs on a house-turned-office building. Had to dig a couple of post holes 3' deep.

About a foot down, I began getting clam shells of all things. At 3.5' they were still plentiful. I gave up and set the posts. I later discovered it used to be a restaurant of sorts about 80-90 years back.

So there.
 
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