A Complete Manual on Building Technology

Chapter II: Masonry

 Brick and Block Masonry
 Bonds in Brick work
 Types of brick walls
 Stone Masonry
 Classification of Stone Masonry
 Composite Masonry

Define Masonry?

Masonry May be defined as the construction of building units bonded together with
mortar. The building units bonded together with mortar. The building units may be stone,
bricks or a block of concrete.

Depending upon the types of building units, masonry can be classified as

 Brick Masonry
 Stone Masonry
 Composite Masonry
 Reinforced Brick Masonry
A) Brick Masonry:
Brick Masonry is made of brick units bonded together with mortar. The essential
components of brick masonry are bricks and mortar. Mortar acts as cementing material
and unites the individual brick units together to act as a homogeneous mass

Merits of brick masonry:

 All the bricks are of uniform size and shape and hence they can be laid in any definite
pattern
 Brick units are light in weight and small in size. Hence these can be easily handled
 Light partition walls and filler walls can be easily constructed in brick masonry
 Ornamental work can be easily done with bricks
 Brick are easily available locally in most of the places
 Even unskilled Labor can learn easily the brick masonry job
 If any defected work in brick masonry seen can be easily concealed by plastering
 Brick work is more fire resisting
 Brick can be lifted by manually

Demerits of Brick Masonry

 Bricks are not suitable for construction of pier, dams and other water retaining structures
as tensile bond is weak in brick masonry
 Bricks has much less strength and durability
 Plastering is necessary in the brick masonry

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A Complete Manual on Building Technology

 Bricks when exposed are liable to get damp

General Principle to be observed in brick masonry construction: (2005, 2008)

The following points should be kept in mind while supervising brick masonry

a) The bricks to be used for the site should be hard, durable, uniform shape and size, well
burnt having uniform color, giving metallic ringing sound when struck with each other
and should not break when dropped from a height of 1m to the ground surface
b) The bricks should not absorb water more than 20% of its weight when soaked in water
before using it for constructional purpose
c) The brick should be perfectly laid on their beds with frog on the top surface
d) Broken bricks should not be used as far as possible. However they can be used for
arranging the alternate bonding
e) The brick work should be carried out in proper bond. No continuous vertical joint should
be allowed to develop any where
f) The brick work should be perfectly in level
g) The mortar to be used should be of specified quality old mortar should not be used
h) The brick work should be raised uniformly. The difference in heights at any stage
between adjacent walls, should not be more than 1m.
i) When cross-wall is to be inserted later, steps or toothing should be provided during
construction
j) All the iron fixtures, such as hold fast etc should be embedded in cement mortar
k) The masonry work should be cure for at least one week after finishing the work
l) For carrying out brick work at higher level single scaffolding should be adopted
m) The brick work should be carried out perfectly in line. Ends or corners of the wall should
be constructed at first
n) It is desirable to provide about 18mm to 25mm trick expansion joints for every 30 to 45m
length of the walls

Classification of brick/brick work:

According to the quality brick masonry are classified into three types
 First class brick
 Second class brick
 Third class brick
a) First class brick:
 These class of bricks are well burned, even surface, perfect shape and uniformly
red
 Metallic ringing sound is heard when two bricks are struck together
 Do not absorb water more than 20% of its weight when immerse in water for 1
hour
 They are free from cracks, chips, no dues of lime
 Excellent for all types of works, in the exterior wall when plastering not required,
suitable for flooring
b) Second class brick:-

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A Complete Manual on Building Technology

 Second class bricks are also of the standard size but they are slightly irregular in
shape and color
 Metallic ringing sound is must
 Do not absorb more than 25% of its weight when immersed in water.
 It is used for exterior wall when plastering is to be done, interior walls, soak pits
 These bricks are not suitable for flooring
 Compressive strength shall not be less than 70kg/cm2
c) Third Class bricks:
 These bricks are irregular in their shape, size and finish
 They are not burnt fully and reddish yellow in color
 They have low crushing strength
 Not suitable for quality brick masonry
 Used in ordinary type of construction and in dry situation

Some definition regarding brick

 Stretcher:
o A stretcher is the longer face of the brick as seen in the elevation of wall
 Header
o A header is the shorter face of the brick as seen in the elevation of the wall
 Frog
o A frog is an indentation in the face of a brick to form a key for holding the mortar.
The brick is laid with frog on the top
Flat:
It is the lower surface of the brick

