Ten

Residential House, 95 Darcey Rd

The clay bricks in this house are, like all previous buildings, composed of in the stretcher bond. The joints are rake (offset of 10mm) and the bricks are a wide range of colours and textures. Some are smooth with certain parts glazed, while others are rough and slightly rounded at the edges, adding to the overall effect of age but with grace. Defects are hard to decipher whether it was intentional brick shape or if they have been chipped. As with the bricks, the mortar is inconsistent but might be the overall look the builders wanted to achieve. The bricks are clearly structural, and colours range from oranges to browns, deep reds to almost blacks. Most bricks are not monochrome either, thus each brick has varying colours. Half bricks at an angle have been used for the sills, and this is the first clay building out of then 10 to have a chimney (as there is only one other house). The chimney has raised bricks at the top and smoke discolouring can clearly be seen.

Nine

Church, 402 Old Northern Rd

This church is interesting as it has a mix of structural and non-structural brickwork. Concrete is used in the main formation such as the spire where the cross sits. It is also evident where the stairs in the middle of the image are, but the room on the right is pure masonry (I have entered it and inspected it) and thus this building is quite unique. The builders have used rake joints and stretcher bonds, with half bricks on top of the wall. They have also used the English bond with every second half brick missing, creating holes in the entry way (the middle left of the image). The bricks are shades and tints of cream and the bricks are weathered (this church is over 60 years old). Multiple weep holes are present yet have not created black ‘runs’ like in the shops of Terminus St.

Eight

School, 16 Brisbane Rd

This school, like the previous two buildings, is composed of non-structural clay bricks. The concrete supports it evident by the columns and floors (all concrete slabs). The Stretcher bond has been used and half bricks were employed for the sills and above the concrete slabs. The bricks are light brown, dark brown and dark red in colour, with the mortar being a creamy brown colour. The joints are iron rod raked and there are no cracks in the mortar. The bricks are all intact and have little to no problems such as chipping or discolouring.

Seven

Restaurant / Bar, Shops 1-2, 280 Old Northern Rd

This building also has clay bricks that are not used structurally. The concrete is its primary support and the bricks are used aesthetically. They are tan / cream coloured and the mortar is slightly darker. It has stretcher bonds with 3 circular arches. It is clear that these arches were at some point open and have been filled in with bricks at a later time. The arch on the right is composed of the bricks used on the rest of the building but it is obvious that the builders ran out of this colour and had to use lighter coloured bricks on the two left arches. It is also possible that the right arch was done at a much earlier time than the left two and it is only because of weathering that the rest of the bricks are darker, but the former reason is most likely. The only defect in this building is weathered bricks, and the mortar is 5 mm struck.

Six

Shopping facility, shops 8-16, 2 Terminus St

These shops are built with clay bricks that do not serve a structural purpose. The concrete columns illustrate this and thus the bricks are simply aesthetic. The bricks have large chips (see the bottom left bricks of the facade, the chips are quite noticeable even from distance) and multiple cracks in the mortar. A large crack can be seen running through the building from the middle of the brown fence line running diagonally up to the top of the building. This is most likely created by the lack of expansion joints in the building – as the building moves in expansion and contraction there is no chance of relieving the tension in these joints and thus the mortar cracks. The mortar is 10 mm offset and the bricks are a light cream / light brown colour. There is a discolouring at the top of the wall, most likely due to improper guttering. Oils and the like would run down the face of the masonry and blacken it (the roof is flat, needs proper guttering so the water does not run off the side).

Five

School, 14 Showground Rd

This school has stretcher bonds and iron rod raked joints. The bricks are structural which is highlighted by the brick columns. The bricks are shades of brown and red, most being smooth but some are rough in texture. There are some age defects such as weathering (see the base of the first column) in the bricks as well as the mortar which is slightly discoloured. The brick columns support a concrete balcony ¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬which has been discoloured by weathering and perhaps the gutters above as they get full. The second floor of the building was clearly built by bricks not of the same colour as the first floor. It is possible that the builders ran out of that specific type of brick halfway through the construction of the building and had to use one similar but not identical (the top bricks are more golden than those below). Half bricks can be seen along the top of the roof, and there are some openings in the brickwork just below the top of the building to allow power lines to enter the building.

Four

Church, 486 Old Northern Rd

This church has stretcher bonds with half bricks on the top of most walls. The bricks are a consistant light brown/ light cream colour. The bricks are structural and there is some weathering on the bricks. The mortar is flush and has no defects other than weathering. Most weathering on the bricks occurs outside its roofed area (the brickwork in the background) as one can see the darkened mortar on the half bricks at the roof line. Below the weep holes (an interesting three-hole design) there is some discolouring perhaps due to impurities in the cavity that run down and leak out when the wall gets moist. The church has an attractive, narrow window slit in its side (around the corner from the cross) which means the bricks to the left of the window would need to take all the load of the bricks above. It is interesting to note that none of the brick walls of the church are flat – each one has a gradient greater than 15 degrees.