How to Lay a Brick Facade Around Doors and Windows

Prepare a base for the brick facade. Use a 6-inch extension off the concrete foundation if one was poured; otherwise dig a 6-inch wide trench 4 inches deep and pour a concrete base. Smooth and level the top with a rectangular mason's trowel. Let the concrete cure a week. Bolt steel angle iron to the studs at the bottom of wall as an alternative ledge; brick facade must rest on a solid foundation.

Install metal flashing around the edges of the rough door and window openings. Nail one side to the rough frame with 1-inch shingle nails and a hammer; nail the other side flat against the wall sheathing. Stagger the nails and make sure the flashing covers the seam of the rough framing and the sheathing. Put flashing over the base; nail the vertical side to the wall sheathing and set the horizontal side in mortar on the concrete.

Cover a wood-sheathed wall with a waterproof membrane, fastened to the wall with a construction stapler. Snap a level chalk line about 4 inches above the base as a guide for the first row or course of bricks. Mix mortar according to directions on the package. Start that course with a full brick at one end of the wall. Spread mortar on the bottom, back and one end with a mason's trowel and set it in place. Use a level to get it level.

Lay a course of bricks to the other end of the wall, using a level to keep the tops level. Put mortar on the ends, bottom and backs of the bricks. Start a second course with a half-brick, cut in two with a masonry saw. Put the cut end to the inside. Finish that course with full bricks, checking for level constantly. Continue laying bricks in a running bond pattern, with each brick overlapping two others by half a brick. Start every other course with a half-brick.

Start adding brick ties after the sixth course. Nail one end of these corrugated metal straps to the wall with shingle nails and place the other end between horizontal mortar joints. Space ties 16 inches apart, on every stud, and 16 inches apart vertically on studs. Be sure the ties go into mortar joints at a 90-degree angle.

Measure the distance to the window with a tape measure a few courses below the window opening, to allow for a "rowlock," a course of bricks the width of the window laid with 2-inch ends facing out. Use one of two methods: Lay a course of full bricks vertically, with the 2-inch edges out, or cut half-bricks with a masonry saw and lay them vertically. Slant this rowlock in the direction of rainfall, so water will drain away.

Set bricks around the edges of doors and windows, on top of the flashing, following the pattern of the rest of the wall. Cut bricks with a masonry saw as needed to fit to the edge of the rough opening. Measure to the top of a door opening a few courses below the header so mortar joints can be adjusted to make sure a steel lintel goes across the opening into a horizontal mortar joint.

Place steel lintels across the tops of window and door openings. Lay lintels on top of the rough framing, wide enough to go at least 4 inches, or half a brick, into the horizontal mortar joints on each side. Add bricks on top of the lintel to the top of the wall. Measure again a few courses from the top and adjust mortar joints so the last course is full bricks; avoid having to cut bricks lengthwise to fit.