BUILDING

COMPONENTS &
MATERIALS

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 MODULE 4

Building Materials

Masonary – Plastering, Mortar, Stone Masonry –Rubble, Ashlar,

Brick Masonry – Header, Stretcher, English and Flemish

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 Masonry

Masonary may be defined as the construction of building units bonded together

with mortar.

Mortar is a material used in masonry construction to fill gaps between the bricks
and blocks. Mortar is a mixture of sand, a binder such as cement or lime, and
water and is applied as a paste which then sets hard.
Building units commonly known as masonry units may be stones, bricks or
precast blocks of concrete.

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 Masonry Classification

Depending upon he type of building unit used masonry

can be classified into following categories –
• Brick Masonry
• Stone Masonry
• Hollow Concrete Blocks Masonry
• Reinforced Brick Masonry
• Composite Masonry

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 Brick Masonry

• Brick Masonry is made of Brick units bonded together with mortar.

• Mortar is a mixture of sand, cement or lime and water in suitable
proportion.

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 Types of Bricks

• Traditional or Conventional Bricks

• The dimensions of traditional bricks varies from 20-25
cm in length, 10 – 13 cm in width and 7.5 to 10 cm in
height.
• The commonly adopted size of brick is 23cm X 11.4 cm
X 7.5 cm

• Modular Bricks
• Indian Standard recommended brick size of a modular
brick is 19cm X 9cm X 9cm
• With mortar thickness, size of such bricks become 20
cm X 10cm X 10cm, and it is known as the nominal size
of a modular brick

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 Common Terms used in Brick Masonry
• Course – A course is a horizontal layer of bricks or stones
• Bed – It s the surface of stone perpendicular to the line of pressure.
It indicates the lower surface of bricks or stone in each course.
• Back – The inner surface of a wall which is not exposed is called
the back. The material forming the back is known as backing.
• Face –The exterior of wall exposed to weather is known as face.
The material used in the face of the wall is known as facing.
• Hearting – It is the interior portion of a wall between the facing and
the backing.
• Side - It is the surface forming the boundary of bricks or stones in
a direction transverse to the face and bed.
• Joint – It is the junction of two or more bricks. If the joint is parallel
to the bed of bricks in a course then it is termed as bed joint. The
joint which are perpendicular to the bed joints are termed as
vertical joints or side joints.
• Stretcher –This is the brick laid with its length parallel to the face
or front or direction of wall.
• Header – This is brick laid with its width parallel to the face or front
of the wall
• Frog – A small depression created purposely on one side of brick
to form a key for holding the mortar.
• Arrises – The edges formed by the intersection of plane surface of
brick are termed as arrises.
• Lap – It is defined as the horizontal distance between the vertical
joints in successive courses

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 Common Terms used in Brick Masonry
• Perpends – It is defined as the vertical joints in each course of
masonry work. For a good bond, the Perpends in alternate courses
should be vertically one above the other.
• Bond – The method of arranging the bricks in courses so that the
individual units are tied together is called bond.
• Closer – A piece of brick which is used to close up the bond at the
end of brick course is known as closer. It helps in preventing the
joints of successive courses to come in vertical line.
• Types of Closers –
• King Closer – This is obtained by cutting a piece of brick in
triangular shape between the centre of header and stretcher

• Queen Closer (Half) – Queen closer is obtained by cutting a

brick length wise into two pieces.

• Queen Closer (Quarter) – When queen closer is cut in half,

then it is called queen closer quarter.

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 Common Terms used in Brick Masonry

• Types of Closers –
• Bevelled Closer – When a triangular portion of a brick is cut
through its half width and to a full length, then remaining
portion after cutting is called as bevelled closer.

• Mitred Closer – When a triangular portion of a brick is cut

through its half width and making an angle of 45

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 Common Terms used in Brick Masonry
• Bat – A portion of brick cut across the width is known as bat.

• Types of Bat –
• Half Bat – When the length of a bat is equal to half of the
length of the original brick

• Three-Quarter Bat – When the length of the bat is equal to

three-quarters of the length of the original brick.

• Bevelled Bat – When the length of the bat is equal to three-

quarters of the length of the original brick.

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 Common Terms used in Brick Masonry
• Bull Nose – A bull nose brick is a type of brick that has one or
some of its corners rounded off. They are typically used to build
soft and attractive curved edges to steps, ledges or in capping
walls.

