Re: [BlindHandyMan] Questions About Brick Planters
OK, You will probably have pretty deep frost. You will want a good base of stone. some people like to lay scape fabric under the stone base. I have never done that, I suppose it depends a little on how long you expect the thing to stand. So far my two big walls have been there about 20 years standing on stone directly on clay. If I was Han Solo I'd probably pet my wookie - Original Message - From: Bill Gallik To: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com Sent: Thursday, February 18, 2010 9:44 PM Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] Questions About Brick Planters Dale, This is good information, and I live on the other end of the Great Lakes -- Superior, Wisconsin. We're right next to Duluth, Minnesota and this region refers to themselves as "The Twin Ports" and "The Head of the Lakes." Holland's Person, Bill - "Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint." - US Humorist, Mark Twain (1835 - 1910) [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: [BlindHandyMan] Questions About Brick Planters
Dale, This is good information, and I live on the other end of the Great Lakes -- Superior, Wisconsin. We're right next to Duluth, Minnesota and this region refers to themselves as "The Twin Ports" and "The Head of the Lakes." Holland's Person, Bill - "Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint." - US Humorist, Mark Twain (1835 - 1910) [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: [BlindHandyMan] Questions About Brick Planters
I would consider outside dimensions of 4 by 11 or even a little smaller. Reaching across a space more than three feet gets uncomfortable when gardening so the inside dimension might be just about spot on depending on the material used. I have been using something called Royal Gray, there are several variations on this material but essentially it is bricks with a lip hanging down along the back. The ones I have been using last year are about 5 and a half high by 8 by 8. Each sits back half an inch on the row above. You can stick them down with adhesive, for your application I think I would only stick down the top row. You will want probably 5 rows or courses for your purposes. At 4 feet you only have a short distance between the house and the planter but it is enough to scoot behind to paint the lower courses of the siding and it keeps moisture away from the building. I don't know where you live so don't know anything about depth of frost but one of the nice things about friction fitting block like that is that it should sustain some movement without disintegration. You shouldn't need more than 4 to 6 inches of pea gravel as a foundation. I would consider digging out the surface, you can keep the soil to fill the planter and I would go right from the house to the sidewalk and a foot beyond each end if practical. I think, because I don't know about the house foundation that I would slope the bottom of the excavation away from the building so it is deeper at the sidewalk edge just to encourage any drainage away from the building. Then fill with pea gravel or crushed rock preferably washed and quite clean. Pack it as well as you can, if you don't have easy access to a vibrating compactor then rake it over a lot as you slowly fill in the stone so it compacts as good as you can get it. then screed it off as level as you can get it. If you have it really flat then you should be able to just pull strings or even lay down reasonably straight boards to line up your bricks. Then just lay your stones to the desired height. You can buy capstones to pretty up the top course and you can usually buy various corner stones if you prefer to end each course against a pillar these are all attractive additions. on finishing the penultimate course I would recommend that you line the inside with land scape fabric. Bring it just over the inside top lip of the planter and stick it gently with adhesive then lay your cap course stuck down with adhesive to hold the fabric in place. this will allow some moisture to pass through but discourage silt and such from staining the bricks and keep stuff from growing up from below. Then fill up with soil and away you go. Because your foundation gravel is broader than the base of the planter, excessive water can drain under the walls and evaporate outside relieving any hydraulic pressure on the stone work. I can assure you from experience that laying, packing and leveling your base is key and well worth the extra time and effort it takes. Small errors amplify as you ascend. If you are going to mortar bricks all the same applies except that you should probably pour a cement footing first. You should also lay a damp course about the second course up particularly if these are the standard clay bricks and you should drive stakes just beyond the corners so you can pull tight masons string to level and to guide subsequent courses level. You can make small adjustments to height and level by tapping mortared bricks and depending on how fast you can lay them, I am not skilled enough to go very fast, you will have to point the joints after which you don't wish to be adjusting the bricks for level. Small irregularities can be adjusted for with the thickness of the mortar and invisible to the eye so long as you don't allow them to accumulate. 