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Winter Work

17K views 154 replies 13 participants last post by  fjn 
#1 ·
Some pics from whats going on this site. The house is a farm house replica. Its perfect.



The other side of the house





We had 5500 Old Virgina bricks trucked up here in early December. All the cubes are a frozen mess of coarse right....



We build pyramids as we go and blast them with the heater. They will dry out in an hour. This one is about half the size of what it was.



This wall will actually be inside of a closet.





Couple fireplaces back to back off set.

 
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#80 ·
Karl and JB, you guys do keep going, I give you credit.

Like Fred and Sean I've done my share of free heating jobs...those commercial jobs love to start the masonry late fall yet say they "aint paying winter prices".

I recall using frost wedges to do walls and or start digging a foundation!

What do you guys use for antifreeze......that looks like antihydro in your pic Carl.....That stuff is the best.....Ive done large jobs where we used 55 gal drums worth....not a salt mark and like new 30 years later. That conc suppliment stuff is crap....Too bad the hydro is so expensive.
 
#86 ·
Got caught Karl....very little my ass :no: lol you never said if it was ''anti hydro'' as it looked from afar?

No one likes it, and all other safeguards are what is done when feasible especially on ''small jobs''.
I did a chimney rebuild in my early 20's on a 3 story house when the old man was on vacation. I was nuts and wanted to prove a point...so I used triple the amount of anti hydro and kept the pan covered as the mortar was freezing to the trowel.
40 years gone by and it looks great and never even pointed!...and never ever had efflorescence!

There were many late fall jobs where winter rushed in, and yes the tarps and heated sand but with the steel beams in the way on a 8'' block wrap with preloaded cold block you ain't getting it done without a good additive! Just the wind during the day would through the wall out of plumb with frost.

Here's a pic of a 40,000 brick veneer I completely tarped with a plywood roof and doors....we heated the sand and the job all day and at night we shut down tight putting a canvas over the newly laid walls. We also had anti hydro in it for insurance which was very much needed certain windy nights like one night when the tarp ripped.
Again 30 years later no pointing / no salt lines / no efflorescence / nor corrosion. I've watched a lot of the jobs I've done with Anti Hydro, its unbelievably what they say it is. Many others we've tried all turned efflorescence via chlorides.

As to mortar being too hard from the additive.. well it already is these past 100 years...however I think today's control joints and brick shelves have that covered ..so they say! Those 40,000 are hollows less spalling. Dont touch that backhoe Sean someone spotted you there! ...It's.still running strong lol....cut up the lull 400 big mistake!

https://www.facebook.com/1596098240...9609824086030/857489690964703/?type=1&theater
 
#93 ·
The link is chimney I rebuilt that had been flue flashed. I found the copper hemed up an inch along the flue outside perimeters and tarred....lasted for many years.

I'd bend yours up,.. take some lead or copper strips at a 45 and insert under with some silicone and bend upward or soldier them.

I do all my own ...when needed. A better valley could of been done between the close flues.
Place a rope running thru and keep moving it...for a weep. cut some copper shavings and insert loke a cork screw to stop bugs from clogging and nesting.


https://www.facebook.com/1596098240...0.1426628070./163565713690441/?type=3&theater
 
#94 · (Edited)
I'll use fractional doses of 'anti freezes' to aid in tooling the joints after dinner, sometimes even all day if the brick are 'glassy', Saves alot of rubbing when washing.

Smart, lazy laborers tend to 'forget' to add it because they'll have to shake it up more often.

the lawyers and safety women have just about run the weed burners off the job. "NO open flames" and or a 'fire permit' to assign blame when the building gets burn't down during construction. But ten minutes and a few lbs of LP can really help get the mortar fingerprint hard.
 
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#109 ·
I question it's durability being so anemicly tight.

Good obsevation. There is an optimum joint size for masonry. Too thick and the bond suffers,too thin and the same results.


Those definitely fall into the latter category . Also,there is perspective that claims if the beds are relieved and the face is not to produce the look of a real tight joint,stresses are established to cause the stone to spall. In other words,the entire bed needs to be a tight,even plane.
 
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