Different types of bonds are used in brick masonry, The most commonly used types are:
- Header Bond
- Stretcher Bond
- English Bond
- Flemish Bond
Other types of bonds are:
- Ranking Bond
- ZigZag Bond
- Dutch Bond
- Facing Bond
- English cross Bond
- Brick on edge Bond
- Garden wall Bond
Header bond
In the header bond, all the courses have to face headers. Headers alone are visible in elevation. Bricks are laid with their length L perpendicular to the face of the wall.
Overlap of the joint is equal to W/2. This lap is provided by having a three-fourth brick bat [ = (3/4) L ] at quoins of alternate courses.
Uses
Header bonds are used for walls of 1 brick thick, footing and curved walls. Stretcher bonds cannot be used for curved walls, because they may project beyond the face of the wall.
Stretcher bond
Stretcher bonds consist only of stretchers in all the courses of the face of the wall. In these bonds, bricks are laid with their Lengths L parallel to the face of the wall. This bond is also known as the Running bond.
Overlap of the joint is equal to L/2. This lap is provided by having Half-brick Bat [ = (1/2) L ] at quoins of alternate courses.
Uses
It is used for walls of half-brick thickness only such as partition walls, This bond cannot be used for walls of the thickness of one brick or more, because its internal bonds are not proper.
English bond
It consists of alternate courses of headers and stretchers. Vertical joints of the header courses come over each other. Similarly, the vertical joints of the stretcher courses also come over each other.
English bond for one brick thick wall
The number of half bricks for one brick-thick wall is equal to 2 (Even number). If the wall thickness is an even number of half-bricks, the same course will show either headers or stretchers on both face and back.
That is, the appearance on both face and back is the same.
Features of English bond
- Alternate Courses: These consists of headers and stretchers in alternate courses in elevation.
- Queen Closer: A header course should never start with Queen Closer, as it will get displaced. A Queen Closer is placed next to the Quoin Header, in each header course to the full thickness of the wall. This is done to break the continuity of the vertical joints in the successive courses. Thus, Lap Joint is provided to create the bonds. Queen Closers are not required in stretcher courses.
- Alternate Header: Each alternate header lies centrally over a stretcher.
- Wall Thickness in Even Number of Half-bricks: If the wall thickness is an even number of half-bricks, the same course will show either headers or stretchers on both the appearance on both face and back are the same.
- face and back. That is, Continuous Vertical Joints: These should not be allowed except at the stopped end.
- Wall Thickness of Two Bricks or More: Interior or Hearting of these thicker walls should be filled with headers only.
- Thinner Header Course: There are more vertical joints in the header course than in the stretcher course. Hence, the joints in the header course should be thinner than in the stretcher course.
English bond for one-and-a-half brick-thick wall
In English bond, if the wall thickness is an odd number of half-bricks, the same course will show headers on the face and headers on the back of the wall.
Uses
English bond is the most commonly used bond for all wall thicknesses. It is the strongest type of bond compared to other bonds.
Flemish bond
Features of Flemish bond
- In Flemish Bonds, headers and stretchers are laid alternately in each course.
- Every alternate course starts with a header at the corner i.e., Quoin Header.
- Queen Closer is laid next to the Quoin Header in an alternate course to develop the face lap for creating the bonds.
- Every header is centrally supported over the stretcher below it.
- If the wall thickness is an odd number of half bricks, more brick Bats are to be used.
- This type of bond gives a better appearance because the headers are distributed evenly
Types of flemish bond
Double Flemish bond
In this, each course presents the same appearance both in front and back faces. Hence, it gives a better appearance than the English bond. But, it is not as strong as the English bond.
Salient features of double flemish bond
- Every course consists of headers and stretchers placed alternately
- Queen closer are placed next to the quoin header in every alternative course
- The face and back of the wall in each course have the same appearance.
Double Flemish bond for one brick thick wall
If the thickness of the wall is an even number of half-bricks, no bats are required.
Double Flemish bond for one-and-a-half brick-thick wall
In this, the lap is equal to [1/4 L]. Lap is provided by introducing a queen closer next to the quoin header an alternate course. The intermediate course starts with a stretcher followed by a header, a stretcher header and so on. Since the thickness of the wall is the odd number of half-bricks, half-bats and three-quarter bats are used.
uses
This type of bond is not as strong as the English bond. But, it gives a better and more uniform appearance than the walls in English bond. The number of facing bricks used in double flemish bonds is less than in English.
Single Flemish bond
In this, the flemish bond is adopted on the face side of the wall and the English bond is adopted on the back side of the wall.
Salient Features of single flemish bond
- It has the better strength of English Bond and the better appearance of Flemish Bond.
- It requires a minimum wall thickness of one and a half bricks.
- As in the English Bond, the brick joints are straight in Single Flemish Bond.
- Since the thickness of the wall is an odd number of half-bricks, half-brick bats are used.
Comparison of English bond and flemish bond
| Criteria | English Bond | Flemish Bond |
|---|---|---|
| Strength and wall thickness | Strength is more, for walls of a thickness of 1 and a half bricks or more. | Strength is more, for walls of 1 brick thickness. For thicker walls, strength is less. |
| Appearance | The appearance of the facing is not pleasing. | The appearance of the facing is more pleasing and uniform. |
| Stretchers and Headers | Alternate courses of Stretchers and headers. | An alternate arrangement of a Stretcher and a header in each course. |
| Cost | More costly, as less number of brickbats are used. | Less costly since a large number of brickbats are used. |
| Breaking of joint | Maintaining of correct breaking of joints is difficult. | Maintaining of correct breaking of joints is easy. |
| labour | Skilled labour is not required. It is easy and fasts to construct. | More skilled and experienced labour is required. |
| Mortar | Less mortar is used. | More mortar is required. |
Bricks should be well burnt, strong, and durable, with sharp edges and standard dimensions of uniform colour. They should satisfy IS 1077:1992 requirements
For more IS code books refer here – IS code books used in civil engineering with pdf download (2000+ code books)
Ranking bonds
A ranking course in ranking bonds is provided between two stretcher courses. the bricks are laid at an inclination to the direction of the wall. Ranking bonds are used for thick walls. These are of the following two types:
- Zig-Zag Bond
- Diagonal Bond
Zig-Zag Bond
In this bond, the bricks are laid zig-zag for paving or making an ornamental finish on the brick floor.
Diagonal bond
In this bond, bricks are laid diagonally. The internal placing of bricks is made in one direction only at a certain angle of inclination after face bricks are laid. Bricks cut into triangular shapes are packed in small triangular spaces at the ends.
Dutch bond
Dutch bond is created by laying alternate headers and stretchers in a single course. The next course of brick is laid such that the header lies in the middle of the stretcher in the course below, i.e. the alternate headers of each course are centred on the stretcher of the course below.
The elevation of the wall is laid in the Header bond. Used for curved surfaces in work such as well lining or well foundation etc.
Facing bond
This bond is used when the bricks for the face work are costlier than the other bricks and as such, the number of face bricks is economized by using more stretchers. This bond is also used when the thickness of the face and back bricks is different.
English cross bond
English cross bond is a modification of English bond in which the stretcher courses break joints with each other.
Brick-on-edge bond
This type of bond uses stretcher bricks on the edges instead of a bed. This bond is weak in strength but is economical. Hence it is used for garden walls, compound walls etc.
Garden wall bond
Garden Wall Bonds. This type of bond is used for the construction of garden walls, boundary walls, and compound walls, where the thickness of the wall is one brick thick and the height does not exceed two meters. This type of bond is not as strong as the English bond but is more attractive.
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