Expert: Richard Taylor, AIA - 3/9/2011

Question
I want to build an interior brick wall at right angles to a tiled bathroom wall. The shower curtain will rest behind it on one side and I may put a simple towel hook or two on the other side. The wall will be about 1.6 meters high and 0.5 meters long. Would a single-brick width suffice from bottom to top? Also, do I need to tie it in somehow to the tiled wall? This is my first attempt at doing anything with bricks, although I have done many other types of DIY job. Thanks.

Answer
Martin - thanks for your question!

One brick width (wythe) is probably structurally sound for what you're doing, but you should consider a double-wythe wall for a couple of reasons.

First, you'll have trouble striking the mortar joints on both sides of the brick without pushing the bricks out of alignment.  With a double-wythe you only need strike one side.

Second, one wythe doesn't allow for variations in brick size and shape; in other words, when you align the faces of the brick on one side you might not have them aligned on the other.

Third, for this bath use you should use brick with a glazed face, and that may not be available in brick with three sides glazed (it's usually just the face).  If you can find it, it will be more expensive.

Finally, you need to anchor one end of this wall to the house somehow.  A "free standing" masonry wall is easily toppled over!

Hope this helps,

Richard Taylor, AIA
www.rtastudio.blogspot.com
www.rtastudio.com