What is brick masonry ?Brick masonry is the process of constructing a building from individual bricks laid in a specific pattern

and bound together, usually by mortar. Occasionally, the term is also used to refer to the brick units

themselves. Masonry is considered a durable construction method, and brick is one of the most common

types of masonry used in industrialized nations. The strength of a structure created with this method

depends on the type and uniformity of the individual bricks selected, as well as the style of masonry

used.

Brick masonry can support substantial weight, but does not respond well to shaking, twisting, or

stretching. For this reason, some kind of structural reinforcement, like steel beams, is usually included.

Many attributes make brick a practical and popular construction choice. In addition to the inherent

beauty of brickwork, it is also thought to create the impression of solidity and permanence, so brick

homes often sell for higher prices. Brick is almost maintenance-free, never needs to be painted or

stained, and resists damage from wind, fire, and water. It also offers both noise and thermal insulation,

so structures created from it generally stay cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.

Types of bricks Bricks are made in a range of varieties, each intended for a specific purpose, but

all are created from some combination of sand, water, clay, and heat. Building

brick, or common brick, is used in construction and is provided with frog, which

reduce weight of brick and increase strength. Face brick is chosen for visible

surfaces or exposed walls and comes in different colors, sizes, and shapes.

Firebrick is made with special clay to offer additional heat resistance in

fireplaces or boiler rooms. Glazed brick is coated on one surface with a ceramic

finish that is sanitary and easy to clean, making it popular in hospitals and

laboratories.

Fire bricks Glazed bricks

Brick tileCommon brick

Standard size of brick

Assignment no 1 Enlist various sizes of brick defined in different

standards.

Terminology used in brick masonry

Header stretcher Brick on end

Brick on side Brick on side

Use of brick on End

Back: The inner surface of a wall which is not exposed is called the back. The material

forming the back is known as backing.

Face: The exterior of wall exposed to weather is known as face. The material used in the

face of the wall is known as facing.

Hearting: It is the interior portion of a wall between the facing and backing.

Joint: It is the junction of two or more bricks or stones. If the joint is parallel to the bed of

bricks or stones in a course then it is termed as bed joint. The joint which are perpendicular

to the bed joints are termed as vertical joints or side joints or perpends.

Bat: it is the portion of brick cut across the width.

Closer: it is the portion of the brick cut length wise in such a manner that its one long face remains uncut.

King Closer: these are the portions of a brick obtained by cutting off the triangular piece between the

center of one end and the center of one side.

Bevelled Closer: it is that portion of a brick in which the whole length of the brick is beveled for

maintaining half width at one end and full width art the other.

King closer Bevelled closer

Jambs: these are the vertical sides of an opening for doors and windows. These may be plain or

splayed or may be provided with recesses to receive the frames of doors and windows.

Reveals: These are exposed vertical surfaces left on the sides of an opening after the door or

window frame had been fitted in position.

sill level: it is the level of the window from the base (floor) ,through which a section is cut to

show the plan of the structure.

Course: A course is a horizontal layer of bricks or stones.

Stretcher: A masonry unit laid with its greatest

dimension horizontal and its face parallel to the wall

and a course having all the bricks laid in stretcher is

called a stretcher course.

Header: a masonry unit laid with its small dimension and

parallel to the face of the masonry wall. A course having

all the bricks laid header wise is called header course.

Terminology

Queen Closer: A brick cut lengthwise in 9’’x2¼’’ is called a queen closer

and is placed next to the header course to break the joints.

POINTINGTooling: compressing and shaping the face of a mortar joint with a special tool other

than a trowel.Tuck pointing: filling in with fresh mortar of cutout or defective mortar joint in masonry.

Tooling Tuck pointing

Detail of masonry wall

Simple Wall

The diagram illustrates the salient points of constructing a low wall

of the type found in most applications. This shows a double skin

wall, 200mm wide on the left and a single skin wall, 100mm wide,

on the right. A single skin wall is only suitable to a height of around

450mm; anything higher should be double-skinned for stability. Any

wall higher than 1.2 meters must be designed by a structural

engineer, who will take account of prevailing ground conditions,

planned usage etc. and design a wall suitable to the project.

Damp Proof Course A damp proof course (dpc) is a layer of impermeable material built into the wall to

prevent upward migration of ground water. The easiest dpc to install is the polymer

sheet, supplied in rolls to suit all widths of brickwork. It is always laid to a course at

least 150mm above ground level and is simply rolled out on top of the preceding

course. Once in position, the brick laying continues as normal, covering the dpc with a

bed of mortar and then laying the first course of bricks above dpc. dpc detail

we never build any wall without dpc. it costs very little and guarantees a longer life for

the wall, as damp cannot rise above the dpc to saturate the facing brickwork.

• Engineering bricks can also be used to create a dpc in freestanding walls. Two courses

of engineering bricks are laid and, because of their very low water absorption

capability, they prevent the upward migration of groundwater.

Qualities of a Good Brick

• Bricks should be table moulded, well burnt in kilns, copper coloured,

free from cracks and with sharp and square edges.

• Bricks should be uniform shape and should be of standard Size.

• Bricks should give clear ringing sound when struck each other.

• Bricks when broken should show a bright homogeneous and

compact structure free from voids.

• Bricks should not absorb water more than 20 percent by weight for

first class bricks and 22 percent by weight for second class bricks,

when soaked in cold water for a period of 24 hours.

