Building a Brick Wall from Start To Finish
A brick wall built from the first course to the finished top, filmed by Stu. What the stages of a wall are and what a homeowner should expect to see on site.
This is the one to watch if you want to see a whole wall come together in ten minutes. Stu builds a brick wall from the first course to the finished top, and the video follows the job in order rather than picking out one technique.
The stages are the ones every wall goes through. Setting out on the footing so the wall is where it should be and the first course is level. Building the corners or ends up first, because they’re what the line is pulled between. Running the courses in between to the line, checking gauge and level as the wall rises. Keeping the bond staggered. Then the top: finishing the wall so it sheds water, and pointing up the joints while the mortar is still workable so the face is clean and even.
Watching the whole thing is useful because it shows how much of a good wall is preparation and checking, not just laying bricks. The bricks go on quickly once the corners are right.
Who this is for: homeowners about to have a wall built who want to know what a proper job looks like at each stage, and beginners who want to see how the techniques from the tutorial videos fit together on a real job.
What a homeowner should expect from a good job: a wall built off a proper concrete footing, corners plumb, courses level end to end, the bond staggered with no straight joints, joints an even thickness and cleanly finished, and a top that’s level and finished to throw water off. The mortar should be brushed off the face when it’s done, not smeared. If the bricklayer built the ends first and worked to a line between them, you’ll see it in the finished wall.
