Lintels over openings in brick veneer and masonry walls
A lintel is a small component that carries the whole wall above an opening. This guide covers choosing the type, checking the bearing, integrating the cavity tray and preventing cracks.
12 min read
Topic
Masonry
Articles and news about Masonry for Australian builders.
Lintels over openings in brick veneer and masonry walls
A lintel is a small component that carries the whole wall above an opening. This guide covers choosing the type, checking the bearing, integrating the cavity tray and preventing cracks.
12 min read
Choosing mortar and joint profiles for durable brickwork
Mortar is usually chosen for convenience, but its strength relative to the units and the shape of the finished joint decide how a wall handles movement and water over its life.
11 min read
Efflorescence on face brick: causes and prevention
The white bloom on new brickwork is salt carried to the surface by moisture. Builders can control most of it by managing where the salts come from and where the water goes during construction.
11 min read
Autoclaved aerated concrete walls: what builders get wrong
Autoclaved aerated concrete is light, quick to lay and unforgiving of water. Most of the callbacks on AAC walls come from handling, adhesive and moisture decisions made before the render goes on, not from the blocks themselves.
12 min read
Masonry flashing and weep holes: where water is meant to leave the wall
Water will get into a cavity wall. The detail that decides whether the building performs is where that water leaves. This article covers the drainage path from the outer leaf to the outside face.
12 min read
Brickwork movement joints, ties and articulation on NSW residential jobs
Masonry moves. Movement joints, correctly specified ties and articulation at the frame give it somewhere to go, and the defects that follow when they do not are expensive and slow to appear.
12 min read