Concrete blocks

[dandaz]

English concrete blocks are lightweight flat and both surface sides and very easy to build with.....

 

French have loads of holes on the bits you spread the mortar and man they weigh a ton ....

 

Should I throw away my trowell and used some sort of industrail cake decorator device to spread the mortar and mayby start visiting the gym????

Or is there a easy way of doing it????

mick

[P.Shute]

Stick with it...you'll find that using french blocks is easier and far better to use than UK blocks.... try using the 15cm thick blocks first they are so easy to use. Fill the gaps between the blocks after they are in place...so simple.

phil

[Alcazar]

Agree with Phil: Spread a good thick layer of mortar on the blocks beneath, (I use a trowel, but my lad (15) prefers rubber gloves and his hands!), don't put mortar between the blocks, place block, tap it level, to height and up to the next block, then fill the gap with wet mortar and bits of stone, broken tile etc etc.

Personally, I much prefer the French blocks, and yes, they are heavy, but at least you can drill them and hang things on them without fear of it all coming down!

BTW: the ones with a large round void, we again fill with lots of rock and wet cement: they tend to be on the ends of walls where door frames may fit, so we make a good base for the wall plugs.

Alcazar

[dandaz]

Hi

 

Thanks, I never thought of filling them with crud...

 

I built two pillars and the second one flew up so it`s just a case of getting used to...

 

Mick..

[Ianhaycox]

Re the blocks with large voids, our macons put steel rods vertically down through the holes and into the floor then filled them with concrete.

At 2,5M high they also put a row of extra dense blocks with a U channel running along the length of the block. In this U channel they put chainage and again filled with concrete.

Example here http://radio.weblogs.com/0136203/2004/11/04.html#a210