brickwork

Flemish bond.

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.

Stretcher bond

English bond

Header bond.

Flemish bond

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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.

A common variation often found in early 18th century buildings is Glazed-headed Flemish Bond, in which the exposed headers are burned until they vitrify with a black glassy surface. Monk bond is a variant of Flemish bond, with two stretchers between the headers in each row, and the headers centred over the join between the two stretchers in the row below.

Garden wall bonds

An American bond.

Scottish bond has one row of headers to five of stretchers.^[1]

Rat-trap bond

Rat-trap bond.

Rat-trap bond, also known as Chinese bond, is a type of garden wall bond in which the stretchers and headers are laid on their sides, with the base of the stretcher facing outwards. This gives a wall with an internal cavity bridged by the headers, hence the name. The main advantage of this bond is economy in use of bricks, giving a wall of one brick thickness with fewer bricks than a solid bond. Rat-trap bond was in common usage in England for building houses of fewer than 3 stories up to the turn of the 20th century and is today still used in India as an economical bond, as well for the insulation properties offered by the air cavity. Also, many brick walls surrounding kitchen gardens were designed with cavities so hot air could circulate in the winter, warming fruit trees or other produce spread against the walls, causing them to bloom earlier and forcing early fruit production.^[2][3]

Herringbone bond.

A simple basket bond pattern.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Brick walls

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Brickwork.

Look up brickwork in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers
• Construction
• Masonry
• Tuckpointing

References

External links

• DIYinfo.org's Brick Laying Wiki - Heaps of practical information on laying bricks
• Brick patterns for wall and pavement
• National Concrete Masonry Association
• Details on turning corners and adjoining walls by the use of bats and queen closers
• Brickwork Bonds and net quantities per m³ Diagrams of most types of bond
• Good photos and discussion of English brickwork and its history