[Closed] Rate my Brickie....

Its obviously been raining, i dont think the puddles are brickiee sweat.

Its obviously been raining, i dont think the puddles are brickiee sweat.

Overnight in both cases, but not during the day.

lol, this post should be fun, cup of tea anyone? 😉

Are you paying by the hour, or is it a fixed price job?

edit - looks really slow to me, even if he's doing his own labouring.

Are you paying by the hour, or is it a fixed price job?

By the day, my choice as so far everyone I've used previously has worked hard.

Please tell me he's not on day rate. 😀

EDIT: Oops.

Is he charging by the hour or for the job? If by the hour I' d have a word; we had a 4m x4m cavity walled single storey extension (2.7m celing height) go up in 2.5 days with 2 brickies working 7.30am til 3.30pm inc the usual tea, fags and lunch off site

By the day

West Coast Main Line? Judging by the overhead wire gantries?

No idea about the brickie!

To put his productivity into context, on commercial contracts we pay approx £14-16 per metre squared for blockwork. If he was on a meterage rate he would barely have paid for his breakfast today....

A good brickie(own mixing,etc) should be good for 3-400 bricks a day.

That is taking the micheal, he should be doing 5 times that in a day

1st day I can accept being slow sorting out levels / squareness etc, but I'm pretty unimpressed by today's progress.

I understand that a Brickie should do iro 600 bricks a day for an average job, up to 1000 for a simple job (ie no windows/doors, simple bond)

Looks like he's done you about 200 a day, but factor in the moving materials about - did that take 2/3 of the day?

I'm slow on the bricks.

But I'm a hell of a lot faster than that !

Day 1 - hard to say as don't know how level/square the slab is, or how much kit he had to shift and how far.

Day 2 - that looks like about an hours work at the most !

Hmm, will be having a discussion tomorrow am, today he's managed 30 bricks and maybe 40 blocks.

That's roughly as fast as I was, and I was figuring out how to do it as I went along.

On the plus side, your wall's less likely to fall down.

I shifted all materials onto site (bricks, blocks, sand, cement, DPC, Febmix), so all he had to bring was trowel and mixer.

oh come one, he's arranged some blocks in a line all at a jaunty angle on the left hand side. that will have taken some time.

Tell him how much you're prepared to pay for the whole job and see if he'll do it off that?

The total job is 600 blocks, 700 bricks, two openings with lintels. Site was pretty square (1" out in 8m) and about the same again in height.

oh come one, he's arranged some blocks in a line all at a jaunty angle on the left hand side. that will have taken some time.

I though they were bike stands for footflaps huge bike colllection 😉

oh come one, he's arranged some blocks in a line all at a jaunty angle on the left hand side. that will have taken some time.

Not just a jaunty angle. That's life size Domino Rally...

[img] [/img]

BTW, My BIL is a brickie. He reckons he's taking the piss.

Tell him how much you're prepared to pay for the whole job and see if he'll do it off that?

I might give him a day to make some progress or I'll find someone else. Weird thing is he's a neighbour's son (neighbour is a retired builder), so I was expecting some hard graft as ripping off your neighbours isn't the norm...

LOL @ day 2 progress!

Get a webcam installed and give us the URL 😉

Hmm, will be having a discussion tomorrow am, today he's managed 30 bricks and maybe 40 blocks.

So about 45 minutes to an hours work then.

Unless he tells you that he had to leave site at 9:30 and couldn't make it back (for a very good reason) then I would be telling him to **** off and be getting another brickie in.

So what's a fair price for 700 bricks, 600 blocks, two gable ends, 2 openings?

i would just explain to hom what you think is a days work and that if he cannot do it he should just leave as you are less than impressed

he may just be slow

i reckon I could do day 2 tbh and I have never even tried to lay bricks and probably quicker

i would just explain to hom what you think is a days work

I agree. Build it from wok.

[img] [/img]

He arrived at 8.30 and GF said he left at 4 (although she was out all day), so no idea if he was here all day.

approx £14-16 per metre squared for blockwork

OK 600 blocks = 60m2 = 60 * £15 = £900 so at £150/day = 6 days work

What's the m2 rate for bricks (imperial random size ones)?