• Types of Bull Nose –

• Single Bull Nose– One corner of the brick is rounded off.

• Double Bull Nose– Two corners of the brick are rounded off.

• Cow Nose– This has both corners of the brick rounded off at
one of the ends.

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• Single Bull Nose Header– Top header side corner of the
brick is rounded off.

• Single Bull Nose Stretcher– Top stretcher side corner of the

brick is rounded off.

• Bull Nose Double Stretcher– Both top stretcher side

corners of the brick are rounded off

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 Joint Types

• There are eight types of mortar joint -

• Concave Joint – The most popular type of joint. It is formed

in mortar by the use of a concave jointer tool. It has a high
level of water resistance due to its recessed profile and the
compacted mortar. It also highlights the quality and face of
the bricks.

• Vee Joint – This type of joint, also called “V”, is formed by

the use of a V-shaped jointer or a trowel. The joint hides
small irregularities and is water-resistant because the mortar
is compacted and its shape directs water away from the seal

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• Flush Joint – This joint is used when the wall is intended to
be plastered or when you plan to paint the wall. Since the
mortar is not compressed, it is less water-resistant than some
of the other joint types.

• Raked– For this joint type, the mortar is raked out to a

uniform depth using a wheeled jointer or brick rake. It is
usually left uncompressed, but if compacted, it will have
better water-resistance. It will still collect water and be less
efficient than the other joints.

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• Extruded– This joint is formed naturally by the excess mortar
when bricks are squeezed and does not need any special
tooling. It is not recommended for exterior walls and the
extruded material will weaken and erode over time.

• Beaded - Formed by the use of a beaded jointer it

produces a vintage, formal look. These beaded joints create
interesting shadows, but they are not recommended for
exterior use because of their exposed ledges and the erosion
over time leaves the joint weakened and untidy.

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• Struck– Mortar is recessed increasingly from the top to the
bottom of the joint, with the bottom end not going more than
3/8-inch into the wall. It is a very poor insulator against water,
as it will allow water to collect on its bottom edge and
therefore not recommended for exterior building walls.

• Weathered - Mortar is recessed increasingly, using a

pointing trowel, from the bottom to the top of the joint, with
the top end not going more than 3/8-inch into the wall. This
type of joint is highly decorative and can be used on exterior
walls but is not as water resistance as the concave and V-
joints.

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 Brick Bonds

What is a Bond?
• When bricks are laid adjacent to each other forming a groove in
between the bricks which is filled by cement mortar is called a bond.
• Bricks are arranged in courses in such a way that they are tied
together and also taken care of the vertical joints that are formed
when bricks are arranged in courses.
• The bricks used for the purpose of masonry construction are uniform
in size.
• The rule is, “ Vertical Joints of the successive courses of bricks should
not coincide that is a continuous vertical joint across the wall should
be avoided since it will gradually result into development of cracks.”

Rules of Good Bonding

• Uniform size bricks are used.
• Length of the brick is twice its width plus one joint in order to
obtain a uniform lap.
• Minimum of ¼ᵗʰ of the brick is placed along the length of the wall
and ½ᵗʰ of the brick should be placed across the thickness of
the wall.
• Use of brick bats is avoided.
• The centre line of header and stretcher in alternate courses is
made to coincide with each other in order to obtain a stable
wall.
• Stretchers are used in facing.
• Headers are used in the hearting.
• To increase the stability and bonding, every sixth course should
be provided as a header course on both sides of the wall.

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 Types of Brick Bonds

• Stretcher Bond

• Header Bond

• Facing Bond

• English Bond

• Flemish Bond

• Dutch Bond

• English Cross Bond

• Brick on edge Bond

• Raking Bond

• Zigzag Bond

• Garden wall Bond

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▪ Stretcher Bond

• Stretcher Bond is formed by laying bricks horizontally as stretchers on the

faces of walls. The length of bricks is along the horizontal direction of the wall.
• Stretcher Bond is used when walls of half brick thickness are to be
constructed.
• It should however be remembered that this bond is only possible in the case of
walls with less thickness and the bond will fail if the thickness of the walls is
more than half the length of the brick.

