MASONRY

 Is the simplest of building techniques: The mason stacks pieces of material atop one
another to make walls
 Bricks, stones, concrete blocks, - masonry units
 Masonry is the material of earth, taken from the earth and comfortably at home in
foundations, pavings, and walls that grow directly from the earth.
 With modern techniques of reinforcing, however, masonry can rise many stories from
the earth, and in the form of arches and vaults, masonry can take wing and fly across
space
 The most ancient of our building techniques, masonry remains labor intensive,
requiring the patient skills of experienced and meticulous artisans to achieve a
satisfactory result.
 It has kept pace with the times, however, and remains highly competitive technically
and economically with other systems of structure and enclosure
 History
­ Masonry began spontaneously in the creation of low walls from stones or pieces
of caked mud taken from dried puddles.
­ Mortar – was originally the mud smeared into the joints of the rising wall to
impart stability and weathertightness.
­ Bricks – were made from local clays and silts.
­ Masons – learned the simple art of turning limestone into lime, and lime mortar
gradually replaced mud in the joints of masonry
­ Mesopotamians – palaces and temples with sun-dried brick
­ Egyptians – pyramids and stone temples
­ Greeks – perfected their temples of limestone and marble
­ Romans – large scale use of masonry arches and roof vaults in their basilicas,
baths, palaces and aqueducts
­ Islamic – magnificent palaces, markets, and mosques of bricks and often faced
them with brightly glazed clay tiles
­ Europeans – fortresses, cathedrals of stone, culminating in the pointed vaults
and flying buttresses of the great Gothic churches
­ In the late 19th century, masonry began to lose its primacy among the materials
of construction.
­ The very tall buildings of the central cities required frames of iron or steel to
replace the thick masonry bearing walls that had limited the heights to which
one could build.
­ Reinforced concrete, poured rapidly and economically into simple forms made
of wood, began to replace brick and stone masonry in foundations and walls.
­ The 19th-century invention of the hollow concrete block helped to avert the
extinction of masonry as a craft.
­ most of the great works of architecture in the world, and many of the best-
developed vernacular architectures, are built of masonry
 Mortar
 ­ is as much a part of masonry as the masonry units themselves
­ Mortar serves to cushion the masonry units, giving them full bearing against one
another despite their surface irregularities
­ Mortar seals between the units to keep water and wind from penetrating
­ It adheres the units to one another to bond them into a monolithic structural
unit
­ Made up of
o portland cement - bonding agent in the mortar
o hydrated lime - added to impart smoothness and
workability
o inert aggregate (sand) - must be screened to eliminate particles
that are too coarse or fine
o water - to cure portland cement
­ Types of Mortar
o Type M - high-strength mortar with less workability that Type S or
N; recommended for masonry construction below grade which are
subject to high lateral and compressive load
o Type S - suitable for higher-strength structural walls and for sever
weather exposures; recommended for exterior loadbearing masonry
walls
o Type N - general-purpose mortar; recommended for exterior veneers,
nonloadbearing exterior walls, parapets, chimneys, and interior
loadbearing walls
o Type O - the most economical, used only for nonloadbearing
interior work
o Type K - Very low in strength used for history preservation
o The majority of mortar for masonry work used in new construction is
either Type N or Type S.
o MaSoN wOrK
 Brick Masonry
­ Is a product of fire
­ Is the most fire resistant of any masonry unit type
­ One of the oldest masonry materials
­ Three major method for forming bricks:
o Soft-mud process
 Oldest method; relatively moist clay (20-30% water) is pressed
into simple rectangular molds
o Dry-press process
 Clay mixed with a minimum of water (up to 10 percent) is pressed
into steel molds by a machine working at a very high pressure
o Stiff mud process
 Most widely used today; Clay containing 12 to 15 percent water is
passed through a vacuum to remove any pockets of air, then
extruded through a rectangular die
 ­ After molding, the bricks are dried for 1 or 2 days in a low-temperature dryer
kiln. They are then ready for transformation into their final form by a process
known as firing or burning.
­ Facing Bricks
o Are the most popular type of brick, which are materials used in making
facades or the principal front of a building
o High degree of resistance to weather
­ Backup Bricks
o Masonry placed behind facing bricks
o Lower in quality than facing bricks
­ Grades for Building & Facing Bricks
o Based on resistance to weathering
o Grade SW - recommended for use in contact with the ground, or in
situations where the brickwork is likely to be saturated with water
o Grade MW - may be used above ground in any of the regions
o Grade NW - intended for use in sheltered or indoor locations
­ Types of Facing Bricks
o Based on the degree of uniformity in shape, dimension, texture, and
color from one brick to the next
­ Joint Tooling Profiles for Brickworks
­ Lintels
o Brick wall must be supported above openings for windows and doors.
o Two types of lintels:
 Steel angle lintel requires some trimming of the first courses of
brick but is scarcely visible in the finished wall
 Precast reinforce concrete lintel is clearly visible
­ Corbel
o An ancient structural device of limited spanning capability, one that may
be used for small opening in brick walls, for beam brackets, and for
ornament
­ Arch
o Is a structural form so widely used and so powerful, both structurally and
symbolically, that entire books have been devoted to it
o Parts of an arch
­ Brick Laying
o Bricks are laid in various positions for visual reasons, structural reasons, or both.
The simplest brick wall is a single wythe of stretcher courses. For walls two or more
wythes thick, headers are used to bond the wythes together into a structural unit.
