Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Chapter 12 Laying Brick 235 Trade Tip When laying the first brick, leave a small space between the brick and the line. If the brick touches the line at any location between the two leads, the straightness of the wall will be affected. Maintain a uniform amount of space between the brick and line to lay the brick consistently. are too high, tap them down as they are leveled. If they are too low, remove them and add more mortar before leveling. 10. Repeat the sequence until the corner is built. See Figure 12-35. 11. Straight-edge the rack of the lead (the brick alignment at the tail end of the courses on the lead), as shown in Figure 12-36, to eliminate any wind, belly, or cave- in in the wall. The rack refers to the “steps” formed by the last brick in each course. If the rule rests on each of them, the spacing is proper. 12. Lay the second corner of the wall following the same procedure used for the first. See Figure 12-37. 13. Stretch the mason’s line between the corners at the top of the first course. See Figure 12-38. Secure the line with line pins or corner blocks. Pull the line taut enough that it is straight and level. Be sure to use the same amount of tension each time. Trade Tip Wind refers to twisting of brick, belly is the bowing out of brick, and cave-in is the bowing in of brick. Author’s image taken at Job Corps, Denison, IA Figure 12-35. The completed right corner lead. The two corner leads will be used together as guides for the rest of the wall. Author’s image taken at Job Corps, Denison, IA Figure 12-36. The rack of the corner lead is straight-edged to check for proper spacing of the brick, as well as wind, belly, or cave-in in the wall. Continued Author’s images taken at Job Corps, Denison, IA Figure 12-37. Begin the second corner lead by using the same procedure performed in first corner lead. A B C