Hi Don x 2,

The brick making and laying process is exactly the same in both he UK & USA. The pattern brickwork shown above is a much later replacement for original wattle & daub and in general light red bricks are quite soft and so in combination with lime mortar will act like a wick to help draw water away from the timber as per Tim's earlier post. The brick will probably weigh only marginally more than daub since this is simply made from unfired clay with a little wattle lattice structure that would make to overall panel a just a bit lighter. This brick is only single skin (4.5") thick as is wattle & daub. I have recently had to deal with soft red brick noggin [note there is no "g" on the end of this word] in a timber frame building which was repointed using portland cement based mortar and now all the brick have spalled leaving the mortar protruding which encourages and causes further freeze thaw spalling damage. Bricks tend to have a hard skin but much softer core and so if the suraface is lost then rapid deterioration will ocurr.

You really need to go and see your own old buildings. I made a memorable visit to The Fairbanks House (c 1638) at Dedham, Mass. with Ed Levin and the smell inside this house is identical to buildings in Olde England. It provides a snapshot of timber frame building construction at the time New England was settled and hence also very likely reflects building style and construction in (east Anglian) Olde England at that time.

Regards

Ken Hume