Bat: It is the portion of the brick

cut across the width. It is smaller than full size brick. If the length of the bat is equal to half the
length of the original brick, then it is known as half bat. If length is equal to three quarters of
lengths of a full brick it is known as three quarter bat

Queen Closer:

It is a portion of a brick obtained by cutting a brick length wise into two portions

King Closer

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 A Complete Manual on Building Technology

It is a portion of a brick which is so cut that the width of one its end is half that of a full brick,
while the width of other end is equal to the full width. It is obtained by cutting the triangular
piece between the center of one end and the center of other side

Types of bond:

The different types of brick bonds are listed as below

o Stretcher bond
o Header bond
o English bond
o Flemish bond
o Brick on edge bond
o Zigzag bond

Stretcher Bond
 Easiest bond to lay & it minimizes the amount of cutting required.
 Originally used for single brick walls.
 It is used for cavity walls as less cutting is required.
 Walls are half brick wide.

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 A Complete Manual on Building Technology

 No two adjacent vertical joints should be in line.

.Flemish Bond
 Alternate bricks are placed as header and stretcher in every course.
 Each header is placed centrally between the stretcher immediately above and below. This
is not as strong as the English bond at 1 brick thick .
 It can be successfully applied in cavity wall.

English Bond
 Alternative courses of headers and stretchers.
 One header placed centrally above each stretcher.
 This is a very strong bond when the wall is 1 brick thick (or more thicker).
One of the strongest brickwork patterns

Header bond:
Consists entirely of courses of headers, with the bricks in each successive course
staggered by half a header. Alternately stretching and heading three-quarter bats
serve for quoins, generating the necessary offset. Header bond is often used on curving
walls with a small radius of curvature. This bond does not have strength to transmit
pressure in the direction of the length of the wall. So it is not suitable for load bearing
wall

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A Complete Manual on Building Technology

Brick on edge bond: This bond uses stretcher bricks on edge instead of bed. This bond is weak
in strength but is economical. Hence it is used for garden walls, compound walls. This bond
consumes less number of bricks

Zigzag bond:

This bond is commonly used for

making ornamental panels in the
brick flooring. The bricks are laid in
zig-zag fashion.

Types of walls:

There are three types of walls.

They are

 Load bearing wall

 Non load bearing wall
 Monolithic wall

a) Load bearing wall

The wall which is designed to carry the superimposed load
and transmit it directly to the foundation is called load
bearing wall

b) Non Load bearing wall

The wall which does not support the load and transmit but
separate, different part of building or structure is called non load bearing wall. Eg
Partition wall
c) Monolithic walls:

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A Complete Manual on Building Technology

The wall which requires additional support during its construction and can be made as
whole unit is called monolithic wall. This type of wall is used for underground tank,
retaining structure as well as overhead tank which support the lateral pressure.

Strength of brick wall:

The strength of brick wall depends upon

 Type and quality of brick
 Mortar mix proportion
 Shape and size of masonry construction

The strength of brick depends upon the nature of soil used for making bricks and the method
adopted for moulding and burning of bricks

Stone Masonry:

Stone Masonry is made of stone units bonded together with mortar. The material used for stone
masonry are stone and mortar

Merits of Stone Masonry:

 Stone masonry is stronger than brick masonry

 It does not require external plastering. Due to this maintenance cost is low
 Stone work is more water tight than brick masonry. It protects the building from
dampness
 The life of stone masonry is much more than brick masonry
 Better architectural effects can be given in stone work

Demerits of stone Masonry:

 Stone Masonry construction requires high skilled masons

 Stone are massive and heavy in size so, they can not be easily handled
 Since stones are irregular in shape and size the process of dressing and placing stone
requires extra labor and more time
 Stones are less fire resistive
 Stone are available in stone quarries. Due to this transportation cost increases
 Light partition walls cannot be constructed easily in stone masonry

General Principle to be observed in stone masonry (2006, 2007)

The following points should be kept in mind while supervising the stone masonry work.

