Building Construction

CEPC-209
 BUILDING CONSTRUCTION
CEPC 209
 Brick Masonry: Definitions of various terms
used, bond – definition, need and scope,
type of bonds – Stretcher bond, Header
bond, English bond and Flemish bonds,
their merits and demerits.
 Stone Masonry: Rubble and ashlars work.
 Hollow block Masonry: Hollow cement
concrete block masonry and hollow clay
block masonry.
 Walls: Types (i) Load bearing and (ii) Non-load
bearing walls, Thickness considerations.
 Damp Proofing: Causes and ill – effects, preventive
measures
 Arches and Lintels: Definitions of various terms
used in arches, Types – Flat, segmental, semi –
circular and Horse – shoe, brick and stone arches,
types of lintels, their merits and demerits.
 Floors: Constituents, various types of floors
commonly used and their suitability for different
buildings, constructional details of concrete and
terrazzo floors.
 Doors and Windows: Location and sizes, types of
Doors and windows, Method of fixing door and window
frame in walls, ventilators.

 Sloping roofs: Definitions of terms used, wooden

trusses – king post and queen post truss, steel trusses
– fink, fan and north light truss roofs, Jack arch roofs.

 Stairs and Staircases: Definition of terms used,

Essential requirements, proportioning of steps, types –
straight flight, quarter turn, half turn and spiral
staircases, ramps, escalators and lifts.
 Footings-types and details

 Miscellaneous topics (to be covered briefly):

Plastering and Pointing. White washing, Colour
washing, Distempering and Painting,
Scaffolding, Underpinning and Shoring,
Building Bye-laws.
Books
 Bindra & Arora, “Building Construction” Dhanpat
Rai Publications (P) Ltd, New Delhi, 2003.

 Sinha S K and Jha J, “Building Construction”

Khanna Publishers, New Delhi, 2001.

 Rangawala S C, “Building Construction” Charotar

Publishing House, Anand, 1993.

 Ghose D N, “Materials of Construction” Tata

McGraw Hill, New Delhi, 2003.
Building
Different Components
Brick masonry
Chapter – 1
 Brick Masonry
 Definitions of various terms used,
Bond – definition, need and
scope, type of bonds – Stretcher
bond, Header bond, English bond
and Flemish bonds, Their merits
and demerits.
Terms Used
 Course
A course is a horizontal layer of bricks or
stones.
 Bed
It is the surface of stone perpendicular to
the line of pressure. It indicates the lower
surface of bricks or stones in each course.
 Side

It is the surface forming the boundary of

bricks or stones in a direction transverse to
the face and bed.
 Back

The inner surface of a wall which is not exposed is

called the back. The material forming the back is
known as backing.

 Face

The exterior of wall exposed to weather is known as

face. The material used in the face of the wall is
known as facing.

 Hearting

It is the interior portion of a wall between the facing

and backing.
 Joint
 The junction of two or more masonry
pieces leaving a space between the bricks
or concrete masonry units that are filled
with mortar or grout. If the joint is
parallel to the bed of masonry pieces in a
course, it is termed as Bed Joint. If the
joint is perpendicular, then the joints are
termed vertical joints, side joints, Head
Joints, or just joints.
 Frog
 A hole (10 X 4 X 1 cm) on the longer face of a
brick made with the object of forming an
indentation for the mortar. This hollow
depression also reduces the weight and makes
it easier to handle. Frogged bricks should lay
with the frog upward and fill up with mortar.
The reason is to obtain higher strength,
stability, and sound insulation.
 Bond
 Systematic arrangement of bricks or
other building units composing a wall or
structure in such a way as to ensure its
stability and strength. A brick bond is
the pattern in which bricks are laid. It
applies to both brick walls and brick
paving, as well as to concrete block and
other types of masonry construction.
 Header
 The shorter side or end face of a piece
of brick that is exposed. ( 9 X 9 cm).
 It is a brick or stone which lies with
its greatest length at right angles to
the face of the work.
 The course of brick work in which all
the bricks are laid as headers is
known as header course.
 Stretcher
 It is a brick or a stone which lies
with its longest side parallel to the
face of the work.
 The course of brick work in which
all the bricks are laid as stretchers
is known as stretcher course.
Bat
The portion of brick that is cut across
the width.
 Closer

