Tried a herringbone pattern on a garden wall in Portland and it nearly fell over

I was building a 4-foot tall garden wall for a client in Portland last month and decided to try a herringbone pattern for the top course. Looked real nice going up but I didn't account for the expansion and contraction in the clay bricks. After two rainy days the whole top section started to bow out. Had to rip it all down and redo it with a running bond. Learned my lesson about patterns and drainage the hard way. Has anyone else had a pattern fail because of weather or material issues?

3 comments

3 Comments

susan_wright3410d ago

Oh man, that is rough! I gotta side with @murray.drew on the flexible mortar idea though. @logan_young29, do you think it's more about the brick quality or the mortar type when dealing with that expansion? I've seen people use a soft lime mortar for wet climates like Portland, seems to give the bricks room to breathe without buckling the whole wall.

murray.drew11d ago

Use a flexible mortar next time, helps with the wet clay issue.

logan_young2911d ago

Question whether it's really that big of a deal @murray.drew. Wet clay or not, mortar's gonna do what it's gonna do if the bricks aren't set right.