10 Most Popular Types Of Wall Brick Bonds

Brick walls can be structural, like load-bearing walls, or they can also be primarily
decorative, like a brick-veneer wall. Structural walls demand solid structural bonds,
while decorative walls can use any bond pattern. Let’s take a look at some of the most
traditional and popular brick bonds used for walls:

1. Stretcher Bond / Running Bond

One of the most common brick bonds, also popularly called running bonds. This bond is
very easy to lay, in fact, is one of the simplest ones used today. Stretcher bond is
suitable when walls of half brick thickness need to be constructed. Different types of
wall construction done using this kind of bond are:

 Sleeper walls
 Partition walls
 Division walls (internal dividers)
 Chimney stacks

Stretcher bonds are not very suitable for stand-alone structural walls, but very useful for
construction of walls with less thickness. Note, this bond will fail if the thickness of the
walls is more than half of the total length of the brick used.

2. Header Bond
A header is the shorter face of the brick. In header bond brick masonry all bricks are
constructed in the header course. In this bond, the overlap is performed corresponding
to a half width of the bricks. The three-quarter brickbats are utilized in alternative
courses as quoins. This bond is mainly used for the construction of one brick thick walls.
3. English Bond
One of the most commonly utilized variations of brick bonds in masonry works. This
bond essentially comprises of alternating courses of headers and stretchers. Headers
are laid centred over the stretchers in the course below and each alternate row is
vertically aligned. To break the continuousness of vertical joints, a quoin closer is used
at the start and end of a wall after the first header. A quoin close is a brick that is cut
lengthwise into 2 halves and used in the corners in brick walls. This type of bond is
mainly used to construct strong one brick thickness walls.

4. Flemish Bond
For this type of bond, each course is made up of alternate headers and stretchers. Each
header is centered on a stretcher above and below and every alternate course begins
with a header in the corner. For breaking the vertical joints in the successive courses,
quoin closers are introduced in alternate courses next to the header. This bond can be
significantly sub-divided into two diverse types:

 Single Flemish Bond – A combination of English bond and Flemish Bond. The front
exposed surface of the wall is composed of Flemish bong and the back surface is
composed of English bond in every single course.
 Double Flemish Bond – This bond takes a similar appearance both in the front and the
back elevations.

Walls with Flemish Bond are complex to erect and demand greater skills.
5. Stack Bond
In a stack bond, all the bricks are plainly loaded on top of each other and held with
mortar where all bonds are perfectly aligned. Because of its weak masonry structure
and less strength, Stack bonds are perfect for decorative purposes. This bond is a non-
structural bond, hence not suitable for walls which require to transfer loads.

6. Dutch Bond
A modified form of the English cross bond which consists of alternate courses of
headers and stretchers. In this arrangement of the brick bond, every single stretching
course begins at a quoin with a 3-quarter bat. Every alternate stretching course has a
header set next to the 3-quarter bat brick provided at the quoin. This bond is perfect to
construct strong corners along the wall which are subjected to excess loads.

7. Common Bond / American Bond

This bond is very similar to the English Bond, but this one has courses of headers
inserted in every five or six courses. Header courses are centered with the previous
header course. This header bond basically acts as a tie brick between the fronting and
the backing. To achieve the sufficient offset in a standard common bond, queen closers
are inserted at both ends of the header courses. The common bond is normally used in
exterior load-bearing walls.
8. Facing Bond
This bond is primarily adopted for thick walls, where the facing and backing are chosen
to be constructed with bricks of diverse thickness. Typically, this bond 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 this bond is not
uniform because of the difference between the facing and the total number of joints in
the backing. This can also lead to unequal settlement of the 2 thickness of the wall.

9. Diagonal Bond
Best suited for walls of two to four brick thickness. This bond is normally introduced at
every 5th or 7th course along the height of the wall. Bricks in this bond are placed end to
end in such a manner that extreme corners of the sequence remain in contact with the
stretchers.
10. Rat Trap Bond
In this bond, bricks are laid on edge or placed in a vertical position instead of the
conventional horizontal position. This creates a cavity (hollow space) within the wall.
This feature helps in keeping enhanced thermal comfort and keep the interiors cooler
than the outside and vice versa. This type of walls consumes a smaller number of
materials due to the internal cavity. The Rat Trap Bond looks very similar to the Flemish
Bond in appearance. Skilled labor and extra care are needed to design this bond.

Few other brick bonds used for walls are Brick on edge bond, Raking bond, Zigzag
bond, Garden wall bond, Monk Bond, Sussex bond, Dearne’s bond, Silverlock’s bond,
and Herring-bone bond.

Common Paving Brick Bonds

As already mentioned above, brick bonds aren’t only for the walls. Yes, they are also
used for paving’s. Walls need to support itself and sometimes loads from above, in
contradict brick paving are entirely supported by the underlying surface. Few of the
most common paving brick bonds are:

 Running bond – Same pattern as the wall brick, but these can be done parallel, vertical,
or diagonal to the length of a path or patio.
 Herringbone bond – This is one universally attractive pattern. A very simple zig-zag
pattern where each brick is perpendicular to its neighbours.
 Basketweave Bond – A square pattern with bricks placed side-by-side in pairs, and
each pair is perpendicular to its neighbours. This is an easy pattern for areas that are
rectangular or square in shape.
 Stacked Bond – Also known as Jack-on-Jack paving. This is a square grid of even rows
with no staggering between courses.

Brick bonds for paving’s can be more decorative and flexible in design.