In latitudes where the winter temperature is prevailingly below
freezing, all material for mortar, including water, should be
heated. If this is done, the mortar will take its initial set
before it freezes and no damage will result. In extremely cold
weather, added precautions should be taken in case of footings by
protecting them with manure. The following suggestions will be
found useful for cold weather work.
When being laid the brick should be thoroughly dry; and if possible
warmed. No bricks with ice on them should be laid in the wall, and
cement or cement-lime mortar should be used to get quick setting.
For heating sand and gravel, a corrugated sheet metal culvert,
about 20 inches in diameter and about 10 feet long, may be used. A
wood fire is built in the ends of the pipe over which the sand and
gravel are piled. This easy and simple method will melt all frozen
lumps in the material and dry out the resulting moisture.
Where city water pressure is available, the water may be heated in
a coil attached to the main and large enough to have a fire built
in the center, a very simple and efficient method which any plumber
can easily install. Place a sheet-iron guard around the coil to
conserve the heat. This equipment proves very satisfactory, as it
warms the water as fast as it is drawn off through the hose. The
entire installation may be found on the market at a comparatively
small cost. Without such an arrangement the water may be heated in
an ordinary iron kettle over a wood fire. Water should never be
heated to the boiling point, as too high a temperature will injure
the setting properties of the mortar.
A temperature of about 165 degrees, or the same as generally
required for household uses, is best.
If the above conditions are met, brickwork may be continued
practically throughout the entire winter, except only so far as
the comfort of the workmen dictates. They will usually quit at
about 20 degrees above zero, depending somewhat upon other weather
conditions. If it is not too windy, they will work outside in a
lower temperature than when it is very windy. A shelter, however,
may very easily be constructed for the workmen by nailing a few 2"
× 4" scantlings upright to the scaffolding with another 2" × 4"
nailed along the top as a support for a tarpaulin. A salamander
behind this shelter will make it quite comfortable for the workmen
as well as help the mortar to set. As the use of wood in the
salamander makes a too intense and irregular heat, besides giving
off more or less smoke, coke is recommended. The amount of coke
required on an ordinary job is so small as to be almost negligible.
The wall at any one point should not be carried very high in one
day. It is better to work around the entire building a few feet at
a time rather than to work on one side and carry the wall six or
more feet high. Walls thus erected are apt to get out of plumb from
the alternating effect of the night cold and the day sun.
As soon as the floor joists of any story are set in place and
floored, the window and door openings of the floor below should
be tightly closed, either by the permanent sash or by temporary
boarding or building paper, so that salamanders may be placed
inside to dry out the building thoroughly. Once a day the building
should be aired.
If the above suggestions are followed, there is no reason why
brickwork should not be continued through the average winter
months. The extra work accomplished during the usually dull season
is worth more to the contractor than the trouble he has taken or
the additional cost of labor.