 The portion of the brick cut

lengthwise in such a manner that
its one long face remains uncut.
Usually used to end a brick course
or building beautiful corners.
 Bull Nose
 A bull nose brick is a type of brick
that has one or some of its corners
rounded off. The are typically used
to build soft and attractive curved
edges to steps, ledges, or in capping
walls. There are many types of bull
nose bricks.
 Quoin
 The masonry units used to accentuate a
masonry structure corner by adding bricks
or stone units that would be different from
the masonry wall in size, colour, or
texture. Or simply put, the masonry units
used to accentuate the corners of walls in
a masonry structure.
 Bonding in Brickwork
 Bonds in brick work means method
of arranging the bricks in courses
so that individual brick units are
tied together and the vertical joints
of the successive courses do not lie
in same vertical line.
 Purpose of Brick Bonding
 Obtain maximum strength whilst
distributing the loads to be carried
throughout the wall, column or pier.
 If bonds in brick work are not arranged
properly, then a continuous vertical joint
will result. This is called an unbonded wall
having little strength and stability.
 To ensure lateral stability and resistance to
side thrusts.
 To create an acceptable appearance.
 Rules for Bonding
1. The bricks should be of uniform size. The length of
the brick should be twice its width plus one joint,
so that uniform lap is obtained. Good bond is not
possible if lap is non-uniform.
2. The amount of lap should be minimum ¼ brick
length along the length of the wall and ½ brick
length across the thickness of the wall.
3. Avoid using brick bats unless it is necessary or
required in special locations.
4. In alternate courses, the center line of
header should coincide with the center
line of the stretcher, in the course below
or above it.
5. The vertical joints in the alternate courses
should be along the same vertical axis.
6. The stretcher should be used only in the
facing; they should not be used in the
hearting. Hearting should be done in
headers only.
7. It is preferable to provide every sixth course
as a header course on both the sides of the
wall.
8. Use of raked and other joints that provide
horizontal water tables should be avoided.
Concave and weathered joints should be
provided.
 Types of Bond
1. Stretcher Bond 6. Raking Bond

2. Header Bond 7. Dutch Bond

3. English Bond 8. Zig Zag Bond

4. Flemish Bond 9. English Cross

5. Garden wall Bond Bond

6. Facing Bond 10. Soldier Bond

 Stretcher Bond
 In this arrangement of bonding, all the bricks
are laid as stretchers. The overlap, which is
usually of half brick, is obtained by
commencing each alternate course with a half
brick bat. Stretching bond is used for half
brick wall only. This bond is commonly
adopted in the construction of half brick thick
leaves of cavity walls, partition walls, etc. Since
there are no headers, suitable reinforcement
should be used for structural bond.
 Header Bond
 In this type of bonding all the bricks are laid
as headers on the faces. The overlap, which is
usually-of half the width of the brick is
obtained by introducing a three-quarter bat in
each alternate course at quoins. This bond
permits better alignment and as such it is
used for walls curved on plan. This bond is
chiefly used for footings in foundations for
better transverse distribution of load.
 English Bond
 English bond consists of alternate course
of headers and stretches. In this English
bond arrangement, vertical joints in the
header courses come over each other and
the vertical joints in the stretcher course
are also in the same line. For the breaking
of vertical joints in the successive course it
is essential to place queen closer, after the
first header in each heading course.
 The following are main
features of English bond:
 The alternate courses are of headers and
stretchers.

 Each alternate header is centrally supported over

a stretcher.

 If the thickness of a wall is an uneven or odd

number of half bricks, there will be best
stretchers on the face and headers on the back,
similarly headers on the face and stretchers on
the back of the wall in every course.
 If the thickness of the wall is an even number
of half bricks, there will be stretchers on the
face and stretchers on the back ; similarly,
headers on the face and headers on the back
every course of the wall.

 The walls having a thickness of two bricks or

more will have stretchers or headers on the
face and back of the wall whereas the interior
will be filled with header only.
Two and Half Brick Thick
Wall
Three Brick Thick wall
 Flemish Bond
 In this type of bond each course comprises of alternate
header and stretcher. Alternate courses start with
stretcher and header. To break the vertical joints
queen closers are required, if a course starts with
header. Every header is centrally supported on the
stretcher below it.

