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Hi Juliet,
Although I am not a brick layer by trade, we are often called to use brickwork in our landscape design and construction and have buillt curved walls on numerous occasions so I can offer some pointers. The cost will largely depend on where the wall is to be situated whether it is a retaining wall and what type of brickwork and detailing you require such as pillars, caps, coping tile detail etc. You may also have an existing footing in place which is adequate if this is a replacement wall so that would save quite a bit. Curverd walls often look better with half bricks facing out so that a tighter curve can be acheievd but with a radius of 5.75 metres this may not be needed. I can't give you a quote on this one and to be honest if you requested one from us I would probably consult with a local brick layer to get a price. I suggest you get some quotes from a bricklayer and take it from there. Good Luck
Paul
Having a quick look, they give prices per linear meter at different heights, different bonds and thicknesses, curved walls as well. A price given were we work ( most expensive county ) is never going to cut it elsewhere say in the midlands or north east.
I'm surprised more do not refer to Spons as a underlying means to cost, supplemented with your own cost base and regional differences.
There you go, treat yourself to a Spons book for Christmas ...tax deductible as well :-)
Hi Thanks guys for the replies,
I do have Spon's thanks Gary and had based my estimate on that, but have had a quote back that shocked me a little. I will not divulge the details but it works out at £3 per brick laid over a distance of 22m . I needed to get some real world advice from guys out there on the tools.
The contractor my client's chose has said that it is so expensive because each brick has to be levelled individually and it is very time consuming. He is also saying that he cannot fit whole concrete blocks around a radius of 5.75m .
I have been designing gardens for a long while, but have never attempted such an ambitious curved design before. I just needed some ball park figures to see if what he is saying rings true.
I could put the tech spec up if anyone is interested?
Juliet
please could you post the technical specification Juliet
Yes it is time consuming because you obviously cant use a brick line and brickies love to lay to a line! I use a bit of 1/2" tile on top of a dry brick and work my level with that, nudging it along as we go. You also need to keep checking the face is upright which is a pain you dont need to do so often when building straight. All in all - at least twice as labour intensive....maybe more, but £3.00 per brick does seem a bit heavy!
Juliet Frost said:
The mention of block makes me assume this is to be rendered in which case the skill level required drops significantly. Trying to build facing brick in a pratical but still attractive bond around a curve is difficult and skilled.
Building rough brick which are then to be rendered along a free-hand or nearly free hand curve is a lot more straight forward.
Quite right Simon, here's a curved wall we built from blocks in one day and rendered in another, a week later. I had to wear sunglasses to paint it as it was so bright it gave me a headache!
Hi Juliet
I'm just about to add your question to the newsletter.
You mention brick in your initial post and then again in the first part of your second but then go on to mention blocks.
You also mention one and a half bricks wide. Do you mean the wall will be laid in headers using one full brick and one snap-header to create the face?
Can you confirm?
Hi Juliet,
We build curved walls all the time, if it is a rendered wall you are trying to achieve we supply a flexible
block that is poured with concrete. We use them to build swimming pools, ponds and retaining walls.
The great thing with them is any one can build with them, you don't need to be a skilled bricklayer, the curve you get is very precise. You can render them or tile straight to the block.
They are lightweight and very fast to build with, I can send you some information on the system if you would like.They can only be faced on one side on a curve, but we would then clad the back of the wall if it was above ground, but straight blocks can be built double faced.
Regards Ben
Hi Everyone,
Thanks for all the useful input. I have not been online for the last couple of days because we are on fllod alert here in our village. My garden is now under water and the Thames is breaching the banks here in Purley on ( currently in ) Thames.
My Curved wall is part block retaining wall, faced on one side and part flemish bond faced on two sides. It varies in height and curve radius. I will attempt to put up the tech spec for it at it highest point. This is still to be checked by the structural engineer, but is similar to one I used a few years ago.
Phil Voice said:
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