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Finally got my brick corbel right on the third try
Last week I was working on a chimney rebuild in Springfield and the plans called for a 6-inch corbel. My first two tries looked okay from the ground, but up close the line was wavy. I went back to my old teacher's advice about marking every course with a story pole. Spent an extra hour setting up, but the third course went in perfect and straight. It's a small thing, but it felt good to nail it. Anyone else have a trick for keeping corbels true on taller work?
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ross.christopher5mo ago
Wait, a 6-inch corbel? That's a big jump per course. Most codes limit you to a third of the brick depth. A full 6 inches out would be over 2 inches per course on standard brick, which is asking for trouble. You sure the plan didn't mean a 6-inch total projection over several courses? For tall work, I mark the full profile on the wall with chalk first. Story pole is good, but you need the full angle laid out.
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troychen5mo ago
Yeah, it's like when people skip steps in a recipe and wonder why it fell apart.
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henry_murray5mo ago
So what's the actual total projection then?
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abby_morgan184mo ago
Ross, I think you might be mixing up the brick depth with the corbel projection. Standard brick is usually about 3 5/8 inches deep, so a 1/3 projection per course would be around 1.2 inches, not the 2 inches you mentioned. A 6 inch total projection over 5 or 6 courses works out to about 1 inch per course, which is totally normal for a chimney cap or a decorative detail. I've done plenty of 6 inch corbels that way and never had an issue with code. The story pole trick is solid, but I also like snapping a level chalk line for each course as I go just to double check.
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