CHAPTER 6

BRICKS
 INTRODUCTION

This topic introduces the types and uses of bricks, parts

of bricks, types and uses of cut bricks. Student will also
be exposed to types of walls and their arrangement or
orientation and types of mortar joints.
 IDENTIFY YOUR BRICK

Building B

Building A
 INTRODUCTION

- A brick is a block or a single unit of a ceramic material used in 

masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar
.
- Made from clay, shale, soft slate, calcium silicate, concrete, or
shaped from quarried stone.
 Introduction
No. Shape Figures

1. Solid – no holes

Perforated – holes
2. exceed 25% of gross
volume of the brick
 Introduction
No. Shape Figures

Hollow – holes exceed

25% of gross volume of
3.
the brick
 Types of Bricks
There are 4 types of brick;
i. Clay brick
ii. Calcium Silicate brick
iii. Concrete block
iv. Sand cement brick
 Clay Bricks
No. Types Figures

Common – (for general

use, not design to
provide good finish/high
1. strength, usually
plastered & non-load
bearing)

Facing – (for attractive

2. appearance, no cracks,
may or may not load
bearing & durable)
 Clay Bricks
No. Types Figures

Engineering – (for good

strength & high
durability purposes, high
3. density & well fired, eg:
retaining wall,
embankment, load
bearing wall & sewer)
 Clay Bricks

• Clay brick has a rough surface, block which

made from clay and measuring 215mm x
102.5mm x 65mm which if compound with the
mortar layer measure increase 10mm.
• made from mixing clay with water and an
aggregate such as sand to prevent shrinkage
and provide bulk. The mud is worked to a
relatively thick consistency, pressed into forms
and fired in a kiln at temperatures as high as
1,832 degrees Fahrenheit (1,000 degrees
Celsius).
Clay Bricks

Clay brick is a very

popular building
material used in the
construction of
residential, commercial,
and industrial
structures.
Clay Bricks
 Calcium-silicate Brick
• Calcium-silicate bricks are also called sand lime bricks
• Mix proportion 1:8
• made with lime (non-hydraulic) binding the silicate
material. The raw materials for calcium-silicate bricks
include lime mixed in a proportion of about 1 to 10
with sand, quartz, crushed flint, or crushed siliceous
rock together with mineral colourants. The materials
are mixed and left until the lime is completely
hydrated; the mixture is then pressed into moulds
and cured in an autoclave for three to fourteen hours
to speed the chemical hardening
Calcium-silicate Brick
 Concrete Brick
• Bricks formed from concrete are usually termed as
blocks, and are typically pale grey
• made from a dry, small aggregate concrete which is
formed in steel moulds by vibration and compaction in
static machine. The finished blocks are cured, rather
than fired, using low-pressure steam. Concrete blocks
are manufactured in a much wider range of shapes
and sizes than clay bricks and are also available with a
wider range of face treatments – a number of which
simulate the appearance of clay bricks.
Concrete Brick
 Concrete Brick

Various types & shapes of concrete blocks

 Sand Cement Brick
• a construction material which is used to bond bricks
together. It is also known as mortar brick and it comes in a
variety of styles for different applications.
• Mix proportion 1:8
• Sand cement brick is very similar to concrete, except that
the aggregate materials used are much finer.
• This product is made with a blend of fine-grain sand, a
cementations material such as Portland cement or polymer
cement, and water. When the brick cement is wet, it can be
spread and manipulated like a thick paste. As it dries, it
hardens and sets, turning into firm glue which will hold
bricks together (natural drying).
Sand Cement Brick
Parts and Dimensions of Common Brick
Parts and Dimensions of Common Brick
Uses Of The Different Types Of Cut Bricks
• Cut brick was a brick that cut or modified from original size of brick to be
adjusted in brick bond. There are two (2) types of cut brick:
i) Closer brick – a brick which has been cut over
its length (stretcher long)
ii) Sliced brick – a brick which has been cut over its
width

Closer brick
a) Queen Closer
• A brick which has been cut over its length and is a stretcher
long and a quarter bat deep.
• Commonly used to bond on brick walls at right angled quoins.
b) King Closer
• A brick which has been cut diagonally over its
length to show a half bat at one end and
nothing at the other.

a) Queen Closer b) King Closer

Sliced brick
a) ¾ Bricks
• Used for the
construction in junction
and end joints to avoid
vertical straight joint.