He arrived at 8.30 and GF said he left at 4 (although she was out all day), so no idea if he was here all day.

If he was there all day, he must have needed to charge his iPhone at least twice !

That's a hell of a lot of Internet browsing !!

Footflaps can you just clarify your quants? 600 blocks? That's 60 sqm, where's all that lot going?
Also he's not a Brickie, I can tell that just by the way he's loaded out his gear and how he' set out.
Also bit of rubbish spouted up there! There ain't many Brickies who are labouring to themselves who'll lay a thousand a day on their own. If so most would be coming to work in porsche vans and having Fridays off!
Also wallop unless your in central London you are paying way over the odds! Average block prices to the baron at the mo £11 ish a metre, with the lads possibly getting £8.50, which makes his progress even worse to swallow to be fair!

looks like he had a long nap after his morning tea.. Did he bring his own hammock?

Building size is 8m x 4m, so ignoring openings, we have three walls of blocks 8+8+4 = 20m. 20m long x 2.6m high = 52m2 plus one gable end in blocks (another 4m2) = roughly 60m2 (with pillars every 2m).

Front wall is 4m high gable end, 4m wide with 1.8m x 2.0m door opening = 660 imperial bricks.

Also he's not a Brickie, I can tell that just by the way he's loaded out his gear and how he' set out.

If you mean the blocks stacked - that was me, I moved everything onto site and piled the blocks on the slab.

today he's managed 30 bricks and maybe 40 blocks

forget the chat tomorrow, sack him on the spot

No that's just how anyone would want them, you then would make individual stacks of say 20 with spot boards in between so you can feed of each pile as you run the line. Apologies re questioning your measure, I just took a quick look at the photo and didn't look anywhere near 8m in length.

Is this the base that was posted in jam bo's shed thread, and cost a gerzillion quid?

Did the same guy do it?

Apologies re questioning your measure,

You did make my pulse race, I though 'sh**, have I got it totally wrong and ordered way too much'!!!

secret trainspotter?

That's 10 bricks per hour.......
Ten!
Six minutes per brick......

My son could lay that. He's 2...

DrP

DrP - What's you son doing next week?

😉

Footflaps Had my garage roof tiled today...

Mines 9.5 x 3.5 with 3 lintels a mixture of bricks and blocks with a 9" internal wall, 9" wall at front and back and a reinforced retaining wall 12" on one side upto with 1200, roof is a mono pitch, max height is about 12' . Labour was £2100 for the base and brickwork. The base alone was 9 cube of concrete. The price included digging out of the base and drainage. Roofer is another £800.

It"s taken 3 weeks but the weather tbf has been mostly appalling. 😳

What are you paying?

best thread in ages. 🙂

saying that, a time laps video of the shed being built would have been quite cool too

Pre school wed and thurs, and he's tiling the neighbours roof the other days....

DrP

I'm paying £150/day for the brickie, which is generous, but this is Cambridge, so there is no recession and no shortage of building work, so prices haven't fallen at all in the last 5 years. The biggest problem is finding anyone free.

The biggest problem is finding anyone [b]competent who's[/b] free...

Good luck.

NB For the whole project I had quotes between £30k and £40k, hence I went down the DIY route as that was pretty insane. My father in law is a QS and priced it at £12-£15k depending on material choice / finish. E.g. to keep planning happy I'm using hand made imperial bricks for the front face.

Edit: I'm in a conservation area, so need planning to take a tree down or change the colour of my front door...

**** me!
Do you have a room to rent?
I'd even sleep in the shed if.....

Pre school wed and thurs, and he's tiling the neighbours roof the other days....
DrP

Think I just peed a bit 🙂

Pre school wed and thurs, and he's tiling the neighbours roof the other days....

DrP

Week after?

So, 30 bricks and 40 blocks for 150 quid.

[img] [/img]

Edit: I'm in a conservation area, so need planning to take a tree down or change the colour of my front door...

As an aside please keep an eye on how he bonds the pillars in down the main wall as that's a fair stretch for single skin, and the front elevation wants to be block bonded around the corner onto the main walls! Don't let him take the block work up straight nick then build the front separately!

