What Is Brick Bond?
A brick bond refers to the pattern in which bricks are laid in a wall or structure. The purpose of a brick bond is to provide stability and strength to the wall, as well as to enhance its appearance.
Types of Brick Bonds
Let’s take a look at some of the most popular types of brick bonds used for walls,
1. Stretcher Bond
Bricks are laid horizontally and flat with a long side called a stretcher and in this bond, all brick is laid as stretchers, which is lengthwise shown in fig. Sometimes stretcher bond is also known as a running bond.
The limitation of the stretcher bond is that it cannot make an effective and strong bonding with adjacent bricks in full-width thick brick walls. They are only suitable for one-half brick-thick walls such as partition walls.
Walls constructed using these bonds are not strong enough to stand alone in case of long span and height. Thus they need supporting structures such as brick masonry columns at regular intervals.
Advantages of stretcher bond
This bond is mostly used in steel or reinforced concrete framed structures as the outer facing as well as for the construction of cavity walls.
Different types of wall construction done using stretcher-type bonds are
- Sleeper walls
- Boundary walls
- Partition walls
- Division walls (internal dividers)
- Chimney stacks
2. Header Bond
Header means a shorter square span face of the brick which has dimensions 9cm x 9cm. In these bonds, all bricks are placed as headers on the faces of any type of wall. Sometimes header bond is also called a heading bond.
While Stretcher bond is used for the construction of walls of half-brick thickness whereas this bond is used for the construction of walls with full-brick thickness.
In these bonds, the overlap is kept equal to 1/2 the width of the brick. For this purpose three-quarter brickbats are used in alternate courses as quoins.
Advantages of Header Bond
- Easy to construction
- Simple structure
- No skilled labor required
3. English Bond
English bond in the brick masonry work consists of one course of the stretcher and another course of the header above it, i.e. pattern formed by laying alternate courses of stretchers and headers.
Headers are laid centered on the stretchers in the course below and each alternate row is vertically aligned.
For the breaking of continuity of vertical joints, the queen closer is used at the beginning and end of a wall after the first header in each heading course.
A queen closer is a brick cut lengthwise into two halves and used at corners in brick walls.
Advantages of English Bond
English bond is one of the strongest bonds but it requires more facing bricks than any other bond. Brick flooring is done with an English bond.
Read More: Brick Masonry Vs Stone Masonry – Which Is Better?
4. Flemish Bond
Flemish Bond also famous as the Dutch bond, is created by laying alternate headers and stretchers in a single same course.
The very next course of brick is laid in such a way that the header lies in the center of the stretcher in the course below, i.e. the alternate headers of each course are centered on the stretcher of the course below. Each and every alternate course of this bond starts with a header at the corner.
This bond is difficult to construct and requires high skill to lay it perfectly as all vertical mortar joints need to be aligned vertically for the best and great effects.
For the breaking of vertical joints in the successive courses, closers are putting alternate courses next to the quoin header. Bats are used for walls having their thickness equal to an odd number of half bricks.
Even though Flemish bonds have a better appearance it is weaker than English bonds for load-bearing wall construction.
So, if the pointing has to be done for brick walls, then the Flemish bond can be used for the best aesthetic view but for the walls have to be plastered, then the English bond is more suitable.
Advantages of Flemish Bond
- Flemish Bond gives a better outer appearance.
Types of Flemish Bond
There are two types of Flemish bonds,
- Single Flemish Bond
- Double Flemish Bond
Single Flemish Bond:
A single Flemish Bond is a combination of English bonds and Flemish Bond. The front exposed surface of the wall is composed of a Flemish bond and another back surface is composed of an English bond in every single course.
Double Flemish Bond:
while a Double Flemish Bond takes a similar kind of appearance both in the front as well as the back of elevations.
5. English Garden Wall Bond
The arrangement of bricks in the English Garden Wall is similar to that of the English bond except that the heading courses are only inserted at every (4th or 6th ) course whereas stretchers are used in consequent courses every (3rd, 5th, or 7th ). In short, the arrangement consists of one course of headers and three courses of stretchers.
