| Brickwork masonry is produced when a bricklayer | | | | built using low-cost bricks that have only two fair |
| uses bricks and mortar to build up structures such as | | | | faces, called "face bricks". Laying any such brick as a |
| walls, bridges and chimneys. (Brickwork is also used | | | | header would reveal a poorly finished header face on |
| to finish openings such as doors or windows in | | | | one side of the wall. These walls are also used in |
| buildings made of other materials.) Where the bricks | | | | situations where stronger load bearing capacity is |
| are to remain fully visible, as opposed to being | | | | required than that given by a single stretcher bond |
| covered up by plaster or stucco, this is known as | | | | wall with engaged piers. |
| face-work. | | | | English bond |
| Bricks are laid to expose their ends (Header bricks), | | | | This bond is made up of alternating courses of |
| or sides (Stretcher bricks). As the work progresses, | | | | stretchers and headers. This produces a solid wall |
| the bricks are laid in rows called courses. The manner | | | | that is a full brick in depth. English bond is fairly easy |
| in which the bricks overlap as they are laid up is called | | | | to lay and is the strongest bond for a one-brick-thick |
| the bond. Types of bond include English bond, Flemish | | | | wall. If only one face of an English bond wall is |
| bond, and Herringbone bond, but the most common | | | | exposed, one quarter of the bricks are not visible, |
| type of brickwork seen these days is the simple | | | | and hence may be of low visual quality. |
| stretcher bond, showing only the long side-surface of | | | | Flemish bond |
| the brick. | | | | Flemish Bond, also known as Dutch Bond, has |
| Because only the outside of finished brickwork is | | | | historically always been considered the most |
| visible, cheaper grades of brick are commonly used | | | | decorative bond, and for this reason was used |
| for the hidden parts of a wall. In an old red-brick | | | | extensively for dwellings until the adoption of the |
| house, behind the front of red, the rest of the walls | | | | cavity wall. It is created by alternately laying headers |
| are often made of softer yellow bricks. The colour | | | | and stretchers in a single course. The next course is |
| situation may be reversed if the house was built | | | | laid so that a header lies in the middle of the |
| when red bricks were out of fashion. So with certain | | | | stretcher in the course below. Again, this bond is one |
| types of bond (e.g. garden wall bond) it is possible to | | | | brick thick. It is quite difficult to lay Flemish bond |
| use a higher ratio of cheaper bricks to more | | | | properly, since for best effect all the perpends |
| expensive bricks, making for a cheaper wall of the | | | | (vertical mortar joints) need to be vertically aligned. If |
| same dimensions. On the same house, sometimes a | | | | only one face of an Flemish bond wall is exposed, |
| more economical "garden wall" bond has been used | | | | one third of the bricks are not visible, and hence may |
| at the side and rear compared to the front. | | | | be of low visual quality. This is a better ratio than for |
| The thickness of brickwork is measured in units of | | | | English bond, Flemish bond's main rival for load-bearing |
| brick. If bricks are put down end-to-end with the long | | | | walls. |
| side facing you (stretchers) and then another row on | | | | A common variation often found in early 18th |
| top, the wall thickness is half a brick. | | | | Century buildings is Glazed-headed Flemish Bond, in |
| There are rules of bonding, which have some | | | | which the exposed headers are burned until they |
| exceptions. These specify the overlap between | | | | vitrify with a black glassy surface. Monk bond is a |
| courses that is visible outside the wall, and also the | | | | variant of Flemish bond, with two stretchers |
| overlap which must be made within the wall, for walls | | | | between the headers in each row, and the headers |
| which are more than half a brick thick. | | | | centred over the join between the two stretchers in |
| Brickwork, like unreinforced concrete, has little tensile | | | | the row below. |
| strength, and works by everything being kept in | | | | Garden wall bond |
| compression. | | | | These bonds are variations on normal bonds. They |
| Brickwork arches can span great distances, and carry | | | | use a high proportion of stretchers, and hence |
| considerable loads. | | | | require fewer facing bricks than normal bonds. This |