• Various types of wall construction are done using this type of bond-
• Sleeper walls
• Partition walls
• Chimney stacks

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▪ Header Bond

• Header Bond is also known as Heading Bond. The overlap is kept equal to half
width of the brick. To achieve this, three-quarter brick bats are used in
alternate courses as quoins.
• Since Header bonds lacks strength in pressure transmission along the length
of the wall, it is not preferable to use this kind of bond for load bearing walls.

• Header Bond is useful when the design demands curved surfaces to be

constructed. Apart from using it for curved surface, it can also be used for
brickwork in foundations.

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▪ Facing Bond

• Facing Bond is used where bricks of different thickness are to be used in the
facing and backing of the wall.
• In this bond, a header course is provided after several stretcher courses.
• Since the thickness of bricks are different in the facing and backing, the
vertical distance between the successive header courses is kept equal to the
least common multiple of the thickness of backing and facing bricks.
• Thus, if the nominal thickness of facing bricks is 10 cm and that of backing
bricks is 9 cm, the header course is provided at a vertical interval of 90 cm.
• This type of bond is not structurally good and load distribution is not uniform.

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▪ English Bond

• The English Bond Brickwork is the type of brick bond in which the bricks are
laid as stretcher and header in alternate courses.

• A Queen Closer is placed just after the header provides a good overlap. The
queen closer is not required in stretcher course.

• The English Bond is considered as the strongest bond in brickwork and it is

generally used in practice.

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• The main features of English bond are as follows –

i. The alternative course in English bond shows headers and stretchers.

ii. Every alternate header comes centrally over the joint between two
stretcher in course below.
iii. In the stretcher course, the stretcher have a minimum lap of ¼ᵗʰ their
length over header
iv. There is no continuous vertical joint.
v. Walls of even multiple of half bricks (i.e., 1- brick thick wall, 2 – brick
thick wall, 3 – brick thick wall) present the same appearance on both
faces. Thus the course showing stretchers on the front face will also
show stretchers on the back face.
vi. Walls of odd multiple of half bricks (i.e., 1½ - brick thick wall, 2½ - brick
thick wall, etc.,) will show stretchers on one face and headers on the
other face.
vii. The hearting (middle portion) of each of the thicker walls consists
entirely of headers.
viii. At least every alternate transverse joint is continuous from face to face
ix. A header course should never start with queen closer, as it will get
displaced. The queen closer should be placed just next to he quoin
header. Queen Closers are not required in stretcher courses.
x. Since the number of vertical joins in the header course are twice the
number of vertical joints in the stretcher course, the joint in the header
course are made thinner than the joints in the stretcher course.

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CINDREBAY, Kochi
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▪ Flemish Bond

• The Flemish Bond Brickwork is the type of brick bond, in which each course is
comprised of alternate headers and stretchers.
• Every alternate course starts with a header at the corners (i.e., quoin header).
• Queen Closer are placed next to the Quoin header in alternate courses to
develop the face lap.
• Every header is centrally supported over the stretcher below it.

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• Flemish Bonds are of two types –

i. Double Flemish Bond

ii. Single Flemish Bond

• Double Flemish Bond – In Double Flemish Bond, each course presents the
same appearance both in front face and in the back face. Alternate headers
and stretcher are laid in each course. Because of this, Double Flemish bond
presents better appearance than English Bond.

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• The main features of Double Flemish Bond are as follows –

i. Every course consists of headers and stretchers placed alternatively.

ii. The facing and backing of the wall, in each course, have the same
appearance.
iii. Queen Closers are used next to Quoin Headers in every alternate
course.
iv. In walls having thickness equal to odd multiple of half bricks, half-bats
and three-quarter bats are amply used.
v. For walls having thickness equal to even multiple of half bricks, no bats
are required. A header or stretcher will come out as a header or
stretcher on the same course in front as well as back faces.

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CINDREBAY, Kochi
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• Single Flemish Bond – Single Flemish Bond is comprised of Double Flemish
Bond facing and English Bond backing and hearting in each course. This
bond thus uses the strength of the English Bond and appearance of Flemish
Bond. However, this bond can be used for those walls having thickness at
least equal to 1½ brick. Single Flemish Bond is done with good quality
expensive Bricks. However cheaper bricks can be used for backing and
hearting.

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CINDREBAY, Kochi
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▪ Dutch Bond

• Dutch Bond is modified form of English Bond.

• In this bond, the corners of the walls are strengthened.