8 inch cement breeze block is heavy rude stuff but goes up fairly well too. If mortaring cement breeze block though you probably want a good poured footing too. I have a situation where ground movement sometimes caused the mortar to fail but as often the joint held and the block broke. If a frost line goes any distance down it will crack. Dan used those breeze like blocks but with dowels to hold them together. They are somewhat forgiving and don't use mortar but soil will migrate through the seams unless they are well stuck down with adhesive and preferably backed with land scape fabric. There, now I think you know probably everything I know about masonry construction. If I was Han Solo I'd probably pet my wookie - Original Message - From: Bill Gallik To: Blind Handyman Sent: Thursday, February 18, 2010 8:20 AM Subject: [BlindHandyMan] Questions About Brick Planters OK Guys (and Gals), I'm planning to build a brick planter in front of my home this spring and have a few questions. First, let me explain that my home has a 10 square foot addition in front that comprises t
Re: [BlindHandyMan] Questions About Brick Planters
Tom, Let me assure you that I didn't intend to make the house wall part of the planter, but rather build a completely, four-sided brick planter. I do like the idea of having a narrow stone path between the house and planter. Thanks to all of you for your input, some things came up I hadn't thought about at all. Holland's Person, Bill - "Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint." - US Humorist, Mark Twain (1835 - 1910) [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: [BlindHandyMan] Questions About Brick Planters
as you pointed out, those full measurements are going to cause a problem. On Thu, 18 Feb 2010, Blaine Deutscher wrote: > if your wanting to build a brick planter with bricks underneath then putting > rocks in the soil will help as it does in a pot to collect the water. if > you're just going to put the planter down with brick edging then you don't > need to worry about any drainage as the water will seap into the ground. One > thing to be careful with though with brick planters is that it draws the > water away because the bricks get hot from the sun. if you're wanting to > have the ability to paint the edge of the house that you want to put the > brick planter against you could awlas get rocks and put it there so that you > have a minny walking path to paint the edge of the house. This way though > you won't have the full measurements that you wanted to cover for a brick > planter. > > Blaine > - Original Message - > From: Bill Gallik > To: Blind Handyman > Sent: Thursday, February 18, 2010 7:20 AM > Subject: [BlindHandyMan] Questions About Brick Planters > > > > OK Guys (and Gals), > > I'm planning to build a brick planter in front of my home this spring and > have a few questions. First, let me explain that my home has a 10 square > foot addition in front that comprises the dining room. This addition sits on > a concrete foundation that comes up about 1 foot and the addition itself > extends out in front of the rest of the house 11 feet or so and is likewise > about 11 feet wide. The sidewalk parallels the southern-most outside wall > about 5 feet away; this is where I'd like to put the brick planter. In > short, I have about an 11' by 5' area between the house and sidewalk that I > would like to "cover" with a brick planter. Here are my questions: > > 1) The foundation rises about 1 foot above ground and I'd like to build a > planter at least 2 feet high; what should I be aware of/concerned about > where the back wall of the planter would be against or near this foundation > and siding? > > 2) If I build the planter right next to the house, what do I need to think > about so far as maintaining the integrity of the wood siding on that wall? I > guess what I want to know is how would I be able to paint that lower tier of > siding from time to time? > > 3) Would I need to line the inside of the planter with some type of water > proof material? > > 4) What about drainage from the planter? > > 5) What type of foundation do I need to think about for the planter? > > 6) Is it practical or even aesthetically attractive to build a planter right > out to the sidewalk? > > I should say that I'd like this planter to serve as a "guide" for > snowblowing that part of the sidewalk during the winter so having the > planter foundation right against the sidewalk is one of my design > intentions. I like to place 4" ? 4" treated lumber along my sidewalk edges > (at least one side) to serve as a "boundary" for the snowblower; it makes > for a much neater, straighter resulting path through the snow as well as > eliminating "drift" onto the lawn. > > Any thoughts, suggestions and warnings will be much appreciated.\ > > Thanks! > > Holland's Person, Bill > - "Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint." > - US Humorist, Mark Twain (1835 - 1910) > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > >
Re: [BlindHandyMan] Questions About Brick Planters
I wasn't clear if you'd planned on the planter actually having its back edge being the wall of the house. If so, it's a really bad idea as soil against a wall not designed for it is a highway for water, mold, bugs etc. You'll need a brick back wall with some seperation between the brick and the house. There may well be building code issues both front and back. Tom fowle
Re: [BlindHandyMan] Questions About Brick Planters
Watch out for local building codes. Some of them have a limit as to how close a structure can be to the sidewalk. Regards. Max. K 4 O D S. Email: m...@maxsmusicplace.com Transistor site http://www.funwithtransistors.net Vacuum tube site: http://www.funwithtubes.net Music site: http://www.maxsmusicplace.com To subscribe to the fun with transistors group send an email to. funwithtransistors-subscr...@yahoogroups.com To subscribe to the fun with tubes group send an email to, funwithtubes-subscr...@yahoogroups.com - Original Message - From: "Bill Gallik" To: "Blind Handyman" Sent: Thursday, February 18, 2010 7:20 AM Subject: [BlindHandyMan] Questions About Brick Planters OK Guys (and Gals), I'm planning to build a brick planter in front of my home this spring and have a few questions. First, let me explain that my home has a 10 square foot addition in front that comprises the dining room. This addition sits on a concrete foundation that comes up about 1 foot and the addition itself extends out in front of the rest of the house 11 feet or so and is likewise about 11 feet wide. The sidewalk parallels the southern-most outside wall about 5 feet away; this is where I'd like to put the brick planter. In short, I have about an 11' by 5' area between the house and sidewalk that I would like to "cover" with a brick planter. Here are my questions: 1) The foundation rises about 1 foot above ground and I'd like to build a planter at least 2 feet high; what should I be aware of/concerned about where the back wall of the planter would be against or near this foundation and siding? 2) If I build the planter right next to the house, what do I need to think about so far as maintaining the integrity of the wood siding on that wall? I guess what I want to know is how would I be able to paint that lower tier of siding from time to time? 3) Would I need to line the inside of the planter with some type of water proof material? 4) What about drainage from the planter? 5) What type of foundation do I need to think about for the planter? 6) Is it practical or even aesthetically attractive to build a planter right out to the sidewalk? I should say that I'd like this planter to serve as a "guide" for snowblowing that part of the sidewalk during the winter so having the planter foundation right against the sidewalk is one of my design intentions. I like to place 4" × 4" treated lumber along my sidewalk edges (at least one side) to serve as a "boundary" for the snowblower; it makes for a much neater, straighter resulting path through the snow as well as eliminating "drift" onto the lawn. Any thoughts, suggestions and warnings will be much appreciated.\ Thanks! Holland's Person, Bill - "Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint." - US Humorist, Mark Twain (1835 - 1910) [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Send any questions regarding list management to: blindhandyman-ow...@yahoogroups.com To listen to the show archives go to link http://www.acbradio.org/pweb/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=33&MMN_position=47:29 Or ftp://ftp.acbradio.org/acbradio-archives/handyman/ The Pod Cast address for the Blind Handy Man Show is. http://www.acbradio.org/news/xml/podcast.php?pgm=saturday Visit The Blind Handy Man Files Page To Review Contributions From Various List Members At The Following address: http://www.jaws-users.com/JAWS/handyman/ Visit the archives page at the following address http://www.mail-archive.com/blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com/ If you would like to join the JAWS Users List, then visit the following address for more information: http://www.jaws-users.com/ For a complete list of email commands pertaining to the Blind Handy Man list just send a blank message to: blindhandyman-h...@yahoogroups.comyahoo! Groups Links No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.435 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2693 - Release Date: 02/17/10 07:35:00
Re: [BlindHandyMan] Questions About Brick Planters