 Stone Masonry
­ Most expensive type of masonry used in residential construction
­ Because of this, the stonework of walls and fireplace facing for modern
residences invariably consists of a veneer of stone over a structural CMU base
o Veneer
  May refer to wood veneer, a thin facing layer of wood. Masonry
veneer, a thin facing layer of brick. Stone veneer, a thin facing
layer of tone.
­ Types of Building Stone
o Igneous Rock
 Rock that was deposited in molten state
o Sedimentary Rock
 Rock deposited by the action of water or wind
o Metamorphic Rock
 Either igneous or sedimentary rock that has been transformed by
heat and pressure into a different type of rock
­ Granite
o The igneous rock commonly quarried for construction
o Can be obtained in a range of color
o Nonporous, hard, strong, and durable, the most nearly permanent of
building stones, suitable for use in contact with the ground or exposed to
sever weathering
o Use for: garden walls, veneers, can be polished granite slabs and tiles for
countertops and fireplace facings
­ Basalt
o Another igneous like granite but it is very dense and durable
o Usually found only in dark gray color and is seldom machined
­ Limestone & Sandstone
o Are principal sedimentary rocks used in construction
o Porous stone that contains considerable groundwater when quarried
o Colors range from white through gray and buff to iron oxide red
o Sandstone has two familiar forms: brownstone, widely used in wall
construction and bluestone, suitable for paving and wall copings
­ Slate
o Are major metamorphic stones used in construction
o is formed from clay and is dense easily split into sheets making it useful
for paving stones, roof shingles, and thin wall facings
o Colors are commonly: black, gray, purple, blue, green & red
­ Marble
o Are major metamorphic stones used in construction
o Easily polished and cut into slabs & tiles
o Occurs in white, black, and nearly every color, often with beautiful
patterns of veining
o Uses: flooring, wall claddings, furniture, etc.
­ Quartz
o Traditionally called rock crystal or clear quartz, is colorless and
transparent or translucent and has often been used for hardstone
carvings
 o Quartz countertops are fabricated from natural quartz, one of the
hardest minerals found in the Earth, and small amounts of glass or
metallic flecks are added to create variety, resulting in beautiful
countertops. Other advantage of quartz is that it is a non-porous
material, its texture does not allow bacteria to grow and resists against
stains, protecting your family and making kitchen clean-up easy. For this
reason, quartz countertops never need to be sealed
 Types of Stone Forms
­ Fieldstone
o Rough building stone from riverbeds and rock-strewn fields
­ Rubble Stone
o Consists of irregular quarried fragments that have at least one good face
exposed in a wall
­ Dimension Stone
o Is stone that has been quarried and cut into rectangular form
o Cut Stone
 Large slabs are often referred as cut stone
o Ashlar
 Small rectangular blocks
­ Flagstone
o Consists of thin slabs of stone that are used for flooring and paving,
either rectangular or irregular in outline
 Stone Masonry
­ Two simple distinctions are useful in classifying patterns
o Rubble or Ashlar Masonry
 Composed of unsquared pieces of stone, whereas ashlar is made
up of squared pieces
o Coursed or Random Stone
 Continuous horizontal joint line, whereas uncoursed or random
does not
 Concrete Masonry
­ Concrete Masonry Units
o Hollow Concrete Block
 Generally more economical
 Can be produced in various degrees of strength
 Their hollow cores allow for easy insertion of reinforcing steel and
grout
 Widely used in masonry bearing wall construction
 Concrete blocks are often faced with brick or stone
o Considered crude and industrial-looking by most people that is why it is
often covered with a veneer of brick, stone, stucco, or plaster
­ Manufacture of Concrete Masonry Units
 o CMUs are manufactured by vibrating a stiff concrete mixture into metal
molds, then immediately turning out the wet blocks or bricks onto a rack
so that the mold can be reused
o Racks of CMUs are cured by subjecting them to steam or more
primitively or economically laying them out under the heat of the sun
o CMUs are made in a variety of sizes and shapes
­ Hollow concrete block masonry is generally more economical than brick or
stone masonry
­ Concrete blocks can be produced in various degrees of strength, and because
their hollow cores allow for the easy insertion of reinforcing steel and grout,
they are widely used in masonry bearing wall construction.
­ Laying Concrete Blocks
o Laid just like bricks
o Step-by-step sequence, starting with the construction of corners, which
are called leads
o Concrete masonry is often reinforced with steel to increase its load
bearing capacity and its resistance to cracking
o Horizontal and vertical 10mm diameter steel reinforcements are usually
place at a distance of 400mm apart vertically and 600mm apart
horizontally.
o Vertical reinforcing bars are placed into the vertically aligned cores then
filled with mortar to unify steel and masonry into one continuous
structural unit.
o In zones with severe seismic activity, all cells are usually grouted whether
they contain bars or not, but it is also possible to fill only the cores that
contain bars
 Other Types of Masonry Units
­ Glass Blocks
o Available in many textures and in clear, heat-absorbing, and reflective
glass
­ Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC)
o Produced by mixing sand, lime, water, and a small amount of aluminum
powder and reactive these materials with steam to produce an aerated
concrete that consists primarily of calcium silicate hydrates.
o Available in precast panels for walls and roofs and in blocks that are laid
in mortar like other CMUs
o Because of its trapped gas bubbles, which are created by the reaction of
aluminum powder with lime, the density of AAC is similar to that of
wood, and it is easily sawn, drilled, and shaped.
o Moderately good thermal insulating properties
o Example: Liteblock