• Special features of this type of bond are as follows –

• Alternate courses of headers and stretchers are provided as in English
Bond.
• Every stretcher course starts at the quoin with a three-quarter bat.
• In every alternate stretcher course, a header is placed next to the three-
quarter brick bat provided at the quoin.

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▪ English Cross Bond

• English Cross Bond is another modification of English Bond.

• It is used to improve the appearance of the wall.

• This bond combines the requirements of beauty and strength.

• Special features of the bond are as follows –

• Alternate Courses of headers and stretchers are provided as in English
Bond.
• Queen Closers are placed next to quoin headers
• A header is introduced next to the quoin stretcher in every alternate
stretcher course.

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▪ Brick on Edge Bond (Silver lock's Bond or
Soldier’s Course)

• Brick on Edge Bond uses stretcher bricks on edges instead of bed.

• This bond is weak in strength but is economical. Hence, it is used for Garden
walls, compound walls etc.

• Bricks are kept standing vertically on edge.

• Bricks are arranged as headers and stretchers in such a manner that headers
are placed on bed and stretchers are placed on edge thus forming a
continuous cavity.

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▪ Raking Bond

• Raking Bond is used for thick walls.

• In this type of bond, the bonding bricks are kept at an inclination to the
direction of the wall. Due to this, the longitudinal stability of thick wall built in
English Bond is very much increased.
• Following are the special features of wall –
• The bricks are arranged in inclined direction, in the space between the
external stretchers of the wall.
• The inclination should be in opposite direction in alternate courses of the
raking bond.
• Raking Bond is not provided in successive courses, It is provided at
regular interval of four to eight courses in the height of a wall.
• The raking course is generally provided between the two stretcher
courses of the wall having a thickness equal to even multiple of half
brick, to make the bond more effective.

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• Raking Bonds are of two types –
• Diagonal Bond – In this type of bond, bricks are arranged at 45º
angle in such a way that extreme corners of the series remain in
contact with the external line of stretchers. This bond is best suited
for walls which are 2 to 4 brick thick. In every alternate course of the
bond, the direction of the brick is reversed.

Diagonal Bond
• Herring-bone Bond – This bond is more suitable for walls which are
thicker than four bricks thick. Bricks are arranged at 45º angle in two
opposite directions from the centre of the wall thickness. In every
alternate course, the direction of the bricks are changed. The bond is
used for ornamental finish to the face work, and also for brick
flooring.

Herring-bone Bond
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▪ Zig Zag Bond

• This bond is similar to herring-bone bond, except that the bricks are laid in
Zigzag fashion. This bond is commonly used for making ornamental panels in
the brick flooring.

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▪ Garden Wall Bond

• This type of bond is used for construction of garden walls, boundary walls,
compound walls , where thickness of the wall is one brick thick and the height
does not exceed two metres.

• This type of bond is not so strong as English Bond, but is more attractive.

• Garden Wall Bonds are of three types –

• Garden Wall English Bond
• Garden Wall Flemish Bond
• Garden Wall Monk Bond

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• Garden Wall English Bond :
• In this bond, the header course is provided only after three to five
stretcher courses.
• In each header course, a queen closer is placed next to quoin header, to
provide necessary lap.
• In stretcher courses quoin headers are placed in alternate courses.

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• Garden Wall Flemish Bond :
• In this bond, each course contains one header after three to five
stretchers continuously placed, throughout the length of the course.
• Each alternate course contains a three-fourth brick bat placed next to
quoin header, to develop necessary lap, and a header laid over the
middle of each central stretcher.
• This bond is also known as scotch bond or Sussex bond.

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• Garden Wall Monk Bond :
• This is a special type of garden wall Flemish bond in which each course
contains on header after two successive stretchers. Every alternate
course contains a quoin header followed by a three-quarter bat. Due to
this, the header rests over the joint between two successive stretcher.

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▪ Rat Trap Bond

• Rat Trap Bond was first introduced by eminent architect Laurie Baker in India
and supported by HUDCO.
• This type of bond is made by placing the bricks on their sides having a cavity
of 4” ( 100mm)
• Alternate Courses of Stretcher and headers
• It is used in India as an economical bond.
• Can make wall of one brick thickness with fewer bricks than a solid bond.
• Strength is equal to the standard 10” (250mm) brick wall, but consumes 20%
less bricks.
• Cost saving on material is 26% as compared to the traditional 10” brick wall.
• Maintains thermal comfort inside the building due to air medium.
• Bricks aligned on both sides, plastering not required.
• It is quite strong.

