Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
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Cutting and finishing a brick
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Setting Gauged Work
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Finishing Gauged Work
As in all the cutting and rubbing stages of gauged work, with so much fine
high-silica brick dust, it is important to obey all relevant Health and Safety
regulations and wear a mask and goggles. Also to use an industrial powered
vacuum cleaner to continually remove all brick waste and dust as work pro-
ceeds. It is also important to remember that, like all traditional brickwork
using lime-based mortars, this class of work was only constructed on site dur-
ing the months from March to October. This is due to the aggressive action
of frost, which is particularly acute with gauged brickwork due to the large
amounts of water used in its construction. If work has to proceed in the winter
months, outside of this window, then a suitable 'micro-climate' has to be artifi-
cially created to maintain an acceptable ambient temperature above
7ºC and
well protected environment conducive to such delicate work.
Once gauged work has been erected and left to dry sufficiently, it is then
lightly rubbed-up using the hand-held 'float stones' of varying grades of York or
carborundum, to finish the brickwork into a bright unified plane. Because of this
rubbing-up process, where gauged work is to be part of the main brickwork then
it is sometimes deliberately set a little 'proud' so it rubs flush. If the work is set
properly, however, then the slight exussions of the 'putty joints' trim neatly and
very little cleaning or rubbing-up is in fact necessary (Fig. 157). In recent years
some bricklayers have started a practice of finishing gauged work by 'slurrying-
up' the face of the gauged work with the lime putty mortar to flush-fill all the
joints. This, however, is not a traditional practice, rather it is a means to hide
poor setting techniques that had left un-filled joints. In doing this calcium
hydroxide is unnecessarily spread over and into the open-textured bricks,
Figure 157
Rubbing-up the face of
a gauged arch using a
hand held float stone
