Practical Concrete-Block Making: A Simple Practical Treatise for the Workman; Explaining the Selection of the Materials and the Making of Substantial ... ... to Obtain the Best Architectural Effects
Master the art of concrete-block building with clear, practical guidance. This hands-on guide shows how to select materials, mix concrete, and cast durable blocks and cement bricks, with step-by-step directions you can use on real projects.
From choosing the right sand, gravel, and cement to making durable molds and creating decorative effects, this edition emphasizes practical techniques for the workman. It explains hollow-block construction, common machine types, and how to tailor blocks to the needs of architects and builders while keeping quality high.
How to test and select cement, sand, and aggregate for solid, dense blocks. Tips for making wooden, iron, and plaster molds, plus simple methods for ornamented designs. Guidance on hollow blocks, block sizes, and adapting shapes for architectural use. Practical advice on handling, curing, and finishing to ensure durability.
Ideal for readers who work with concrete blocks, cement brick, or masonry design and want reliable, proven methods.
Charles Palliser (born December 11, 1947) is an American-born, British-based novelist. He is the elder brother of the late author and freelance journalist Marcus Palliser.
Born in New England, Palliser is an American citizen, but has lived in the United Kingdom since the age of three. He attended Oxford University in 1967 to read English Language and Literature, and took a First in June 1970. He was awarded the B. Litt. in 1975 for a dissertation on Modernist fiction.
From 1974 until 1990, Palliser was a Lecturer in the Department of English at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. He was the first Deputy Editor of The Literary Review when it was founded in 1979. He taught creative writing during the Spring semester of 1986 at Rutgers University in New Jersey. In 1990 he gave up his university post to become a full-time writer when his first novel, The Quincunx, became an international best-seller. He has published four novels which have been translated into a dozen languages.
Palliser has also written for the theatre, radio, and television. His stage play, Week Nothing, toured Scotland in 1980. His 90 minute radio play, The Journal of Simon Owen, was commissioned by the BBC and twice broadcast on Radio 4 in June, 1982. His short TV film, Obsessions: Writing, was broadcast by the BBC and published by BBC Publications in 1991. Most recently, his short radio play, Artist with Designs, was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 21 February 2004.
He teaches occasionally for the Arvon Foundation, the Skyros Institute, London University, the London Metropolitan University, and Middlesex University. He was Writer in Residence at Poitiers University in 1997.
In 1991, The Quincunx was awarded the Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction by the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters which is given for the best first novel published in North America. The Unburied was nominated for the 2001 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Since 1990 he has written the Introduction to a Penguin Classics edition of the Sherlock Holmes stories, the Foreword to a new French translation of Wilkie Collins’The Moonstone published by Editions Phebus, and other articles on 19th century and contemporary fiction. He is a past member of the long-running North London Writers circle.