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 Stone Masonry

• Stone Masonry is used for the construction of walls, columns, lintels, arches,
beams ,etc of a building.
• Stones are abundantly available in nature and when cut and dressed to
proper shapes, they provide an economical material for construction of
various parts of building.

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General Principles of Stone Masonry

• The stones to be used for stone masonry should be hard, tough and
durable.

• The stones should be perfectly dressed as per requirements.

• The mortar to be used should be good quality.

• Broken stones or small stones chips should not used as much as possible.

• Only properly wetted stones should be used to avoid mortar moisture being
absorbed.

• Joints must be maintained of uniform thickness to it’s minimum norm &

proper bond should be maintained throughout for alternate courses.

• Large flat stones should be used below the seat of girders, trusses for
distribution of point loads on wider cross-section area of wall

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 Types of Stone Masonry

• Rubble Masonry

• Ashlar Masonry

Rubble Masonry Ashlar Masonry

• Uncoursed or Random • Ashlar Fine Masonry

Rubble Masonry
• Ashlar Rough Tooled
• Coursed Rubble Masonry
• Rock or Rustic or Quarry
• Dry Rubble Masonry Faced

• Ashlar Chamfered

• Ashlar Facing

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 Rubble Masonry

• Uncoursed or Random Rubble Masonry

• Cheapest, roughest and poorest form of stone masonry
• Stones are used in this type are of widely different sizes
• Stones of irregular shape and size directly obtained quarry by
removing the weak corners and edges by hammer.

• Coursed Random Rubble Masonry

• This type off masonry commonly used in the construction of low
height walls of public buildings, residential buildings.
• The method of construction is same as previous thickness 30 – 45
cm thick.
• All the courses are not of same height.
• The stones of 5-20cm size are used in each course.
• Header stones are allowed about regular internal in each course.

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 Rubble Masonry
• Coursed Squared Rubble Masonry
• This type of masonry is made up of hammer squared stones.
• The stones employed in each course are of equal height
• In order to avoid thick mortar joints, small chips may be used
• Good appearance can be achieved by using risers (large stones),
leveller (thinner stones), sneck or check (small stones) in a pattern
having their depths in ratio of 3:2:1.
• It is sometimes known as Square-snecked rubble

• Polygonal Rubble Masonry

• In this type of masonry, the stone are roughly dressed to an
irregular polygonal shape.
• The stones should be so arranged as to avoid long vertical joints in
face work and to break joints as much as possible
• Small stone chips should not be used to support the stones on the
facing

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 Rubble Masonry

• Dry Rubble Masonry

• This type of masonry is used in the construction of retaining walls
in agriculture land, pitching earthen dams and canal slopes in the
form of random rubble masonry without any mortar
• This type of construction is the cheapest and requires more skills
in construction.
• The hallow spaces left around stones should be tightly packed with
smaller stone pieces.

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 Ashlar Masonry
• Ashlar Fine Masonry
• This is the finest type of masonry in which perfectly dressed stones
are used.
• The height of the courses is never less than 30cm & generally all
the courses are kept of same height.
• The stones are generally laid as header & stretcher alternately.
• The bed & side joints in this type of wok should never exceed 5mm
in thickness.

• Ashlar Rough Masonry

• In this type, the exposed faces should have a fine chisel drafting
• The thickness of mortar joints does not exceed 6mm.
• The size, angle, edges etc. are maintained in order similar to that
for dressed ashlar.
• It is also known as bastard ashlar.

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 Ashlar Masonry
• Ashlar Chamfered
• Ashlar Chamfered is the special type of ashlar masonry in which at
an angle of 45o to a depth of 25mm the strip provided around the
perimeter of the exposed face is chamfered.

• Uncoursed Ashlar Masonry

• Random uncoursed ashlar is a type of stone masonry that uses
finely tooled ashlar stones laid in random and discontinuous
courses. Consisting of various size stones with highly processed
and dressed rectangular shapes, uncoursed ashlar provides a
more organic pattern while remaining structurally strong with
engineered and controlled joints and bonds.

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END OF MODULE

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