Qualities of a Good Brick

• Bricks should be sufficiently hard no impression, should be left on brick

surface, when it is scratched with finger nail.

• Bricks should be low thermal conductivity and they should be sound

proof.

• Bricks should not break when dropped flat on hard ground from a

height of about one meter.

• Bricks, when soaked in water for 24hours, should not show deposits of

white salts when allowed to dry in shade.

• No brick should have crushing strength below 55kg/cm2.

Bond in Brick Masonry The arrangement of bricks or stones in each layer in such a way to break the

continuity of vertical joints in the successive courses both on the face as well as

inside of a masonry structure is called a bond.

this is done by overlapping bricks or stones in successive courses longitudinally as

well as transversely.

Necessity of providing bond:

• To break the continuity of vertical joints.

• To ensure the longitudinal and lateral strength.

• To distribute the load over larger resisting area.

• To provide pleasing appearance by laying bricks symmetrically.

Types of Bond in Brick Work

• English bond

• Flemish bond

• Header bond

• Stretcher bond

• Garden wall bond

• Raking bond

• English cross bond

• Hoop iron bond

• Facing bond

• Dutch bond

• Monk bond

• Zig Zag bond

• Brick-on-Edge bond

• Silver lock’s bond

English bond This bond consists of alternate course of headers and stretchers. In this

arrangement, vertical joints in the header courses come over each other

and the vertical joints in the stretcher course are also in the same line in

alternate courses.

Salient features of English bond:

• Header and stretcher are laid in alternate courses.

• A queen closer is placed after every quion heading course when the thickness of

wall is 20 cm or above.

• The same course will show headers on the face and stretchers on

the back and vice versa, if the thickness of wall is an odd multiple

of half brick.

English bond

• The length of queen closer is usually kept equal to the thickness of wall.

• The same course will show headers or stretchers on face and back if the

thickness of wall is an even multiple of half brick.

• Each alternate header in the heading course lies centrally over every

stretcher of the underlying stretching course.

• The inner filling is done in headers in the wall having thickness 40 cm or

above.

Suitability:

English bond is commonly adopted for brickwork of building where

strength is of prime importance.

Flemish bond

• The bond having headers and stretchers laid alternately in the same course is

called Flemish bond. In this bond a queen closer is provided after every quion

header in the alternate courses to break the continuity of vertical joints. Brick

bats are to be used for forming this bond when the thickness of wall is equal

to an odd multiple of half brick.

Salient features of Flemish bond• Headers and stretchers are laid in the same course.

• Queen closer is placed after every quoin header brick in the heading course

when the thickness of wall is 20 cm or above. The length of queen closer is

not kept equal to the thickness of wall and is usually intercepted by ¾ bats.

• Brick bats are to be used in wall having thickness equal to an odd multiple of

half brick.

• Every header in each course lies centrally over every stretcher of the

underlying course.

Types of Flemish bond

• Flemish bond has following two types:

• Double Flemish bond

• The bond having headers and stretchers laid

alternately in each course both in the face and back

of the structure is called double Flemish bond.

This type of bond provides good appearance but is

weaker in strength than English bond for wall having

thickness more than 20 cm. Double Flemish bond is

considered as an economical bond as it facilitates the

use of brick bates and closers. In this bond, it is

easier to obtain a fair and more uniform face on both

sides of 20 cm thick wall than incase of English bond.

This bond is commonly known as Flemish bond.

The salient features of double Flemish bond are the same as

that of Flemish bond in addition to the following features.

Each course will show different elevation on face and back if

the thickness of wall is an odd multiple of half brick i.e. if

header is seen in the front elevation then stretcher will be

seen in line with that header in back elevation in the same

course and vice versa.

Suitability:

Double Flemish bond is used for brick work of building

where appearance is of prime importance.

Single Flemish bond• The bond provided in a wall with Flemish bond facing and English bond in backing is

called Single Flemish bond.

Advantages and Disadvantages of S.F.B

• It provides better appearance.

• It can be made more economical by using cheap quality of bricks on the

back of the wall.

• It weakens the overall strength of the wall because of maximum use of

brick bats and existence of continuous vertical joints.

• It cannot be provide in walls having thickness less than one and half

brick.

• Suitability: Single Flemish bond is used where first class bricks are

specified for facing in order to provide good appearance to the facing of

wall.

Stretcher bond

Stretcher bond is one of the most common bonds. It is

easy to lay with little waste and composed entirely of

stretchers set in rows, offset by half a brick.

Stretcher BondOriginally used for single brick walls, it became the obvious choice for cavity walls

with the least amount of cutting required. It is therefore the most economical bond

pattern and is extensively used in modern building

Header bond

Header bond is created by rows of headers, only displaced by

half a brick on each row. This bond is often use to create

curved brickwork.

A brick course laid flat with the short end of the brick

exposed. This method is particularly strong as the width of

the wall is the whole length of a brick. Historically it was used

for buildings of high quality, often used for curved brickwork.

Header Bond

Header Bond

Assignment no 02

• Self study of remaining types of brick bond• Submit hard as well as soft copy in power

point presentation format till 30/10/2013

General Principal for Brick Masonry

• Bricks shall be soaked in water before use

for a period not less than six hours.

• Bricks shall be laid in English Bond unless

other wise specified.