9inch wall without headers

[23vc]

Ok another potentially silly question, you can tell the only walls I’ve ever built are cavity.
9 inch, brick/block, you end up with with a say 20mm gap in the middle. Are you meant to butter the back face of all the bricks while laying in order to fill this gap, or shove mortar into it as you go? If not you’re just relying on the cavity ties (at an angle) to stop the outer skin being pushed in (it’s a retaining wall for the bottom 2 foot of it).
Just concerned that it’s no stronger than a half brick thick if that gap is there and I’m not doing header courses due to the fact it’s brick outer / block inner.
Cheers for any pearls of wisdom!

 

[stuart45]

This joint is known as the wall or collar joint. Most bricklayers don't fill it too much as it tends to make the wall belly out a bit.
However in theory it needs to be a full joint to make the wall more watertight. Years ago flushing up the joints on solid walls (larrying in) as the work proceeded on solid walls was the correct method.
Here's a bit of info.
https://www.concreteconstruction.net/how-to/construction/understanding-collar-joints_o

 

[23vc]

Thanks Stuart that’s handy
I think in my case, I can make this gap 20mm and shove mortar in it as I go. Not so bothered above ground but deffo going to do it below ground.
Also I’ve got my ties which should help.
Yes I can imagine it’s easy for the wall to belly out so I reckon I’m safer just filling em after the course is laid.

 

[stuart45]

Having a separate dryer mix to fill in the wall joint helps a bit as a wetter mix is more likely to push the brickwork out.