Here is a close up of my lovely matching fixed windows!
Thursdays efforts included bricking up to 40 courses along the south wall...
....and on some rather interesting looking scaffolding supported by bricks, framing and cement sheeting. Do not try this at home!
Looking good! Although if I was going to be really picky (more than what I have been...if that is possible), then there are far more orange bricks on the ground floor than the second storey. This 'should' be covered by a hedge, or perhaps roses, so in a few years I will hardly notice it. ;-)
Friday saw the window sills installed around most of the windows. I have another niggly issue with these too (Oh not another one, I can hear you all saying!!). If you remember the first window sills that went in below the ensuite windows here:
Well, these are the latest ones. Again, it's a case of 'spot the difference':
See it? The line of half bricks under the titled sill bricks in the above photo, but not the ensuite windows?
Apparently, it is pretty standard practice amongst builders, and I have seen it numerous times. You would think, though, that windows would be made to a specific size that would match a certain number of brick courses, allowing for mortar joins, and eliminating the need for the 'half' brick. But no, that would be too sensible, wouldn't it?
The above photo is on the front facade, and all window sills except for the ensuite ones are exactly the same. Not a lot I can do about it without ripping out the windows, changing them to slightly smaller or bigger, re framing around the windows, ripping out all the sills and re bricking those. Arghhhhh....why don't things just match up in the first place? And why don't builders just provide the windows that will match up in the original plans? It's a no brainer, if you ask me...
This issue also applies to door frames.
There is a small gap above what will be our lovely shiny black 'cricket bat' doors. Why? Because the size of the door frame does not match with a number of brick courses and mortar joins. It was impossible to install the lintel in the brick course below, as the door frame is in the way, so they have to put it in the next course, and leave a whopping great big gap above the door frame. This will be filled in with cement sheeting (or similar), and will be painted. What colour, I have no idea, as the brickwork surrounding the front door and on the portico will be rendered. I'm hoping the cement sheet infill will sit flush with the brickwork and be covered in render, so it will be completely unnoticeable. I guess I'll find out!!
Bricking completed all the way around up to 40 courses. Next comes the serious scaffolding!
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5 comments:
Hi hunny,
Just wanted to say your place is looking beautiful. although have you got the same brickies we had??? OME we have just had the top 1/2 cleaned and well we discovered that the brickies have done one hell of a job and thats not meant as a good job.Our brickies have to come back to do quite a bit of fix up work cause they didn't read the plans right.
so i understand your heart break
Hugs
The Browns
Thanks Tarin. I hope your brick issues are fixed and everything works out OK. Mine most likely won't be fixed as it's pretty much standard practise, but I will still complain to my SS, particually about the crooked mortar, the infills above the front entrance doors and the half bricks under the sills on the front facade. That's just being lazy IMO.
Your house is looking fabulous too! I wonder who will move in first? ;-)
Those half bricks under the windows are just poor workmanship - brickies or builder ? I think the builder.
Was the original house design rendered? If it was, then those 1/2 bricks would have been covered with render. For face bricks, the builder hasn't changed the specs. They should have made the windows bigger to take this into account. Seriously bad form on hte part of the builder. I've seen this before on my brother's house. So I confimred with EB that I wasn't going to get the same 1/2 bricks. Luckily EB knew what they were doing in this instance & we got full bricks beneath all ground floor windows.
Sorry you have this issue, but good on you for thinking laterally & thinking of plants to hide the mistake.
Hi Southies, yes, all the display homes we saw in the Wilshire have been rendered, which is another reason why we didn't notice the infill above the stacker doors in the alfresco...
I've had a look around at some of the old houses (1950-1970's) in the area, and a lot of them have the half bricks too. The only thing that has changed is the design of the window sills. In the older houses, they tended to be much more prominant and tilted, so the half bricks are in shadow from the sill bricks and barely noticable. These days, the sill bricks seem to sit almost flush with the rest of the face brick, and not so tilted, so the half bricks stand out terribly.
Looking at the older homes front doors though, there is no infill above them, and the lintel sits right on top of the door frame and matches with a brick course.
The other problem is there are no other Guilford facades that we know of, so it was impossible to see one 'in the flesh' for this style home.
Maybe I should get the builder to pay for rendered mouldings around the 6 facade windows to hide them! ;-)
Hi Stormy, sorry to hear about your bricks/half bricks issues. I think we have half bricks under some windows (could possibly be on the front of the house) but I don't notice them anymore. I thought it was all do with with the placements of windows. Yep, the builder should drop the window down or up a bit.
Your blending looks great to me. I do try and look when you say too much or not enough of one colour! I think it looks pretty even :-)
Hmmmm, the gap about your front door. I'm guessing if they make it flush to the bricks and render over it then you won't even know it's there! Your doors are going to stand out beautifully against the render.
Happy that your windows got fixed up too.
Have you picked any destinations for your blind yet?
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