MicroHouse 3 - Test Procedures and Data Collection

Brick Laying

Day 1 of laying - with 6000 bricks pressed by Day 2, it rained on Day 3 and we began laying bricks - 3:30 PM to 7:30 PM on Sunday. 4 hours got us 1032 bricks laid - with 16 person team. 2 people mixed mortar (one does the drill, another does the carrying of mortar bags. 4 teams of 3: laying, mortar, carrying bricks. One carrier can carry for 2 or more teams of layers. Result is 128 bricks per day at the rate of our first day.

Day 2: rate appears similar. Time spent measuring out corners, then filling bricks in. Major discrepancies in brick height make mortar use excessive. Discussed laying with Reid - conclude 2 people should be setting corners, and 2 teams should be working each of two double walls - so 4 teams per side, 4 sides. Including corner team - 5 teams per side. Team should be a layer and mortar person. This makes 20 teams, or 40 people. 2 mortar mixers per 6 teams. At scale, should be 2 bag carriers and 3 mixers. So 5 additional people. Probably 1 person should serve bricks to 4 teams. 5 people serving bricks. That makes 50 people. Then 2 people filling in the cracks everywhere - 52 people total. Given rate of 128 bricks per day - the low rate we are achieving right now - we should complete 6000 bricks in a wall in under 8 hours.