oh he'll be the new governer of California is all. hahaha. Blaine - Original Message - From: Dan Rossi To: Blind Handyman Sent: Thursday, February 18, 2010 8:12 AM Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] Questions About Brick Planters Bill, Just a gut feeling here, but if you are talking about essentially burying one foot of the wall of your house, and it was not designed to be subterranian, you might be asking for some trouble. Possibly if you build the brick wall close to the house, but not up against it, so that there can be some air flow there, you will avoid many issues. Two feet is not terribly high, so you can easily get away with landscaping blocks and avoid having to use mortar. Drainage is always an issue and you will want to look at this carefully. you should have gravel on the inside of all the walls of the planter, and maybe some drainage tube to carry the water away from the house. Around where I live, there are many houses that have retaining walls right at the edge of the sidewalk so I think it is visually acceptable in many places. If you are building a wall that is essentially 11 X 5 X 2 you are going to be quite surprised at just how many landscaping blocks that is, and how heavy those suckers become after the first hundred. -- Blue skies. Dan Rossi Carnegie Mellon University. E-Mail: d...@andrew.cmu.edu Tel: (412) 268-9081 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: [BlindHandyMan] Questions About Brick Planters
Bill, Just a gut feeling here, but if you are talking about essentially burying one foot of the wall of your house, and it was not designed to be subterranian, you might be asking for some trouble. Possibly if you build the brick wall close to the house, but not up against it, so that there can be some air flow there, you will avoid many issues. Two feet is not terribly high, so you can easily get away with landscaping blocks and avoid having to use mortar. Drainage is always an issue and you will want to look at this carefully. you should have gravel on the inside of all the walls of the planter, and maybe some drainage tube to carry the water away from the house. Around where I live, there are many houses that have retaining walls right at the edge of the sidewalk so I think it is visually acceptable in many places. If you are building a wall that is essentially 11 X 5 X 2 you are going to be quite surprised at just how many landscaping blocks that is, and how heavy those suckers become after the first hundred. -- Blue skies. Dan Rossi Carnegie Mellon University. E-Mail: d...@andrew.cmu.edu Tel:(412) 268-9081
Re: [BlindHandyMan] Questions About Brick Planters
if your wanting to build a brick planter with bricks underneath then putting rocks in the soil will help as it does in a pot to collect the water. if you're just going to put the planter down with brick edging then you don't need to worry about any drainage as the water will seap into the ground. One thing to be careful with though with brick planters is that it draws the water away because the bricks get hot from the sun. if you're wanting to have the ability to paint the edge of the house that you want to put the brick planter against you could awlas get rocks and put it there so that you have a minny walking path to paint the edge of the house. This way though you won't have the full measurements that you wanted to cover for a brick planter. Blaine - Original Message - From: Bill Gallik To: Blind Handyman Sent: Thursday, February 18, 2010 7:20 AM Subject: [BlindHandyMan] Questions About Brick Planters OK Guys (and Gals), I'm planning to build a brick planter in front of my home this spring and have a few questions. First, let me explain that my home has a 10 square foot addition in front that comprises the dining room. This addition sits on a concrete foundation that comes up about 1 foot and the addition itself extends out in front of the rest of the house 11 feet or so and is likewise about 11 feet wide. The sidewalk parallels the southern-most outside wall about 5 feet away; this is where I'd like to put the brick planter. In short, I have about an 11' by 5' area between the house and sidewalk that I would like to "cover" with a brick planter. Here are my questions: 1) The foundation rises about 1 foot above ground and I'd like to build a planter at least 2 feet high; what should I be aware of/concerned about where the back wall of the planter would be against or near this foundation and siding? 2) If I build the planter right next to the house, what do I need to think about so far as maintaining the integrity of the wood siding on that wall? I guess what I want to know is how would I be able to paint that lower tier of siding from time to time? 3) Would I need to line the inside of the planter with some type of water proof material? 4) What about drainage from the planter? 5) What type of foundation do I need to think about for the planter? 6) Is it practical or even aesthetically attractive to build a planter right out to the sidewalk? I should say that I'd like this planter to serve as a "guide" for snowblowing that part of the sidewalk during the winter so having the planter foundation right against the sidewalk is one of my design intentions. I like to place 4" × 4" treated lumber along my sidewalk edges (at least one side) to serve as a "boundary" for the snowblower; it makes for a much neater, straighter resulting path through the snow as well as eliminating "drift" onto the lawn. Any thoughts, suggestions and warnings will be much appreciated.\ Thanks! Holland's Person, Bill - "Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint." - US Humorist, Mark Twain (1835 - 1910) [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
