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Terracotta brick wall linings


thunderhorse
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All our old stone walls are lined with those thin red terracotta bricks, and partition walls are built with the same material and then plastered.

Having seen vast areas of wall built in this fashion in other houses, and on makeovers abroad, how do they get the wall so flat and straight, especially when it doesn't appear to be tied in to old stone? I always get the impression that a good shoulder-charge to a partition wall would punch a hole straight through it. Because it's so thin, why doesn't it start to bulge after a certain height when the mortar still hasn't set?

Someone tell me that, and I'll de-mystify computers for you. [:P]

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These hollow terracotta bricks are only used for partition walls (cloisons) as you say.  There are special connector bricks, corner bricks, wodden support posts that are used with them.  I've never built one, only demolished one - not actually as easy as you suggest!  They are called briques platriêres because you plaster both sides once the wall is built.  They are either mortared or cemented (mortier-colle) together.  The first row has to be perfect as flaws cannot be corrected because the layer of mortar used is so thin.

Leroy Merlin has a load of info on the pros and cons and difficulties of trying to make a wall out of this stuff:

Daft wall structures

[:D]

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hi

              ok in our boiler room / bathroom even the ceiling is linned with them .they hang off the floor joists on wire hangers ,

         french building methods ,,,,, but they work ???? or do they

     just found out today FRENCH DRAINS  always though they were invented by the French hence the name............. no !!! Scotish invention his surname was ,yes French

                   dave

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"These hollow terracotta bricks are only used for partition walls (cloisons) as you say"

No they're not, they are increasingly using them to build entire houses due to their lightness, ease of construction and good thermal qualities, they also use longer vesions for lintels and fill them wirh concrete afterwards. In fact I have seen entire houses constructed from nothing else but terracotta bricks and concrete/mortar, can't vouch for the strength though.
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[quote user="Macker"]"These hollow terracotta bricks are only used for partition walls (cloisons) as you say"

No they're not, they are increasingly using them to build entire houses due to their lightness, ease of construction and good thermal qualities, they also use longer vesions for lintels and fill them wirh concrete afterwards. In fact I have seen entire houses constructed from nothing else but terracotta bricks and concrete/mortar, can't vouch for the strength though.[/quote]

Not the ones the original poster was talking about.  The ones you mean are much thicker - 20 or 30 cm normally.

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Hi Dave,

We have all our ceilings made of these clay hollow bricks, BUT have no loft acces at all in our house, and its far too warm to be effectively insulated. 

I can see a vague outline in one of the bedrooms, where maybe a previous loft hatch may have been - But how do I go about cutting a hole in to these blocks, how are they hung, at what centres etc etc.  Any practical tips to get me in to the roof space quickly & without too much mess & damage would be greatly welcomed.

I can feel soem foil type insulation coming on...

many thanks in advance.

Mark

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Hi Mark,

Please please don't ask how to do such complex building work on a forum. You can only give so much information and half the arguments on here occur because people don't get the gist of what the poster is saying. 

I know it is none of my business and I am not saying that Dave is incapable of helping  but I hope that Dave agrees with me on this one.  Get the builder around for a consultation or you could end up on the french version of DIY disasters.

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And now for the constructive & helpful comments please....

I am inserting a loft hatch into a false ceiling, nothing more, nothing less.

I just wanted to avoid undue mess, I have all the qualifications (as does my wife), tools etc to do this, I just wanted a heads-up on this somewhat strange (to me) construction technique.

Many thanks in advance to all those builders out there.......

Mark

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Sounds really bizarre to have a ceiling made of these things.  But Dave reckons he's got the same, so it can't be that rare!  If no-one has a better idea, I would tackle a small area in the centre of where I want to put the hatch and remove enough with an angle grinder to be able to see how they've been fixed in place.

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Hi Mark,

I am sorry you did not consider my advice to be helpful  and constructive but as a surveyor who has witnessed so many DIY 'bodge ups' it is the best advice I can give. I am sure any respectable builder would agree with me.

If you and your wife are properly qualified then, you would not find it necessary to ask for advice from a stranger on a forum to carry out works on a property with which you state consists of  a strange construction technique. 

 I just think it makes more sense to get the builders around to assess the job properly.

 

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This is not directed at a particular poster but it intrigues me how often people expect definitive answers on a forum, free of charge, to quite technical questions, whether concerning building work, the law or whatever. Whilst it is helpful to have the views of others - and I have gained lots of useful tips through the forum - technical work is usually done by specialists for a reason.

I agree that many of us are capable of carrying out quite technical tasks if shown properly how to tackle them, but I doubt the ability of a forum like this to provide specialist training. Furthermore, you have no way of knowing whether a poster - however convincing or forceful in their views - knows what he is talking about. (At least one with a suitably impressive Forum name, posting in capital letters to emphasise his authority, has as at times clearly offered quite inaccurate advice.) You will certainly have no come-back on a poster if they are wrong. And as KKK pointed out, there is huge scope for misinterpretation of both the problem and the advice, when communicated in this way. Not perhaps the most sensible way to risk large sums of cash, or perhaps life and limb.

It's largely for these reasons that I have just engaged a surveyor to go through my house with me from top to bottom. Not only will he tell me where work needs to be done and how it should be tackled, but he will identify what I might do or not do myself, and what I should expect to pay others to do the work for me. Now I am sure there are people out there who will tell me that I am wasting my money, and that I could work it out myself or get a local builder to look at it for me. I reckon the surveyor will save me a lot of time, possibly a lot of money (on unnecessary or inappropriate work or excessive bills - unlike the builder, the surveyor has nothing to gain by telling me whether or not I need a completely new roof) and give me peace of mind.

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I reckon that if Mark (or anyone else) wants to have a go himself, why shouldn't he?  He's asking exactly the same sort of thing that a thousand others do on forums like this.  Just a bit of practical advice from anyone who has experience of what he wants to do.   If it all goes pear-shaped that's his lookout:  I doubt he'd then be planning to sue anyone here!  Same goes for anyone else that comes looking for advice.

If people aren't to ask for practical advice on the forum then we may as well shut up shop now.  I like the banter but it would get a bit boring if that were all there was to it.

[:)]

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I agree too.  However, what is worrying is that there is a slight difference between "What can I do about Capricorne" and "I think I have the same suspended brick ceiling as you, how do I knock a hole in it?"

There is a very well respected forum member who, as it seems to me is an expert in the french tax regime.  He answers questions on just about every aspect of the topic.  However, he safeguards himself AND the forum by advising the client to seek a good accountant who is coherent with the same.

When it comes to technical matters in this section, in the interest of the forum the poster should always be advised to obtain a builder or surveyor with a thorough technical knowledge of the construction techniques local to the area.

Finally, as a surveyor, I would never claim to have a deeper knowledge of construction as a builder, but what we must consider is that unfortunately, the building trade is not heavily regulated, as is the surveying profession and therefore, it is imperative that the builder used comes recommended from a trusted source.

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Fair enough, KKK.  But if we're just talking about knocking a hole in the ceiling for a loft hatch, I'd be tempted to give it a go myself.  It's not as structurally critical as, say, knocking through a wall in an old stone built house to put in a door-window.

I feel a bit like the devil's advocate here. [6]

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Yes Cassis,

But I know you are very clever with your hands and probably so is the poster who raised the question but at the end of the day we could be advising Tim nice but dim and how would that make you feel if he said his mates at work had started calling him Barney Rubble?

 

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