Brick Spacing (A solution - I think!)

[cemesphere]

Hi All,
I had a problem, I built a small retaining wall in my garden, and I think I did a pretty good job, however it took me absolutely ages getting the spacing and levels right for each brick, which got me to thinking wouldn't it be a lot easier if there were some form of easy to use spacer that would set the joint size and level. I had a look round for a suitable spacer and all I came up with were complicated jigs and folded sheet metal spacing devices that required aligning.
So I thought to myself why not introduce some kind of spherical spacer to the mortar mix - no stacking up or alignment problems - spheres will find their own level and need not be aligned, an added advantage of this is that no matter how sloppy you accidentally made your mortar mix, the joints could not be compressed as the rigid spacers would prevent this happening (In tests I have successfully walked on bricks layed only moments before) and if you are working from a level foundation they basically make a spirit level obsolete! Obviously these spacers would be a hinderance to a professional bricklayer but for the first time DIY wall builder they could greatly improve the accuracy and speed of building a wall.
Basically what I need from this post is for people to let me know if they think I am wasting my time persuing this, I have applied for a patent but as yet have found no maufacturers willing to take a chance on it.
Would anyone use them?
Cheers and thanks for looking
Al
P.S. Below is a proposal that I created to tempt manufacturers, this is not yet a commercial product and cannot be bought (the proposal below is a complete figment of my computers imagination, but should give you an idea of how a finished product will look)

 

[big-all]

personaly i think your first mistake was to put them on a web site and secondly to say you dont have a pattent youve probbably got a winner there
bit you dont want someone else to nick your idea

i think itl be a winner but i cant lay bricks

good luck anyway

 

[cemesphere]

Hi There big-all, sorry for the mis-understanding I do have a patent in place for this, its just for the first year of a patent application the patent is said to be on file, this means that I can disclose the invention without fear of it being pinched, but its not a full blown patent. You sometimes see products quoted as patent pending, thats what this is.
Cheers and thanks for your reply
Al

 

[big-all]

the main thing is dont be disheartend by any comments went to trevor bayless site and picked up these links
http://www.design-technology.info/home.htm

 

[shaggy]

You've missed the point here. Bricks are not laid to a 10mm mortar bed but to a gauge. Metric bricks are nominally 65mm and laid to a gauge of 75mm which does give a nominal bed of 10mm but because of tolerances the bed does vary slightly. You keep to the gauge so the courses go 75, 150, 225, 300 etc.
Sorry, but the spirit level stays.

 

[P.J.]

Cemesphere,
Coming from a fellow patent-er, I like your approach. Nice to see a forum like this used for new ideas that could the people this forum is here for.
I think you've hit the nail on the head here - it's for the DIYer and not the seasoned bricky. If you're building a small project wall I think they'll be ideal.
Shaggy's point about the gauge is a good one aswell though, as the brick height varies, there'll be no compensation in the bed to absorb that variation.
Regarding Shaggys point, I think I have a solution that you could use, and if you mail me, you can have my idea - to keep it form the dreaded public domain!
Cheers,
P.J.

 

[cemesphere]

Hi Shaggy and P.J.
Thanks for the comments, Shaggy, you appear to know far too much about building a wall to warrant the use of spacers! this product really is aimed at the first time DIY market - as P.J. said (well that is a lie actually I am a very selfish person and I invented it for myself to speed up what I personally found to be a very time consuming task!). I see what you are saying about the gauge but for a complete novice these really do aid the brick laying process. My wife managed to lay a very presentable four course wall using these spacers, and she had never laid a brick before in her life.
A lot of it has to do with confidence, how many people have had a go a tiling because they have seen how simple to use those cross shaped spacers you can buy are to use? I think that a lot more people would be prepared to have a go at building, for example a Brick BBQ or a small retaining wall, if they could pop into B&Q and buy some brick spacers that promise to give them professional results.
Again thanks for your comments and keep them coming
Cheers
AL
P.S. Before anyone points it out, yes there may be a problem if using frogged bricks!

 

[P.S.]

Cannot see the original picture but there are products already out there including this

simple and effective way to help even the novice build the perfect wall, Bricky was recently voted best product and awarded the Oscar De L'invention at the world's most prestigious innovation exhibition in Geneva. The plastic bricklaying device automatically spaces and levels your brick line when you are laying any wall, increasing wall-building productivity up to 300%. It eliminates mortar waste so there's no mess or spillage into cavities, and ensures precise 10mm joint spacing. Beginners and professionals alike will find this tool an invaluable aid.

and

Lay bricks quickly and easily without the need for a plum line with this brick gauge. Made up of three sections of hardwearing plastic, the middle part of the brick gauge is inset with two spirit levels which ensure the brick is level when it is laid down. The gauge marks the 1/4", 1/2" and 3/4" brick line.

 

[legs-akimbo]

I think the first picture was "The brickies mate " patented and manufactured by an Irish man who borrowed vast sums of money from friends and family ( recent documentary) seemed to do all his home work and marketed it well.........But it was a flop, no one bought it, the programme ended with the guy desperately trying to avoid his creditors and promoting his product. I assume by now he has bankrupt.

