Brickwork

Brickwork masonry is produced when a bricklayer uses bricks and mortar to build up structures such as walls, bridges and chimneys. Brickwork is also used to finish openings such as doors or windows in buildings made of other materials. Where the bricks are to remain fully visible, as opposed to being covered up by plaster or stucco, this is known as face-work. Bricks are laid to expose their ends (Header bricks), or sides (Stretcher bricks). As the work progresses, the bricks are laid in rows called courses. The manner in which the bricks overlap as they are laid up is called the bond of which there are two main types: half bond and quarter bond. Types of bonding arrangements include English bond, Flemish bond, and Herringbone bond, but the most common type of brickwork seen these days is the simple stretcher bond, showing only the long side-surface of the brick. Because only the outside of finished brickwork is visible, cheaper grades of brick are commonly used for the hidden parts of a wall. In an old red-brick house, behind the front of red, the rest of the walls are often made of softer yellow bricks. The colour situation may be reversed if the house was built when red bricks were out of fashion. So with certain types of bond (e.g. garden wall bond) it is possible to use a higher ratio of cheaper bricks to more expensive bricks, making for a cheaper wall of the same dimensions. On the same house, sometimes a more economical "garden wall" bond has been used at the side and rear compared to the front. The thickness of brickwork is casually quantified in units of brick referring to the length of a brick. A double-skinned wall will have some bricks laid across both skins or courses and therefore the wall will be as thick as the length of the brick. Because most typical bricks are roughly twice as long as the are wide, a single-skinned (or single course) wall with bricks laid end to end will be as thick as the brick as wide, which is roughly half the length of the brick it is called "half brick" thick. Simply put, single-skinned walls are expediently or casually referred to as "half brick" thick and double-skinned walls "full brick" thick even though technically this is only an approximation relevant to bricks roughly half as wide as they are long. If bricks are put down end-to-end with the long side facing you (stretchers) and then another row on top, the wall thickness is half a brick. There are rules of bonding, which have some exceptions. These specify the overlap between courses that is visible outside the wall, and also the overlap which must be made within the wall, for walls which are more than half a brick thick. Brickwork, like unreinforced concrete, has little tensile strength, and works by everything being kept in compression. Brickwork arches can span great distances, and carry considerable loads.

Types of bond
When laying bricks, the manner in which the bricks overlap is called the bond. A brick laid with the longest side exposed is called a stretcher brick, as opposed to a header, where only the smallest end of the brick is exposed to the weather. The length of one stretcher is the same as two header bricks, side-by-side, including the 10mm joint between. The thickness of a brick wall is measured using a unit of length known as 'the brick'. This standard can be used consistently with the wide variety of brick sizes available ("modular", "Norman" brick, etc.). The length of the longest face for a particular size of brick equals "one brick", for the purposes of measuring a wall built from such bricks.

Stretcher bond >>

Stretcher bond (also known as running bond) is the most common bond in modern times, as it is easy to lay, with little waste. It is entirely composed of stretcher bricks, set in rows (or "courses") that are offset by half a brick. Running bond uses no header bricks, allowing for a thin wall of one layer (half of a 'brick' unit). Two such walls may be built close together with a gap between. The two "skins" are usually tied together at regular intervals using wall ties. For this reason this bond is sometimes known as "cavity wall bond", although it is possible to give the appearance of other bonds in a half-brick cavity wall, either through extensive brick-cutting or the use of purpose-made half-bricks. In some climates the cavity may be filled with cavity wall insulation. Stretcher bond may also be used to build a single-wythe (one-brick thick) wall without a deliberate cavity. In this case, wall ties are used to hold the two wythes together. The main advantage of this technique is that it allows walls with both faces visible, such as domestic dwarf walls (low-height walls where the part of the structure above is built of a lighter, framed material such as glass) to be built using low-cost bricks that have only two fair faces, called "face bricks". Laying any such brick as a header would reveal a poorly finished header face on one side of the wall. These walls are also used in situations where stronger loadbearing capacity is required than that given by a single stretcher bond wall with engaged piers.

English bond >>

English bond is made up of alternating courses of stretchers and headers. This produces a solid wall that is a full brick in depth. English bond is fairly easy to lay and is the strongest bond for a one-brick-thick wall. If only one face of an English bond wall is exposed, one quarter of the bricks are not visible, and hence may be of low visual quality.

Header bond >>

Header bond (also known as Spanish bond) was a very common bond for bearing walls. It is composed of header bricks, set in rows that are offset half a brick, which produces a solid easy to lay bond which is useful when building circular work. It is the most used bond in historical Spanish brick constructions.

Flemish bond >>

Flemish bond, also known as Dutch bond, has historically always been considered the most decorative bond, and for this reason was used extensively for dwellings until the adoption of the cavity wall. It is created by alternately laying headers and stretchers in a single course. The next course is laid so that a header lies in the middle of the stretcher in the course below. Again, this bond is one brick thick. It is quite difficult to lay Flemish bond properly, since for best effect all the perpendiculars (vertical mortar joints) need to be vertically aligned. If only one face of a Flemish bond wall is exposed, one third of the bricks are not visible, and hence may be of low visual quality. This is a better ratio than for English bond, Flemish bond's main rival for load-bearing walls.

American bond >> American common bond is made by laying the courses of headers where they are separated by approximately five to seven courses of stretchers. On occasion American common bond can be found with nine courses of stretchers between courses of headers. The stretcher courses are most often an uneven number.

Herringbone bond >>

When bricks are laid on alternating angles, it is called a Herringbone. This is primarily a decorative style, more often used for paving or fireplace reflectors than for walls. It is generally considered unsuitable for load-bearing structures, but may be found as infill in traditional timber framed buildings. This style is also sometimes called by its Latin name: Opus spicatum.

Basket bond >>

This decorative pattern imitates the weave of a basket. It is also sometimes called basket weave bond, and there are many variations on the weave pattern, some very elaborate.