How to Make a Block Wall With an Arch Entrance

Preparation

• 1

  Measure the area the wall will span and mark with paint spray. Mark where the entrance will be.

• 2

  Purchase the blocks and mortar you will need to complete the job. The materials supplier will help you purchase sufficient for your needs if you take along your measurements. Remember you will have a gap in the wall for your entrance, and need blocks to construct the arch.

• 3

  Dig the foundations of the wall. These will be poured concrete. Dig a trench twice as wide as the blocks and at least twice as deep. Check local planning regulations to ensure you dig below the frost line in your area.

• 4

  Hammer wooden stakes at regular intervals into the ground along the edges of the trench and nail wooden planks to them. This provides the form into which you will pour the concrete. Use a spirit level to check it is true.

• 5

  Mix the concrete and pour into the trench. You may be able to do so in a wheelbarrow. Alternatively hire an industrial mixer. Use a wooden plank to level the concrete, topping it up as necessary, so it sits level with the edge of the trench.

• 6

  Allow the concrete to set (usually about three days). Remove the wooden form then fill in the trench around the concrete with soil.

Laying the Wall

• 7

  Drive wooden stakes into the ground directly behind each corner of the footing, the width of the blocks apart. Run string between the stakes on each side of the footing to serve as guides.

• 8

  Determine how many blacks you will need for the first side of the wall. Either lay blocks along the footing or measure a block and use this measurement to determine the number. Remember that you will need to leave a gap of around ¼ inch between blocks for the mortar that will fix them.

• 9

  Start at the corner and use a trowel to lay mortar on the footing about an inch deep. Lay the first concrete block. Use a spirit level to check it is true, tapping with the handle of a trowel if necessary.

• 10

  Add mortar to the end of another block and affix next to the first one, scrape off any excess mortar.

• 11

  Continue laying mortar and blocks on the footing until you reach the end of the first part of the wall.

• 12

  Repeat the process to add more layers to the wall. Repeat the above steps for the part of the wall on the other side of the entrance. Allow the mortar to dry according to the instructions on the packet.

Building the Arch

• 13

  Mark the width and height of your arch onto a sheet of plywood. The width is the distance between the two parts of the block wall. You can make the height as steep or shallow as you wish. Cut out with a reciprocating saw. Repeat to create a second half-circle of the same dimensions.

• 14

  Cut a piece of board the same width as the arch and thickness of the wall. Nail the two half-circles onto either side of the long edges of this board. This gives you a form the same dimensions as your arch. Nail lengths of wood across the gap between the two half-circles to make a solid form.

• 15

  With the form on the floor dry-lay blocks along its curved edge to determine how many blocks you will need. Remember there is always an odd number of bricks in an arch as one block – the keystone – sits plumb in the center of the arch.

• 16

  Place the form at the top of the walls. Use wooden supports to keep it in place, if required.

• 17

  Start at the ends of the arch and lay blocks with mortar. Use angled mortar – building it up more on the outside of the brick – so that the side of the brick sits as flat as possible against the form.

• 18

  Work from either end of the arch, laying blocks with mortar, using the angled technique for mortar between the blocks. Lay the keystone in the center.

• 19

  Scrape off any excess mortar that may have then allow to harden according to the instructions on the packaging. When dry, remove the form.