Building New Brick Wall Pier Cap Design
Stu Crompton's most-watched video, over 11 million views. A brick pier cap he designed from scratch on the job, set out dry, with curves cut one by one to a template.
This is the most-watched video on the channel, and there’s no talking in it, just music over the build. Stu designed this pier cap from scratch, by himself, making it up as he went.
He set the bricks out first to see how the pattern would work, and when he got to the cap he decided to put curves into it. Getting those curves to sit right took a while. Once the setting out was right, a template was made and every curved piece was cut carefully to it, so each one matches the next. Once it was all laid, it was pointed using a black colour dye in the mortar, and finished with a stone centrepiece cut into the curves.
Read the full story: Stu explains how he came up with the design, and shares more of his pier cap ideas, in Brick pier cap designs: how I came up with my most-watched one.
What a homeowner should expect from a good job: piers plumb and the same height as each other, caps level with an even overhang all the way round, joints full and neatly finished, and a cap that throws water clear of the brickwork below. A feature cap like this takes far longer than a plain one because of the setting out and the cuts, so expect that time in the price.