 

[cemesphere]

Hi There P.S. and legs-akimbo,
Thanks for your comments, the main advantage my spherical spacers would have over the 'Jig' method of brick laying is that well, basically, there is no need for a Jig! you simply sprinkle my balls over your mortar bed or mix them in with the mortar itself and then lay as many bricks as you want, no alignment of the spacers is necessary, you get an exact gap every time just by tapping the the brick down untill it stops (one person I demonstrated it to even used the lay then STAMP on it with your foot method of bricklaying which worked suprisinly well!)
There may be some slight varyation of the brick level due to brick manufacturing tolerances (as pointed out by Shaggy) but when you see a completed wall built with these spacers you really do not notice this.
Cheers and keep the comments flowing
Al
P.S. If you could not see my original pick click on the link http://www.ceme-sphere.co.uk/picture/

 

[Thermo]

what happens with the vertical joints?
Also if you are placing it in the mix how do you ensure an even spread of it in the mortar, ie you may end up with all your balls up one end of the mortar bed.
How expensive is it, if your just mixing it in you are going to need a lot unless you are placing them on a mortar bed individually.
I can however see the attraction for the diyer

Thermo

 

[cemesphere]

Hi Thermo,
I am glad you asked about the vertical joints, they work in the same way as the horizontal, tap it up untill it stops and you have a perfect gap! (if you need to adjust the spacing you simply use a thicker joint)
The 'in the mix' option is one that requires more research, but through my experiments I have found that you need approx 15% ball to mortar mix to achieve good results, and if you are using a mixer the balls get a fairly evenly distributed.
As for costs, I dont think it would be that much depends how you are going to use it, obviously the blister pack illustrated is intended for the 'placing on the mortar bed' method and would hopefully retail for about the same as a pack of tile spaers, if you are going to add them to the mix you would probably need a big bag of them (I have never managed to get hold of large quantities of any suitably cheap 10mm balls all the testing I have done has been with highly polished jewelery beads V-expensive to just throw away especially as I have got through around 7500 of them during the test process!)
Cheers
and thanks for the comment
Al

 

[masona]

I always like to see a invention idea to make life easier I have a City & Guilds in bricklaying (don't do much now) and the problem I can see is the spacer will not give the same amount of brick weight pressure onto the cement whereas without spacer is bedded on cement 100% with the correct weight. The next problem I can see is not all bricks are straight & square and the spacer will throw all the brick out of alignment. I can understand for the diy'er to use them but the strength of the wall might not be the same because if there's not enough cement bedding you will not know and the wall could be weak. The next test would be to build 2 wall with spacer and without, you may then find the wall with spacer is easy to knock down than without but having said that this is my own opinion so I don't know. Putting in spacer is very time consuming but being a bricklayer I can do 10mm cement joint without any problem just down to experience. As you say you're doing for diy'er with less experience and may have put some idea to help you with your plan. One of the biggest mistakes in bricklaying is the correct cement moisture.
Good luck.

 

[shaggy]

Ceme', you obviously have an enquiring mind and are thinking laterally, which is commendable. One day you may have a good idea that will make you millions but you really are wasting your time and money on this one even though it's interesting to read about. I remember a brick spacer on the market at least 25 years ago but it wasn't wanted. It was a plastic moulding and in the shape of two cylinders about 15mm dia and 10mm thick joined by a rib. This could cope with frogged bricks as the length enabled both cylinders to sit on the flat part of the brick between the edge and the start of the frog.
The only brick laying aid that is used on sites is the 'Blakes' profiles (or similar version) which are set up after 3 courses and then the bricks are laid to a string-line between the profiles so there is no need to build a corner. I've never used them myself but have seen them used and it does speed up bricklaying for some guys.
The skilled bit is in setting up the corner and keeping it plumb as well as mixing the mortar correctly. You don't think it matters if it is too sloppy because the balls will provide the joint space. It does matter because it will run down the brick face and look a mess. I really don't think that keeping the courses correct is the difficult bit. You will sometimes get a skilled brickie doing the corners and the not so skilled brickie filling in to the string line.
Long may brilliant ideas burst like shell-fire from your razor-sharp brain.

 

[cemesphere]

Hi All,
Again thanks for all the comments,
Shaggy what is a Blakes profile? I cant find them on the internet.
Masona, I can see where you are coming from with the brick bedding on the cement, its one of the things which I thought would make this fail, I personally thought the mortar would sag around the spacers leaving you with a couple of points of contact between the upper brick and the mortar, but this does not happen, when dismantling walls built for demonstration purposes even after only 15 minutes or so the bricks are well and truly stuck together by suction alone.
Cheers
Al
P.S. I am not doing this to get rich, basically all I want from it is to walk into B&Q and see a product of mine on the shelves, I dont care if it only sells 10 units, I will be happy!