b) Half Bricks
• Used for end joints to
avoid vertical straight
joint.
 Movement joints in brickwork
• Movement joints should be formed where
required by the design
• Necessary in long lengths of walling to reduce
unsightly cracking
• Joints are often hidden in corners or behind
rainwater pipes
• Not needed in internal walls & partitions
Types of brick movement joints in brickwork

a) Lateral/Horizontal Joints
• Horizontal movement joints are formed by,
and located at, shelf angles.
• Usually specified once the building height
reaches three or four stories.
• Lateral or horizontal joints usually used for
Head bond, Side or Stretcher Bond, English
Bond and Flemish Bond.
b) Vertical Joints
• Vertical movement joints span masonry panels
vertically (both structural and veneer).
• When selecting vertical movement joint
locations, the primary consideration should be
the location of large openings where stress
concentrations can be expected to occur. E.g :
changes in wall height, changes in wall
thickness, corners, offsets and wall
intersections.
 Vertical
Horizontal Joints
Joints
c) Lapped Joints
• Lapped joint is the
horizontal distance to
copy brick structure at
the top of the brick
underneath.
• The bricks are usually tied
by plastering it in ¼ brick
or ½ brick.
• These types of joint have
been seen in L or T wall.
d) Quoins
• Quoins are the cornerstones of brick.
• Quoins may be either structural or decorative.
• Architects and builders use quoins to give the
impression of strength and firmness to the outline of
a building.
• Quoining can be carried out in stone on a stone
building, with stone on a predominantly brick
building, or by laying brick masonry to give the
appearance of blocks at the corner.
• If structural, quoins are usually part of load-bearing
walls; if decorative, they may be made of a variety of
materials including brick, stone and wood.
Different types of Quoins & purposes
e) Toothing
• In leaving a section of brickwork so that subsequent
work can be bonded into it, the end is finished in
what is known as "toothing."
• Toothing is a vertical break in the wall but with
alternate courses left projecting a sufficient distance
to assure good bond with the portion to be afterward
built, this end thus presenting a tooth like
appearance.
• The purpose of toothing is to allow for plumbing to
be taking higher than a racking would normally allow.
• Toothing should be avoided wherever possible; it is
difficult to construct the new portion.
Toothing in brickwork
f) Racking
• Racking back and stop end is commonly used
by bricklayers to build plumbing which allow
them to plumb either end of the wall & build a
line in the middle of the wall.
Terminologies in brick lying
 The Main Principles in Brickwork
There are two (2) main principles in
brickwork;

i. An arrangement in brick bond

must have lapped (lekap) ¼ brick or
½ brick to prevent vertical straight
joint on the surface or in wall.
ii. According to the type of brick
bond that had been set by designer
to ensure wall stability that built
and maintain design arts.
Types of Bond in Brickworks

STRETCHER BOND
Types of Bond in Brickworks

ENGLISH BOND
Types of Bond in Brickworks

HEADER BOND
Types of Bond in Brickworks

FLEMISH BOND
Mortar jointing and pointing
 Mortar jointing and pointing
Definition:
• The jointer work (jointing) which have been
made during plastering brickwork when mortar
still wet. In this work, the brick is arranged and
bound until single brick layer were completed,
then the brick bond is trimmed.
• The term used for ‘finishing off’ mortar joints,
of the brickwork, before the mortar hardens.
(as the work proceeds)
 Mortar jointing and pointing
• The main purpose of any joint finishing is to improve the
wall’s resistance to rain or the ingress of water through
the joint, as well as enhancing the appearance of the
wall.
• If joints are simply cut to the face of the brick and not
finished, shallow cracks will develop immediately
between the brick and the mortar.
• This is achieved by packing mortar into the joints so that
it has close contact with surface of the brickwork.
• Jointing up brickwork is a critical part of building face
work, and it should not be hurried.
 Mortar jointing and pointing
There is five (5) types of joint finishes:
• Flush Joint
• Weather Joint
• Struck Joint
• Raked Joint
• Half Tooled @ Concaved @ Keyed Joint
• ‘V’ Joint
 FLUSH JOINT
• Flush joints are achieved by cleaning off excess
surface mortar close to the surface of the
brickwork and then, later on, brushing the
surface with a light bristle brush to remove
any crumbs.
 WEATHERED JOINT
• A weather struck joint is formed using a pointing
trowel. The joint has a surface, which slopes from
the top to the bottom (downwards) of the brick
so that water can run off the surface of the joint.
 STRUCK JOINT
• Mortar joint has a slope (upwards) edge.
 RAKED JOINT
• Raked or square-recessed joints are joints
where the surface is a specified depth below
the surface of the brick.
• This is achieved by raking or scraping out the
joint material using a tool called a ‘Chariot’ or
an improvised depth gauge which is usually a
piece of timber with a nail inserted to the
depth required.
RAKED JOINT
 CONCAVED JOINT
• achieved by scraping or ‘ironing in’ the joint to
form a concave or half-round joint.
• always joint into the main body of Brickwork.
• the cross joints should always be done first
and care is needed when finishing joints at
external angles.
CONCAVED JOINT
 ‘V’ JOINT
• Mortar joint is the form of ‘V’
 Mortar jointing and pointing
• What is pointing?
• It is the art of finishing the mortar joints in
exposed brick or stone masonry with suitable
cement or lime mortar, in order to protect the
joints from weather effects and also to improve
the appearance of building structure.
• Pointing is a term used to describe the process of
finishing off joints that are raked out on the day
the brickwork is built. It is carried out after the
brickwork is complete.
POINTING
POINTING
JOINTING VS RAIN PENETRATION