With common bricks of ordinary size in masonry walls, six bricks will usually be required per square foot of wall surface for each width of brick in the thickness of the wall. For ordinary pressed-brick fronts, 6 to 62 bricks are required per square foot of actual wall sur face. In average building construction, deductions for openings will reduce the number by about one-third of those required for solid wall.
Mortar Iiequired.—For ordinary building construction with to joints, 0.5 to 0.6 cubic yard of mortar is required per 1000 bricks. This needs for 1 to 3 Portland cement mortar, about 1.5 barrels of cement and 0.6 cubic yard of sand; for lime mortar about 200 pounds (2, bushels) of lime and 0.6 cubic yard of sand.
In heavy masonry with joints to $ inch, about 0.35 to 0.40 cubic yard of mortar per cubic yard of masonry, or approximately one barrel of cement and 0.4 cubic yard of sand for 1 to 3 Portland cement mortar.
Labor of Laying Bricks.—A bricklayer on ordinary work may lay from about 125 to 175 common bricks per hour, according to the skill of the workman and the organization of the work. He
should place somewhat less than half as many face bricks. The number of bricks laid may be somewhat less with cement mortar than with lime mortar. On thin walls, with careful work, one helper may be needed for two bricklayers. On common brickwork, in building construction, one helper may he needed for each mason.
In recent work with masons at 60 to 70 cents per hour, helpers at 30 to 35 cents per hour, lime at 40 to 50 cents per bushel, the cost of laying common bricks in the walls of buildings has run from 85 to SS per 1000 bricks. Costs for scaffolding, for machinery and labor in erection of brickwork necessarily vary materially with the conditions under which the work must be clone.
At prices which have existed since the World War, these figures would be largely increased. Costs have varied widely in different localities and are now very unstable.