| Bricklaying Apprenticeships | | | | makes them less sturdy, but cheaper to lay. As such |
| Bricklayers use a variety of specialist tools to carry | | | | they are most commonly used for garden- and other |
| out precise and accurate results from architect's | | | | non-load-bearing walls. |
| plans. Apprenticeships offer a common route into the | | | | Rat-trap bond is a type of garden wall bond in which |
| job, and a fully qualified bricklayer will be able to | | | | the stretchers and headers are laid on their sides, |
| progress into technical, supervisory and management | | | | with the base of the stretcher facing outwards. This |
| roles with training. | | | | gives a wall with an internal cavity bridged by the |
| Types of bond | | | | headers, hence the name. The main advantage of |
| When laying bricks, the manner in which the bricks | | | | this bond is economy in use of bricks, giving a wall of |
| overlap is called the bond. A brick laid with the | | | | one brick thickness with fewer bricks than a solid |
| longest side exposed is called a stretcher brick, as | | | | bond. Rat-trap bond was in common usage in England |
| opposed to a header, where only the smallest end of | | | | for building houses of fewer than 3 stories up to the |
| the brick is exposed to the weather. The length of | | | | turn of the 20th century and is today still used in |
| one stretcher is the same as two header bricks, | | | | India as an economical bond, as well for the insulation |
| side-by-side, including the 10mm joint between. | | | | properties offered by the air cavity. Also, many brick |
| The thickness of a brick wall is measured using a unit | | | | walls surrounding kitchen gardens were designed with |
| of length known as 'the brick'. This standard can be | | | | cavities so hot air could circulate in the winter, |
| used consistently with the wide variety of brick sizes | | | | warming fruit trees or other produce spread against |
| available ("modular, "Norman" brick, etc.). The length | | | | the walls, causing them to bloom earlier and forcing |
| of the longest face for a particular size of brick | | | | early fruit production. |
| equals "one brick", for the purposes of measuring a | | | | Herringbone bond |
| wall built from such bricks. | | | | When bricks are laid on alternating angles, it is called a |
| Stretcher bond | | | | Herringbone. This is primarily a decorative style, more |
| Stretcher bond (also known as running bond or | | | | often used for paving or fireplace reflectors than for |
| monotonous stretcher bond) is the most common | | | | walls. This style is also sometimes called by its Latin |
| bond in modern times, as it is easy to lay, with little | | | | name: Opus spicatum. |
| waste. Entirely comprised of stretcher bricks, set in | | | | Basket bond |
| rows (or "courses") that are offset by half a brick. | | | | This decorative pattern imitates the weave of a |
| Running bond uses no header bricks, allowing for a | | | | basket. It's also sometimes called a basket weave |
| thin wall of one layer (half of a 'brick' unit). Two such | | | | bond, and there are many variations on the weave |
| walls may be built close together with a gap | | | | pattern, some very elaborate. |
| between. The two "skins" are usually tied together at | | | | American bond |
| regular intervals using wall ties. For this reason this | | | | American common bond is made by laying the |
| bond is sometimes known as "cavity wall bond", | | | | courses of headers where they are separated by |
| although it is possible to give the appearance of | | | | approximately five to seven courses of stretchers. |
| other bonds in a half-brick cavity wall, either through | | | | On occasion American common bond can be found |
| extensive brick-cutting or the use of purpose-made | | | | with nine courses of stretchers between courses of |
| half-bricks. In some climates the cavity may be filled | | | | headers. The stretcher courses are most often an |
| with cavity wall insulation. | | | | uneven number. English common bond is an early |
| Stretcher bond may also be used to build a | | | | variation with only three courses of stretchers |
| single-wythe (one brick thick) wall without a | | | | between header courses. |
| deliberate cavity. In this case, wall ties are used to | | | | Chinese bond |
| hold the two wythes together. The main advantage | | | | As in flemish bond, but all the bricks are laid on edge. |
| of this technique is that it allows walls with both | | | | Unusual, but used to make a light weight structure or |
| faces visible, such as domestic dwarf walls, to be | | | | economise on bricks. Creates a semi-cavity wall. |