**** me!
Do you have a room to rent?
I'd even sleep in the shed if.....

Sounds great until you realise that everything costs more here - it's a little central London driven bubble in the heart of East Anglia. Salaries are higher, but house prices, rent, food, tradespeople, transport, shops, all cost more....

Edit: I'm in a conservation area, so need planning to take a tree down or change the colour of my front door...

I did notice the nesting area of the 12:45 from Peterborough in the background.

As an aside please keep an eye on how he bonds the pillars in down the main wall as that's a fair stretch for single skin, and the front elevation wants to be block bonded around the corner onto the main walls! Don't let him take the block work up straight nick then build the front separately!

Butterfly ties in the piers. The Engineer specified one every 2m. As for the front, the imperial bricks don't line up well with the blocks so the plan is to use a metal frame thing bolted to a straight edge of blocks and fold down the ties at the right level for the brick mortar lines....

I did notice the nesting area of the 12:45 from Peterborough in the background.

Apparently we're an outstanding example of Victorian architecture / town planning which must be preserved for future generations. Basically means there are zero changes you can make without full planning inc removing trees / fences etc and any application can be refused on aesthetic grounds.

Personally I think it's quite a grotty area of town and could do with some major modernisation....

Imperials. Lovely!

Sack him!!!!!! **** me pal thats poor progress

A skydiver a brick 😯

Jesus 😳

Apparently we're an outstanding example of Victorian architecture / town planning

The galvanised rails, the electrified lines and that monstrosity opposite you that gives it all away as Victorian.

Yep, I was pretty gobsmacked we were made a Conservation area...

saying that, a time laps video of the shed being built would have been quite cool too

That's going to be one hell of a long video!

Yep, I was pretty gobsmacked we were made a Conservation area...

It's probably Number 88's bin. Defo looks Victorian.

[img] [/img]

I bet if it was a fixed price job he would have it done by the weekend.

At least Dick Turpin wore a mask. Ah Victorian England.

This is exactly what i was talking about in another post, get quotes first and use a tradesman who friends have used and come reccomended. And if you have to wait for a good lad its worth it, if they can start tomorrow just think why??? No work in due to what reason???

Wthell is going on with him, I do odd bit of dry stone walling as an intermediate st mason and can prep and put up quite well positioned imho stone quicker than what that scruff bag in the photo on orig post looka like if the info we are going on is factual which it no doubt is.

You need that short bald sexually stunted bloke off TV to come a knockin on his back door!

Lol!

I hope you're not planning on putting any bikes with fashionably wide bars in there. Doesn't look like they'll get through the door once the frame is fitted.

Note: there are villages around the Cambridge area for the peasants to live in (I.e. me)

🙂

footflaps - Member

The galvanised rails, the electrified lines and [b]that monstrosity opposite you[/b] that gives it all away as Victorian.

Yep, I was pretty gobsmacked we were made a Conservation area...

Posted 10 hours ago # Report-Post

Can't see an Orange five in the picture?

I was a plasterer; he is taking the piss with his progress, having said that,if you are paying day rates I will drive down and harl it for you

Is the doorway big enough to get everything in? looks small? May struggle if youve got any large equipment, fridges etc?

That block of block on the right of the street pic looks like its going to tople over?

toby1 - Member

Note: there are villages around the Cambridge area for the peasants to live in (I.e. me)

Those of us a few steps above peasant but several steps below Cambridge Mill Road's "unique independent character*" live in Ely...

*This means they’re not allowed a Sainsbury’s

Phone him on his mobile pretending to be another customer. Offer him a job starting next Monday, paying him £150 a day...

Is the doorway big enough to get everything in? looks small? May struggle if youve got any large equipment, fridges etc?

Doorway will be 1800mm, so plenty wide enough. Doorways go on top of two courses of bricks, the gap is to allow him to brush the water out as it's been pissing down all week here.

That block of block on the right of the street pic looks like its going to tople over?

Yes that was nicely position by the local builder's merchant - I had to brace it with wood before cutting the straps as it collapsed as soon as I did.

Still struggling to come to terms with the fact you're prepared to pay £15k for a bike shed, tbh 🙁

You could by lots of bikes for that.