Choose bricks that will survive well in continually wet conditions. Common brick may not be strong enough. Be prepared to give your material supplier the length and height of the wall you plan to build. If the bricks have holes in them, purchase special cap bricks for the top course. Arrange to have the bricks resting on a strong pallet near the job site. Make a story pole—a length of 1x2 with evenly spaced lines marking the height of each course of bricks. Install a level concrete footing, combining a 12-inch-deep, reinforced, and concrete-filled trench twice as wide as the brick wall will be with concrete footings every 4 feet that extend beneath the frost line.
