Building and rendering a garden wall

[russ98rjl]

Hi all,

I have an existing wall that divides the patio area from the lawn in my garden. The wall is currently only 2 bricks high by 1 brick length wide and constructed of what looks to me like standard size house bricks

I would like to build up the wall to a more practical 'sit-onable' height, before rendering the wall and painting.

I have a few questions on this and would be very grateful if anyone could help:

a) I have no bricklaying experience, but would like to attempt this myself. Could I use some type of block, instead of standard bricks to speed up the wall building process? Is it possible to find blocks like this whose width is the same as a standard house brick length?

b) What is this type of brick or block called, so I don't sound too stupid when asking about them! Is there a particular material brick, ie concrete that i should use if i want to render it afterwards?

c) Is attempting the rendering myself with no experience worth a go, or is it like normal plastering where i should really get a professional in?

Many thanks for all your help!

russ98rjl

 

[Thermo]

you can use 100mm concrete blocks. they will only be a few millimetres smaller than the width of the bricks you already have there, and any diffrence will be lost when you render it.
Why not use something like an oak sleeper across the top of the existing wall to make a feature of it and give you a decent seat. Youd need another course of bricks under it to run alongside the existing courses you have there, but you wont see them as theyll be hidden by the sleeper, so your brickwork skills wont show too much!

 

[russ98rjl]

Cheers Thermo, thats an excellent idea!...what would be the best way to fix the sleeper to the brick? Any ideas hows to restore a reclaimed sleeper? some kind of varnish / sealant?

Also, how much should i expect to pay for these 100mm concrete blocks?

Many thanks!

 

[breezer]

, how much should i expect to pay for these 100mm concrete blocks?

see item 9

 

[russ98rjl]

ok, fair enough!..sorry...any ideas on the other points though?

 

[jbonding]

fix the sleeper on a bed of mortar there very heavy and shouldnt move but to make sure fix eml or some other mesh to the underneath and lay on the morter, you can get new sleepers or in very good condition, i got some of a friend he had left over and he paid about £15 but he bought about 20, phone any builders yard they will give you a price for the block or visit any of the websites.

 

[Thermo]

you should be looking around about £15 for a reclaimed one, but places like this

http://www.justsleepers.com/price.htm

do a good range. I wood go for a new one (travis perkins do new one for about £20.00 delivered) as you wont have to worry about stains from creosote etc that you may get with an old one. It wont need any finishing and will naturally weather.

You could also fix it using builders band screwd to the sleeper and then to the wall.

Good luck

 

[firegazer]

If you like the sleeper idea, why not use two sleepers, one on top of the other, bolted (using threaded rod) onto wooden posts concreted into the ground.

 

[russ98rjl]

thanks alot for all your suggestions!!....one last question, what would be the best way to 'finish' the sleeper, I mean will I need to preserve it in any way? I think I would like them to be quite dark to contrast with the wall, but can you stain / varnish them or something?

Many thanks!

 

[firegazer]

It all depends on what kind of finish you are after. If you are going to get reclaimed, then be careful that they are not creosote treated which leeches and is poisonous.

You can buy new of course. Have a look at www.railwaysleeper.com for all the info you ever need to know about sleepers, and some good garden ideas too!

Let us know how you get on.