Perception of the hardness of brick is often at variance with reality

Listen to any DIY man and he will tell you about the extraordinary
hardness of the bricks that make up his house. If you were to take these
complaints at face value you would believe that most British houses were
made from bricks that were second only to diamond on the Mohs scale.
"You're going to drill right through the wall? You'll have a right job!
These bricks are very hard! Very very hard! Hardest bricks there is!
Don't ask me why they used such hard bricks!"

This belief stems from the use of non-SDS electric drills that have only
a ratchet hammer action. Such drills are very inefficient when drilling
masonry.

It is more comfortable to claim that the bricks are exceptional than to
accept that the drill, and by extension yourself, are inadequate. Who
wants to go into the house and tell the wife that his tool isn't up to
the job? Thus the myth of hard bricks persists.

Bill

On Tue, 28 Aug 2012 04:23:32 +0100, Bill Wright
wrote:

Listen to any DIY man and he will tell you about the extraordinary
hardness of the bricks that make up his house. If you were to take these
complaints at face value you would believe that most British houses were
made from bricks that were second only to diamond on the Mohs scale.
"You're going to drill right through the wall? You'll have a right job!
These bricks are very hard! Very very hard! Hardest bricks there is!
Don't ask me why they used such hard bricks!"

This belief stems from the use of non-SDS electric drills that have only
a ratchet hammer action. Such drills are very inefficient when drilling
masonry.

It is more comfortable to claim that the bricks are exceptional than to
accept that the drill, and by extension yourself, are inadequate. Who
wants to go into the house and tell the wife that his tool isn't up to
the job? Thus the myth of hard bricks persists.

Bill

By that logic brick must have got softer some time in 1975 when "Steck
Dreh Sitz"* drills became available.

*In the absence of JGM, I have promoted myself to Chief Googler.

--
Graham.
%Profound_observation%

On 28/08/2012 04:23, Bill Wright wrote:
Listen to any DIY man and he will tell you about the extraordinary
hardness of the bricks that make up his house. If you were to take these
complaints at face value you would believe that most British houses were
made from bricks that were second only to diamond on the Mohs scale.
"You're going to drill right through the wall? You'll have a right job!
These bricks are very hard! Very very hard! Hardest bricks there is!
Don't ask me why they used such hard bricks!"

This belief stems from the use of non-SDS electric drills that have only
a ratchet hammer action. Such drills are very inefficient when drilling
masonry.

It is more comfortable to claim that the bricks are exceptional than to
accept that the drill, and by extension yourself, are inadequate. Who
wants to go into the house and tell the wife that his tool isn't up to
the job?

The person who wants to justify the purchase of a shiny new toy to the
Mrs. ;-)

Thus the myth of hard bricks persists.

Indeed...

(although I was cutting some solid blue engineering bricks in half the
other day, and the diamond disk on the 9" grinder was glowing red hot at
times! That actually took some doing, when normally it would laugh in
the face of a normal brick).


--
Cheers,

John.

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On 28/08/2012 17:01, John Rumm wrote:
On 28/08/2012 04:23, Bill Wright wrote:
Listen to any DIY man and he will tell you about the extraordinary
hardness of the bricks that make up his house. If you were to take these
complaints at face value you would believe that most British houses were
made from bricks that were second only to diamond on the Mohs scale.
"You're going to drill right through the wall? You'll have a right job!
These bricks are very hard! Very very hard! Hardest bricks there is!
Don't ask me why they used such hard bricks!"

This belief stems from the use of non-SDS electric drills that have only
a ratchet hammer action. Such drills are very inefficient when drilling
masonry.

It is more comfortable to claim that the bricks are exceptional than to
accept that the drill, and by extension yourself, are inadequate. Who
wants to go into the house and tell the wife that his tool isn't up to
the job?

The person who wants to justify the purchase of a shiny new toy to the
Mrs. ;-)

Thus the myth of hard bricks persists.

Indeed...

(although I was cutting some solid blue engineering bricks in half the
other day, and the diamond disk on the 9" grinder was glowing red hot at
times! That actually took some doing, when normally it would laugh in
the face of a normal brick).


