Written By Tanya Olson
The Friday morning session at Design in the Hills this year was an outdoor hands on workshop at Hebron Brick Supply in Rapid City, co-hosted by Hebron Brick Supply and Syverson Tile & Stone.
Kevin Aker of Hebron Brick had quite the hands-on set up waiting for attendees, with three demonstration stations to learn something new about three different types of product installation. Kevin made sure that there was something for everyone – paver installation for the landscape architects and brick and veneer installation for the architects.
Mike Westafer from Techo-Bloc demonstrated oversized paver base course preparation and installation. It was a surprise to many to learn that oversized pavers require a 3/8” rock chip bed over compacted base instead of the typical sand bed used for standard pavers. A vacuum paver lifter was demonstrated to safely lift the pavers and accurately place them in the prepared bed.
Lew Hoyt from Double H Masonry demonstrated the art of brick laying and really made every attendee appreciative of the the craftsmanship and skill needed to properly lay bricks – especially when several of us tried our hand at bricklaying! Along with Lew, Linda Potter from Hohmann & Barnard showed several types of masonry anchoring systems. We learned a lot about the proper techniques to brick laying – how to to pick up the individual brick, the correct way to pick up the mortar on the mortar board and place the mortar on the brick course below, and how to check that the brick is level and plumb.
And finally, Andrew Palmer and Eric Wymer from TCC Materials demonstrated masonry veneer installation with a high strength horizontal mortaring technique and polymer-modified adhered veneer mortar. The specialty mortar is designed to provide high bond strength, water and sag resistance, and durability.
Attendees also had a great time wandering around the Hebron Brick yard looking at natural stone and outdoor products and taking a break from the 90 degree temps in the show room to see all of the different veneers available for our projects.
The Design in the Hills committee was formed in 2011 by architects, Kris Bjerke and Tanya Davis and interior designer Maggie Job. Over the years, many new faces have trickled through the committee as leadership in the AIA South Dakota organization has evolved, however Kris has been the anchor to an event which has become a much-anticipated gathering of designers in the Black Hills each summer. The current committee includes Ms. Bjerke, architect and AIA SD board members, Jenn Johnson, Brad Burns, and interior designers Jessica Bergeleen, Kelli Trebil, and AIA South Dakota executive director, Angela Lammers.