THE CONSTRUCTION OF FARM-BUILDINGS AND COTTAGES. 263 



tiling is to get the stones to overlap each other in the courses. The 

 stones should not move in their beds ; if they stir one bit on being tried, 

 the work is not well done. 



The dressing of stone is charged by the superficial foot, according to 

 the amount of dressing it receives. Window-sills and heads and copings 

 are charged by the lineal foot. All pavings and landings are charged by 

 the superficial foot. 



First-class walls can be made of brick, when the bricks are good, and 

 they are put together by a clever workman. The necessary thickness 

 for brick walls must vary with the height of the wall and the weight of 

 the roof. For low buildings the thickness will either be nine inches or 

 fourteen inches ; the former being what the bricklayer terms " a brick in 

 breadth," and the latter y a brick and a half in breadth." Where a nine- 

 inch brick wall may be thought too light to carry the trusses of the 

 roofs, then, instead of erecting a fourteen-inch wall throughout, it may 

 be sufficient to erect an eighteen-inch pillar, to bear each truss in the 

 roof. In a brick wall, those bricks which lie across the wall are called 

 " headers," and those which lie parallel with the line of wall are termed 

 " stretchers." Bricks are usually made nine inches long, four and a half 

 inches wide, and two and a half to three inches thick. To build a nine- 

 inch brick wall, it will take six hundred and sixty bricks to erect a rood 

 of seven square yards. There are two modes of erecting brick walls, 

 the one being that one course is laid throughout as headers that is, 

 across the line of wall and the next course is laid upon the headers 

 as stretchers, or parallel to the wall, and so on alternately, first across 

 and then lengthwise: this is termed the old English bond. Another 

 mode is to lay a course of headers and stretchers alternately, which is 

 termed the Flemish bond. For strength I prefer the old English bond. 

 The bricks should break the joints in the same way that the stone wall 

 does as already stated, and to do this it is necessary to commence each 

 alternate course of bricks with a half-brick. 



In building brick walls of any considerable height, it is judicious not 

 to build up too much at once, but to allow one portion to settle before 

 proceeding with the other. The mortar should not be put on too thick 

 between the courses of brick not more than half an inch. 



Large-sized bricks are now made, which enables a building to be 

 quickly erected, and there is also a saving in mortar. Grooved bricks 

 are also in use ; this secures a firmer adherence to each other in the 

 courses. 



Brickwork is measured and valued by the rod the price either to 

 include the labour only, or both labour and materials, when these are 

 furnished by the contractor. 