There is a small group of houses in Brompton, very close to the dockyard
which were built by (or on behalf of) the RN.

They are cement rendered engineering bricks. I frequently get called
out to hang pictures, TV's, mirrors etc because a normal masonry drill
has no effect whatsoever - apart from eventually glowing red.



--
Dave - The Medway Handyman www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

On Aug 28, 4:23*am, Bill Wright wrote:
Listen to any DIY man and he will tell you about the extraordinary
hardness of the bricks that make up his house.

Not me. Our last house was built entirely from engineering bricks (it
was a temporary foray into house building by a company - Websters -
who usually built commercial premises) and they genuinely were very
hard. Our current house is the opposite extreme, soft red bricks that
almost seem to visibly erode in the wind!

Thus the myth of hard bricks persists.

Bricks are very variable. Sweeping generalisations are not helpful,
either about bricks or about DIYers!

Richard.
http://www.rtrussell.co.uk/

On Tue, 28 Aug 2012 17:46:34 +0200, Martin wrote:

*In the absence of JGM, I have promoted myself to Chief Googler.

Will you be entering the irritating tosser of the year award too?

There's no point. Jerry wins that every year without fail.

On 28/08/2012 04:23, Bill Wright wrote:
Listen to any DIY man and he will tell you about the extraordinary
hardness of the bricks that make up his house.

Coincidentally this weekend I was drilling a couple of holes into the
wall of my son's place. Unfortunately I hadn't brought my drill with
me. Luckily in the bottom of my toolbag was an old rawldrill set my
grandfather left me - it seemed to work just fine. (though only two holes!)

Andy

Martin wrote:


Does Mrs Wright believe you when you claim that your tool can
penetrate deep into the cavity?

Any drill can penetrate a cavity.

Bill

On 28/08/2012 17:36, The Medway Handyman wrote:
On 28/08/2012 17:01, John Rumm wrote:
On 28/08/2012 04:23, Bill Wright wrote:
Listen to any DIY man and he will tell you about the extraordinary
hardness of the bricks that make up his house. If you were to take these
complaints at face value you would believe that most British houses were
made from bricks that were second only to diamond on the Mohs scale.
"You're going to drill right through the wall? You'll have a right job!
These bricks are very hard! Very very hard! Hardest bricks there is!
Don't ask me why they used such hard bricks!"

This belief stems from the use of non-SDS electric drills that have only
a ratchet hammer action. Such drills are very inefficient when drilling
masonry.

It is more comfortable to claim that the bricks are exceptional than to
accept that the drill, and by extension yourself, are inadequate. Who
wants to go into the house and tell the wife that his tool isn't up to
the job?

The person who wants to justify the purchase of a shiny new toy to the
Mrs. ;-)

Thus the myth of hard bricks persists.

Indeed...

(although I was cutting some solid blue engineering bricks in half the
other day, and the diamond disk on the 9" grinder was glowing red hot at
times! That actually took some doing, when normally it would laugh in
the face of a normal brick).


There is a small group of houses in Brompton, very close to the dockyard
which were built by (or on behalf of) the RN.

They are cement rendered engineering bricks. I frequently get called
out to hang pictures, TV's, mirrors etc because a normal masonry drill
has no effect whatsoever - apart from eventually glowing red.

When we eventually move, the next residents may find the walls of our
conservatory a bit hard to drill through if they want to put a cable in.
The closest visual match to the back of our house was an engineering brick.

SteveW

In message , Andy Champ
writes
On 28/08/2012 04:23, Bill Wright wrote:
Listen to any DIY man and he will tell you about the extraordinary
hardness of the bricks that make up his house.

Coincidentally this weekend I was drilling a couple of holes into the
wall of my son's place. Unfortunately I hadn't brought my drill with
me. Luckily in the bottom of my toolbag was an old rawldrill set my
grandfather left me - it seemed to work just fine. (though only two
holes!)

As a just transferred 11 year old, the height of fun on a winter
mornings break was boring holes in the practical centre red brick walls
with a copper penny.

A year later it was cotton reel tanks! Anyone remember those?

regards

--
Tim Lamb