CHOOSE THE RIGHT BRICKS FOR YOUR GARDEN WALL

Whatever the project, selecting bricks is one of the most important decisions you’ll face as it is not something you can readily change. The colour, size, texture and bond will all need some serious consideration to make sure you get the aesthetics right. To get you started, we’ve put together a few pointers to help you narrow down the options.

Clay Bricks
Best for those on a budget

Clay bricks are a type of brick that offers a cost-effective and sustainable option with little to no maintenance required. You can also choose cement and lime as materials should you wish.

Extruded or Wire-Cut Clay Bricks
Best for a smooth finish

If you’re looking for a smooth finish then an extruded or wire-cut clay brick could be a good choice. The clay is extruded (pushed out) into a column. The column of clay is then wire-cut and, to keep it smooth, isn’t modified before drying and firing in the kiln. This is a more modern method of brick making. Extruded bricks tend to characteristically have holes in the bed - these means less energy is required for drying and the bricks are lighter so easier to handle.

Soft Mud Bricks
Best for an earthy, textured finish

Soft mud bricks are made by dropping the clay into sand-coated moulds, which produce a sanded face with slight creases. This was originally done by hand but is now generally a machine-made process.

Handmade Bricks
Best for an authentic look and building in conservation areas

If you want to match existing bricks or you’re building in a conservation area for example, handmade bricks provide an authentic look.

The clay is rolled in sand then ‘thrown’ skilfully by hand into a mould. Handmade varieties offer more flexibility as they can be made up as standard or nonstandard sized bricks, creating and instantly characterful and charming look.

Handmade bricks have a rougher, open texture and feature an attractive creased face. You can also achieve a more bespoke look with a range of colours as well as sizes — but this is reflected in the price and they cost around four times as much as machine-made.

Reclaimed Bricks
Best for replicating an original building

If you’re looking to replicate the look of a building or need to due to a planning condition.
Reclamation yards are a good source of second-hand bricks but getting the quantity and quality can be difficult. Wastage can be high and you may need to discard a few.

Concrete Bricks
Best for being resistant to the elements

Concrete has a tough, hard surface which is extremely resistant to every day impacts and abrasion. It is also rot proof, fungus proof and mildew resistant. Some say it can last up to 2000 years! It also goes on getting even stronger for hundreds of years after it is cast.

Concrete bricks are resistant to rain penetration - and can endure extreme temperatures and many, many winters of freeze/thaw cycles. It’s also fireproof – it doesn’t catch fire and does not melt.

How much do different types of brick cost?

The cheapest types of facing bricks are wire-cut and are between £250 per 1,000 and £400/1,000, while distinctive handmade bricks are upwards of £600 per 1,000. To calculate how many metric-sized bricks you need, the standard method is to work out the size of the facing walls in square metres and multiply by 60 (the standard number of bricks per metre square of stretcher bond brickwork).

Types of decorative garden wall

You can build a garden wall from bricks, natural stone or reconstituted stone. There's a wide range of reconstituted stone on the market, made from concrete blocks that are finished and coloured to look like stone.

Brick walls

Bricks are the cheapest material and come in a range of colours, depending on the type of clay they're made from and the manufacturing process. They can also be multi-coloured or mottled, and have a rough or smooth texture. Second-hand bricks often have a weathered look that blends in with old house walls, but they're not cheap - and there's usually no way of telling if they're frost-resistant.

Natural stone walls

You can buy natural stone from quarries or reclamation yards, but it's very expensive. The stone you buy in its natural state is called random rubble or undressed stone. Semi-dressed stone is cut into fairly uniform blocks with uneven surfaces, while fully-dressed stone with machine-cut faces is called Ashlar. The wall shown here is built with semi-dressed stone.

Semi-dry stone walls

A genuine dry-stone wall is built from stones that are carefully chosen so they're perfectly stable without needing mortar to bind them together. This wall is a semi-dry stone wall. It looks like a true dry-stone wall, but has hidden mortar joints.

Dry-stone effect walls

These walls are made from reconstituted stone blocks that let you create the look of a dry-stone wall at a fraction of the cost of the real thing.

How to cut bricks

To build any kind of brick wall, you'll need to get the hang of cutting bricks. But although it's not quite as easy as a professional bricklayer makes it look, you shouldn't find it too hard to master.

Step 1
Measure the brick with a ruler, and mark the cutting line on all four sides with a pencil. Tap a bolster gently with a club hammer to score along the cutting line, all the way around the brick.

Step 2
Then lay it - indentation (or 'frog') side down - on grass or sand, and hit the bolster firmly to cut right through it. Make sure you always wear safety goggles when you're cutting bricks or blocks.

Mortar and mortar additives

Mortar is what sticks the bricks or stones together in a wall. General purpose mortars are a mixture of soft sand, lime, cement and water; or soft sand, cement, plasticiser and water. Hydrated lime is added to mortar to slow down the drying process, which stops it from cracking. It also makes the mortar easier to use.

Plasticisers and frost-proofers create small air pockets in the mix, making it smoother. These are used as a substitute for lime in colder conditions. Frost-proofer gives some protection against freezing, but only in the case of slight frosts - so it's best not to build your garden wall in freezing conditions.

Always follow the manufacturer's instructions when you add plasticisers to the mix, as too much will make your mortar too weak.

Some masonry cements have plasticiser already mixed with them. You can also get bags of mortar that come ready-mixed to the correct proportions. Although they're more expensive, they do come in handy for smaller jobs. And if you want to, you can buy different coloured mortars to match different walling materials.