The profession which Ricey Bob denied working in had been quiet lately. In times of recession, his finely-honed skills were seen as an unneccessary expense when a falling piano or an exploding telephone could be arranged for next to nothing. Time lay heavy on his hands as he waited for the next call, and waited, and waited.

Mrs. Bob, however, had plenty of jobs awaiting his attention. Foremost amongst these was the construction of a brick wall dividing the formal part of the garden from the more utilitarian kitchen garden.

Ricey Bob was no bricklayer, and had not looked forward to the task. Of course, he was familiar with cement, but that was a very different matter. Very different indeed, he thought, smiling to himself as he recalled a few of the interesting characters he had worked with, albeit briefly, over the years. Bouyant Barry - now, that had been a fun day....

The arrival of the delivery van snapped him out of his reverie, and he went to sign the delivery note and help the driver unload the heavy coils of material and lay them next to the palletts of bricks, followed by two boxes of Ends. Thank goodness, he thought, for Bricky-tape, and for those wonderful people at MaxConstruction.

After making himself a cup of strong, sweet tea and connecting the garden hose, Ricey Bob made a start on the job at hand. He removed the plastic wrapping from the first roll of Bricky-tape, revealing the large coil of half-inch thick, 3.5-inch wide grey foam rubber. As he unrolled a 25-foot length, it shed a small cloud of the dry cement and sand with which it had been heavily impregnated, but most of it remained trapped within. It was surprisingly heavy, and dragging it into position along the concrete foundation strip was a bit like handling a dead anaconda.

With the Bricky-tape in position, Ricey Bob filled his watering can and started to walk along the length of the soon-to-be wall, pouring on the recommended litre of water for each metre of Bricky-tape.

Now for the fun part. He laid the first brick squarely on the Bricky- tape at one end, and tapped it down gently with his mallet (his Special Mallet, as it happened - how times changed!). Reaching into the box, he picked up one of the Bricky-tape Ends - a neatly cut rectangle of the same Bricky-tape, of the same size and shape as the end of a brick. A quick dunk in a bucket of fresh water, and then he slapped it up against the end of the first brick. A second brick was then placed adjacent to the first, and two quick mallet-taps brought it soundly up against the Bricky-tape End and then bedded it down securely onto the tape beneath it. Another End, another brick, tap- tap...dunk, brick, tap-tap...dunk, brick, tap-tap. There was a simple satisfaction in this routine.

It took about six minutes to finish laying the first course of bricks. Already, the mortar in the Bricky-tape was beginning to set, and would soon be firm enough for him to start on the second course. By tea-time, Mrs. Bob would be impressed.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Apr 06 2009

http://findarticles...00802/ai_n24393867/ [2 fries shy of a happy meal, Apr 07 2009]

Bricky Tool http://www.drywall-...G3pkCFQJN5QoddgztVg
Mortar template for brick laying [oneoffdave, Apr 07 2009]

This is brilliant! Simple, but brilliant!
-- energy guy, Apr 06 2009


Bob the Builder - yes we can.
-- po, Apr 06 2009


I got sort of tired carrying...I mean reading the idea. However brickyboy sounds quite clever. And with roll out gardens etc there is probably a market.
-- blissmiss, Apr 06 2009


Very good. A varitaion of this [link] may help work out some of the bugs.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Apr 07 2009


Open cell foam, of course.
-- ConsulFlaminicus, Apr 07 2009


Instead of dragging the bricky-tape "like handling a dead anaconda" you need a large tape dispenser, on a little trolley so you can manoeuvre it into position.
-- hippo, Apr 07 2009


Nice - does anyone know how to build a vaulted ceiling from bricks? I've seen them in various London places and would love to know how they're built (guessing that there is initially a form on top of which the bricks are laid)
-- zen_tom, Apr 07 2009


Yes - I think usually you start with a wooden arch to support it, which you take away when all the bricks are in.
-- hippo, Apr 07 2009


whether you need a support ot not depends on the type of arch - some are built by 'edging out' every layer a bit more, those do not need support.
-- loonquawl, Apr 07 2009


I had a horrible sense of anticipation that this was going to be some construction trade version of toupee tape (aka "tit tape"), used to support builders' jeans in the most bum crack-revealing position, whilst maintaining the barest minimum standards of decency.
However, it isn't, and I'm happy to bun it.
-- coprocephalous, Apr 07 2009


How come this doesn't exist already? It's a great idea.
-- Nelipot, Apr 07 2009


Looks like it might ... see findarticles link. What a pity.
-- xenzag, Apr 07 2009


Hmmm. I think the first link refers to a sort of plaster- casting with concrete, but there's a similarity.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Apr 07 2009



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