Brick Masonry

Engr. Lito I. Mauro

Terms generally used in brickwork
Header – A brick laid with its 4½” x 3” end parallel to
the face of the wall.
Bat – Any portion of a brick cut or broken across its
length.
Closer – The portion of a brick cut along the lengths in
such a way as one long face remains intact.
Queen closer – A closer cut into two halves.
King closer – A brick cut at the corner along the mid-
points of the adjacent sides.
Bed – The bottom surface of a brick which rests upon the
mortar spread to receive it.
Arrises – The edges of the brick where its surfaces
intersect.
Course – A complete layer of bricks laid on the same bed.
Perpends (cross joints) – The short vertical joints in the
face of the wall that fall vertically over one another in the
alternate courses.
Quoints (the corner) – The stones used at the corners.
Jambs – The vertical sides of an opening for doors and
windows.
Junctions – The meeting place of a longitudinal wall and a
cross wall.
Plinth course – The horizontal course of stone or brick
provided at the base of a wall at floor level above the
ground level.
Sill – The portion immediately below the window opening.
Lintel – The horizontal member placed above the doors or
windows to carry the load above the opening.
Reveals – The exposed vertical faces on the sides of
openings of doors and window frames after they have
fitted in position.
Copings – The stones, concrete, brick, etc. placed on top
of parapet walls to prevent seepage of water into the
walls.
Corbel – A projecting part in stone or brickwork.
Cornice – An ornamental corbel placed below the roof
and projecting out.
Throating – The grooves provided at end of corbels,
lintels, etc. for discharging rainwater clear of
walls.
Freeze – Coarse stones placed immediately below
cornice to improve appearance.
Stretcher – A brick laid with its 9” x 3” side parallel
to the face of the wall.
Frog – The indentation on one or both of the 4½” x 9”
surfaces of the brick.
Brick laying tools (laying, shaping, and cutting tools)
Bolster – A chisel having a blade slightly wider than an
ordinary building brick.
Brick hammer – The cutting of bricks to provide
suitable shapes for the bonding is done with the club
hammer and bolster.
Spirit level – It consists of a hardwood stock with
anything from 2 to 6 bubbles formed in it.
Plumb rule – It consists basically of a piece of milled,
25mm thick straight grained wood ruler about 1.35m
long and 100mm broad, with a string fixed in the wood
at one end in a saw cut and with a metal plumb bob at
the other end of the string.
Line and pins – The 2 pins used for brickwork have
flattened and blunt point ends for inserting into the
joints of brickwork as work proceeds and to take the
strong bricklayer’s line coiled onto it.
Mason’s square (building square) – A large triangle
having two legs of approximately 4’ and a brace.
End frames – L-shaped frames made of hardwood.
It has a small base 32.5cm x 225cm and an
upright 125cm in height.
Brick trowel – Usually about 30 cm long with steel
blade and wooden handle.
 Recommended mortars to be used
Brick Mortar mix Mortar
strength Cement or cement strength
(N/mm²) lime (N/mm²)
Below 5 1 : 6 or 1 : 2 : 9 3
5 – 15 1 : 5 or 1 : 1 : 6 5
15 – 25 1 : 4 or 1 : ½ : 4½ 7.5
> 25 1 : 3 or 1 : ¼ : 3 10
Cement lime is more plastic than cement mortar.
Bonding of bricks
The art of bonding brickwork consists of the orderly
arrangement of the bricks in such a way that
through joints at right angles to the face of the wall
are eliminated and longitudinal through joints along
the wall are also reduced to a minimum.
Bonding helps in the distribution of load.
Method of laying of bricks
Good bricks should not disintegrate when placed
in water.
Brick should thoroughly be soaked in water
before being laid.
Brick should not be handled in baskets or in any
other mode which will destroy the sharpness
of their edges.
1. Brick laying operation
The inside faces of each brick are buttered with
mortar before the next brick is laid and pressed
against it by tapping it with the handle o a
trowel or wooden hammer.
On completion of a coarse, the vertical joints are
fully filled with mortar from the top.
2. Grouting
When brickwork is set with a fine joint, fill the interior joints
with a thin liquid mortar.
3. Larrying
The mortar rising and filling the vertical joints completely
and forming a strong and solid wall.
4. Building rat trap bond
If mortar is placed carelessly on the brick, some of it will fall
into the cavities and will be wasted.
To avoid this, a piece of wood is held in the hole over the
middle to cover the cavities while applying the mortar.
Preparation of brick surface meant for plastering
When the face work is to be plastered, the joints
must be raked while the wall is being built.
It should be raked to a minimum depth of 12mm.
If raking is not done, the plaster may fall off due to
lack of grip especially from smooth molded bricks.
Protection and curing of bricks
Brickwork should be protected from rain by
covering when the mortar is still soft.
Curing of brickwork is done by saturating it with
water after setting of mortar for 14 days.
A further curing by wetting once a day is to be
continued for another 7 days.
Scaffolding for brickwork
Double scaffolding with two sets of verticals is to
be used for exposed works.
Where the scaffolding pole rests on the wall, only
one header brick shall be left out so that the
bond of the wall can easily be made complete
after the scaffolding is removed.