Types of Bonds in Masonry Construction

The top brick bonds in construction are a Stretcher bond, header bond, English bond, and Flemish bond. The 4 types of brick bonds are arranged in specific patterns so that required structural stability is obtained.
Each type of brick masonry bond is explained in simple words below.

Before studying types of brick masonry bonds, we need to know some important terms in brick masonry. They are:

Fig.1

1. Stretcher: The longest face of a brick is called a stretcher face
2. Header: The shortest face of a brick is called a header as shown in figure-1.
3. Queen Closer in Brick Masonry: Dividing a brick into half along the longest side of the brick will give a queen closer as shown in figure-2(a).
4. Bat in Brick Masonry: Dividing a brick into two along the shortest length of the brick gives a bat. A bat can be divided at half or at three forth which gives half bat and three-fourth bat as shown in figure-2(b) and (c).

Stretcher Bond in Brick Masonry Construction

In a stretcher bond masonry, the wall is constructed such a way that the stretcher face forms the face of the wall. A bat is used to avoid the straight line formation of the joints in order to ensure structural stability and good load transmission. Stretcher bond is used for walls that carry smaller loads For eg: Partition walls.

Stretcher Bond in Brick Masonry Construction

Header Bond in Brick Masonry Construction

In a header bond arrangement, the header is arranged in series such that wall shows the header face of the brick. In order to avoid vertical line formation two three-forth bats is employed as shown in the figure below. This type of brick bond is employed to get a wall of one brick thickness.

Header Bond in Brick Masonry Construction

English Bond in Brick Masonry Construction

English bond involves alternate layers of stretcher and header arrangement. Every second position and the penultimate position of the header layer is taken place by a queen closer as shown in the figure below. A stretcher layer will end with a stretcher and a header end with a header.
English bond is the strongest of all brick bonds in construction which is highly used as a load-bearing wall in construction.

English Bond in Brick Masonry Construction

Flemish Bond in Brick Masonry Construction

In Flemish bond masonry construction, in every layer, a header and stretcher are placed alternatively. A layer starting with header ends with a header. A layer starting with stretcher ends with a stretcher. A layer starting with header has a queen closer at the second and the penultimate positions of the layer.

Flemish Bond in Brick Masonry Construction

Also Read: Wall Ties or Brick Ties in Construction