WAJD Learning

On site trade skills · Beginner to competent DIY, and a grounding before formal training

Lay bricks properly

Mortar, setting out and bonding, taught with walls that build themselves on screen so you can see why the rules exist.

  • 2modules
  • 2.5CPD hours
  • 85guided minutes
  • Freealways

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About this course

Bricklaying looks like a knack you either have or you do not. It is not. It is a small number of rules about materials and geometry, and almost every bad wall in the country breaks one of about six of them.

This course teaches the two things that decide whether a wall lasts: the mortar, which most people get wrong by making it too strong, and the setting out, which decides everything that follows. The bonds animate on screen so you can see the load path rather than being told to trust the pattern.

It is written for someone building a garden wall, a planter or a small extension skin, and as an honest grounding for anyone thinking about formal trade training. It does not pretend to replace an NVQ, an apprenticeship or a structural engineer.

What you will be able to do

  • Choose and mix mortar appropriate to the brick and the exposure
  • Explain why mortar must be weaker than the brick it joins
  • Set out a wall to gauge and lay a correct stretcher bond
  • Use a line, level, plumb and gauge rod correctly
  • Work safely with cement and control silica dust when cutting

Modules

  1. 1 Mortar: the part that decides whether the wall lasts 40 min study · 4 min script · 4 question knowledge check
  2. 2 Setting out and bonding: getting the first course right 45 min study · 4 min script · 4 question knowledge check

Assessment and certificate

A knowledge check on each module and a final assessment at 80 per cent, unlimited attempts.

A free digital certificate with a verification code. It evidences knowledge only. It is not a trade qualification, not a CSCS card, and it does not qualify you to carry out structural or load bearing work.

Questions

Can I build a load bearing wall after this course?

No. Anything structural, load bearing, or above a certain height needs competent design and often building control approval. This course covers non structural work such as garden walls and planters, and gives you the grounding to judge work carried out for you.

Why is my Victorian house losing the faces of its bricks?

Almost always because it was repointed with a hard cement mortar. Soft handmade brick needs a soft, usually lime based mortar so the wall can move and dry out. Hard pointing traps moisture, it freezes, and the brick face blows off instead of the joint failing.

Is dry cutting bricks really that dangerous?

Yes. Dry cutting with a disc cutter releases very large quantities of respirable crystalline silica, which causes silicosis and lung cancer. Use water suppression or on tool extraction and appropriate respiratory protection every time.