The queen closer is placed next to the queen header of the heading course forgiving the necessary lap.
6. Scottish Bond & American Bond
In the bond, the stretchers course is used 5 times consequently then it is known as the Scottish Bond and If it is used 7 times consequently then the bond is known as American Bond
7. Flemish Garden Wall Bond
The Flemish bond has Stretcher, Header & Stretcher Models. It is also known as Sussex Bond.
In this bond instead of having 1 stretcher & 1 header, here we have 3 in 1, 3 numbers of stretchers, and 1 header in the same course. It is also known as balanced bonding. You can see that by the Image.
In the Flemish garden wall bond, it is two types of variations of the Flemish bond one is 3 stretcher in 1 header ratio other is 2 stretcher in 1 header ratio.
Read More: 30+ Types of Bricks used in Construction
8. Stack Bond
In bond, bricks are laid directly on top of one another with joints aligned, running vertically down the whole wall. Bricks can be stacked horizontally or vertically too.
The alignment of joints results in minimal bonding which means that this bond is weak and often structurally unsound unless wire bed-joint reinforcement is placed in every horizontal course or, where loading is moderate, every alternate course. This is often used purely for decorative purposes and in rain-screen applications.
9. Raking Bond
In this bond type, the bonding bricks are laid at any angle except zero or ninety degrees. This type of arrangement helps to increase the longitudinal stability of thick walls’ built-in English bonds.
In this pattern of bonding, the space between the all external stretchers of a wall is filled using bricks inclined to the face of the wall.
A raking bond is introduced at certain intervals along with the height of any wall.
There are two common patterns of raking bonds;
- Diagonal bond
- Herring hone bond
- Diagonal Bond:
It is best suited for walls of two to four brick thicknesses. A diagonal bond is normally introduced at every fifth or seven-course along with the height of the wall.
Bricks in this bond are placed end to end in such a way that extreme corners of the sequence remain in contact with stretchers.
2. Herringbone bond:
This bond is suited for very thick walls usually not less than four bricks thick.
In this pattern of brickwork, bricks are laid in a course inclined at 45° in 2 directions from the center. This type of bond is also commonly used for brick paving.
10. Zig Zag Brick Bond
Zig Zag Bond is very similar to a herring-bone bond only difference is that in this case the bricks are laid in a zig-zag pattern. It is mostly adopted in brick-paved flooring.
11. Facing Bond
Facing bonds in brick masonry are mostly adopted for thick walls, where the facing and backing are chosen to be constructed with bricks of different thicknesses.
Typically, this band consists of heading and stretching courses arranged in a manner that one heading course comes after quite a lot of stretching courses.
The load distribution of walls using facing bonds is not uniform because of the difference between the facing and the number of joints in the backing. This can also lead to unequal settlement of the 2 thicknesses of the wall.
Conclusion:
Each brick masonry bond has its own application and characteristics, from providing stability for adding visual interest, texture, and strength. Builder, Engineers and Architecture can select the suitable type of brick masonry bond based on the specific requirement of the construction project.
Mainly focus on the structure details of this brick masonry bond is essential for achieving successful and durable masonry structure.
FAQs:
What are brick bonds in masonry construction?
Brick bonds refer to the arrangement of bricks in a wall, where they are laid in a specific pattern to create a strong and stable structure.
What is stretcher bond?
Stretcher bond is a type of brick bond where bricks are laid lengthwise in a row, with each brick overlapping halfway on the one below it. This is the simplest and most common type of brick bond.
What is garden wall bond?
Garden wall bond is a type of brick bond where every third course is made up entirely of headers, with the other courses made up of stretchers. This creates a decorative pattern and is often used for garden walls.
What is basket weave bond?
Basket weave bond is a type of brick bond where pairs of bricks are laid side by side, with each pair alternating direction. This creates a decorative pattern but is not as strong as other types of brick bonds.
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