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A Complete Manual on Building Technology

a) The stones used should be strong, tough, hard and should be free from defects like cracks,
flaws, veins etc
b) Each stone block should be well watered before use so that it does not absorb the water
from mortar
c) Stones should be dressed properly according to the type of masonry
d) Proper bond should be maintained and formation of vertical joint should be avoided
e) No tensile stress should be allowed to develop in masonry
f) Masonry work should be raised uniformly
g) Broken stones, small pieces and chips should not be used for facing and backing
h) The mortar to be used for the work should be of proper quality and proportion
i) Vertical surface of wall should be constructed perfectly in plumb
j) When new construction is to be laid over old or dry one, it is necessary to clean it
properly and wetted before starting the construction
k) Double scaffolding should be adopted to carry out the stone masonry at higher level
l) The exposed joints of masonry should be properly pointed by cement mortar
m) After construction is over the whole work should be cured for 2 to 3 weeks

Safe permissible loads on Stone Masonry

 The strength of stone masonry depends upon following factors
 Type of stone (sand stone , limes tone

 Type of masonry (coursed rubble, ashlar)

 Type of mortar (Cement, mud , lime)

Classification of stone Masonry

Depending upon the arrangement of stone in the construction, degree of refinement

used in shaping the stone and finishing adopted, stone masonry are classified into two
types

 Rubble masonry
 Ashlar Masonry
1) Rubble Masonry: In this type of masonry the block of stone used are either undressed
or comparatively roughly dressed. The Masonry has wide joints, since stones of irregular
size are used. It is further classified into different types
 Un-coursed rubble masonry
 Random rubble masonry
 Coursed rubble masonry

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A Complete Manual on Building Technology

 Dry Rubble masonry

a) Un-coursed rubble masonry:
This is the roughest and cheapest form of stone walling. Different sizes of stones
are used for this purpose. These stones are directly obtained form quarry. The
stones are carefully laid so as to break
joint as much as possible. To avoid thick
joints, chips of stone or spalls are used

b) Random rubble masonry:

This is slightly superior to un-coursed rubble

masonry. The stones used in the work are
hammered or chisel-dressed. The stones are not
suitably shaped or finished. The height of stone should be greater than their breadth

c) Coursed Rubble Masonry:-

This form of masonry is
commonly adopted in the
construction of residential
building, public buildings,
piers etc. The stone used
are well dressed. All the
course have uniform
height. The face stone are
hammered and well dressed

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A Complete Manual on Building Technology

d) Dry rubble masonry:

This is similar to ordinary rubble masonry without mortar. The construction is cheapest
and required skill in construction. This may be used for non-load bearing walls.
(compound wall)

2) Ashlar Masonry:
Ashlar masonry consists of blocks of accurately dressed stone with extremely fine bed
and end joints. The block may be either square or rectangular in shape. The height of
blocks in each course is kept equal, but not necessary to keep all the course of same
height. It is further divided into
 Ashlar Fine tooled
 Ashlar rough tooled
 Ashlar quarry faced
 Ashlar chamfered
 Ashlar facing

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A Complete Manual on Building Technology

Ashlar fine tooled: In this type of masonry, all the

stones are fine tooled, on all bed and side joints. The
height of the course is never less than 30 cm and
generally all course are kept of same height. The stone
facing is genrally laid as header and stretcher
alternatively.

Ashlar Rough tooled: In this type of masonry, the

exposed faces of stones have fine dressed chisel
drafting all around the edges. The portion of face stone
enclosed by the chisel draft is rough tooled. The size,
angle, edges etc are well maintained and thickness of
mortar joint not be more than 6mm.

Ashlar quarry faced: This type of construction is

similar to ashlar rough tooled except that the exposed
faces of face stone between the chisel drafting are
left rough. The height of each block may vary from
15 to 30 cm. The thickness of mortar joint may be up
to 10 mm

Ashlar chamfered: This is similar to quarry faced

except the edge around the exposed face beveled
of an angle of 45 degree by mean of chisel to a
depth of 25mm

Ashlar Facing

Ashlar facing Masonry is provided along with

brick or concrete block masonry to give better
appearance. The sides and beds of each block
are properly dressed. The exposed face of the
stone are rough tooled and chamfered. The
braking of the wall is made in brick masonry.
The height of course is never kept less than 20
cm. The bond stones should overlap each other
by 15cm.

Composite wall

Definition

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A Complete Manual on Building Technology

A wall composed of multiple

vertical layers of masonry, each one unit thick, in
which one layer is different from the others in type
or grade of stone/brick or mortar used.

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