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Can you build a brick wall instead of a fence?

A brick wall may cost more than a fence, but it offers more advantages in the long run. Not only is a wall more visually appealing, but it is also more durable. Depending on your location, you may need planning permission to erect any 2m high or 1m wall on the edge of a public highway.

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A brick wall may cost more than a fence, but it offers more advantages in the long run. Not only is a wall more visually appealing, but it is also more durable. Depending on your location, you may need planning permission to erect any 2m high or 1m wall on the edge of a public highway. If you lack any experience or knowledge, try and get in touch with a structural engineer to help you with the project. Although the process of erecting a wall is simple, you still need to plan. The entire design and shape of the wall will depend on the intended use.

Functions of a wall

Provide a barrier from other structures like road

Provide a base on which you can erect a fence or other structures

Hold the earth back to enable you to build a terraced area

Reduce noise, and encourages privacy

Prevent a steep slope from collapsing

Types of Wall

There are different types of walls. The popular ones are reconstituted stone walls, natural stone walls, and brick walls.

Brick walls

Bricks are cheap materials that readily available and come in different colors. Depending on the materials used in the manufacturing process, you can get different texture and colors. Bricks often come as either smooth or rough, single-colored or multi-colored, and so on. Bricks also come as second-hand materials. These versions of bricks are weathered, and they typically blend with older structures. The only downside of second-hand bricks is that they are hard to find and very expensive.

Natural stone walls

You can easily get natural stone from quarries. They are also available in reclamation yards. Just like the second brick, natural stone is expensive. But they offer unique properties to your wall. They are visually appealing, and they make your wall more attractive and durable. In cases where a brick wall might be a difficult option, a natural stone wall is a handy alternative.

Semi-dry stone walls

This wall utilizes stones that are handpicked. The stones have a stable structure that eliminates the need for mortar as a binder. This option is easily the most visually appealing as it doesn’t require any mortar.

Things to consider when building a wall

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Why are Japanese houses raised off the ground?

A. To cope with high temperatures and high humidity, especially in summer, a typical Japanese house has a raised floor to allow air circulation. This results in the entryway or genkan (玄関) being at a different level from the interior of the house. Hence, Japanese people customarily take off their shoes at the entryway.

Q.When I started living in Japan, I was surprised to see the slight difference in the floor levels at the genkan (small entryway) of a typical Japanese house and people taking off their shoes there. What are the reasons for the structural difference and removing one’s shoes?

A.Genkan, the boundary that divides inside and outside

The answer to your question is largely related to Japan’s climate. To cope with high temperatures and high humidity, especially in summer, a typical Japanese house has a raised floor to allow air circulation. This results in the entryway or genkan (玄関) being at a different level from the interior of the house. Hence, Japanese people customarily take off their shoes at the entryway. The traditional design of Japanese houses also took into account people’s tendency to clearly divide inside and outside. In the past, the homes of aristocrats and samurai (warriors) had genkan entryways, while nagaya (長屋) or single-story wooden row-houses ― narrow living quarters for common people ― did not. Nagaya dwellings usually had earthen floors between the doors and the living sections where residents made things out of straw ― like straw sandals. They then crossed the threshold and took off their footwear before walking through a small wood-floor area into the tatami rooms. This old-time architectural concept can still be seen in modern Japanese houses. Japanese people regard the genkan as the face of each house and therefore many families display paintings, flowers, dolls or landscape photographs there. This is similar to how people in the West decorate fireplace mantels with family photographs and other things.

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