Brick masonry is built with bricks bonded together with mortar. For temporary sheds mud mortar may be used but for all permanent buildings lime or cement mortars are used.
The various types of bonds generally used in brick masonry are..
- Stretcher bond
- Header bond
- English bond and
- Flemish bond
Stretcher Bond
This bond is sometimes known as running bond. This bond is the simplest bond that is used today, this bond is not suitable as a stand alone structural wall and a structural wall built directly behind it, fixed with wall ties would be needed. Stretcher Bond is normally used a farcade for the main structural building. It can look very plain, but with the introduction of other patterns can look very affective. Often this bond is used in garden walls, but you should look at other more attractive bonds like English Bond or Flemish Bond when considering landscaping.
Header Bond
A header is the shorter face of the brick as seen in the elevation. In a standard brick it is 90 mm × 90 mm face. In header bond brick masonry all the bricks are arranged in the header courses as shown in Fig. 8.5. This type of bond is useful for the construction of one brick thick walls.
English Bond
English Bond brickwork is were the bricks are laid in alternate layers of headers and stretchers. this bond is mainly used today as a decorative bond, often used in garden landscaping for screen walls. The traditional way of laying the courses is often changed to have 1 course of headers, then 3-5-7 courses in between the stretch course, this is referred to as Garden wall Bond. Like Flemish Bond, this can be a very difficult bond to get right and will take a lot of practice.
Flemish Bond
This is were alternate bricks are placed as header and stretcher in every course. Each header is placed centrally between the stretcher immediately above and below to maintain an even bond. Flemish Bond, bond like others, is rarely used today on new modern buildings and is more suited to garden walling and feature structures. It can be a very difficult bond to get to grips with because it requires great attention to detail.