Flemish bonds may be further classified as

 Double Flemish Bond

 Single Flemish Bond.

 Double Flemish Bond
 In Double Flemish Bond, each course presents the
same appearance both in the front and back
elevations. Every course consists of headers and
stretchers laid alternately. This type of bond is best
suited from considerations of appearance. It enables
the one brick wall to have flush and uniform faces
on both the sides. This type of bonding is
comparatively weaker than English bond.
One Brick Thick Wall
One and half Brick Thick Wall
Two Brick Thick Wall
Two and Half Brick Thick Wall
Three Brick Thick Wall
 Single Flemish Bond
 Single Flemish bond is a combination of English
bond and Flemish bond. In this type of construction,
the front exposed surface of wall consists of Flemish
bond and the back surface of the wall consists of
English bond in each course. Minimum thickness
required for single Flemish bond is one and a half
brick thickness. The main purpose of using single
Flemish bond is to provide greater aesthetic
appearance on the front surface with required
strength in the brickwork with English bond.
One and Half Brick Thick Wall
Two Brick Thick Wall
Two and Half Brick Thick Wall
Three Brick Thick Wall
 English Bond
 Headers and stretchers are laid in alternate courses.
 Strongest of the types of bonds.
 Provides rough appearance.
 Absence of vertical joints in the structure.
 Special attention is not required for this bond.
 Progress of work is more.
 Costly, no brick bats are used.
 Skilled labor is not required for its construction.
 Less mortar is used.
 Flemish Bond
 Headers and stretchers are laid alternately in each course.

 Comparatively less strong for walls more than 30cm thick.

 Provide good appearance.

 Partly continuous vertical joints appear in the structure.

 Special attention is required for this bond.

 Progress of work is less.

 Economical, as brick bats are used.

 Skilled labor required for its construction.

 More mortar is used due to use of bats.

 Difference between English
Bond And Flemish Bond
 English bond is much stronger than Flemish bond for the
walls thicker more than 1½ brick.

 Flemish bond shows more attractive and pleasing

appearance of masonry work.

 Flemish bond is economical as it uses broken brick bats,

although it requires some extra mortar for additional
joints.

 Use of Flemish bond is a bit difficult than English bond.

Flemish bond requires more skilled labour and
supervision.
Garden Wall Bond
Diagonal bond
Herring Bone Bond
Herring Bone Bond
Zig Zag Bond
Zig Zag Bond
Dutch Bond
English Cross Bond
English Cross Bond
Soldier Course
Soldier Course
Soldier Bond
Soldier Bond
Rowlock
Rowlock
Soldier and Rowlock
Joints in Brick Masonry
 Concave Joint
 This popular type of joint is formed in mortar
through the use of a curved steel jointing tool.
It is very effective at resisting rain penetration
due to its recessed profile and the tight seal
formed by compacted mortar. Patterns are
emphasized on a dense, smooth surface, and
small irregularities are hidden. This type of
joint is formed in the mortar through the use
of a curved steel jointing tool.
Concave Joint
Concave Joint
 V Joint
 This type of joint can be made with a V-
shaped jointer or a trowel soon after the
bricks are laid. Ornamental and highly visible,
the joint conceals small irregularities and is
highly attractive. Like the concave joint, the
V-joint is water-resistant because its
formation compacts the mortar and its shape
directs water away from the seal.
V Joint
 Weathered Joints
 Mortar is recessed increasingly from the
bottom to the top of the joint, with the top
end not receding more than 3/8-inch into
the wall. The straight, inclined surfaces of
the bed (horizontal) joints tend to catch the
light and give the brickwork a neat, ordered
appearance. This joint is less compacted
than the concave and V-joints, although it
is still suitable for exterior building walls.
Weathered Joints
 Grapevine Joint
 It is created with a grapevine jointer, which
is a metal blade with a raised bead that
creates an indented line in the center of the
mortar joint. These lines are often rough
and wavy, simulating the generally straight
yet slightly irregular appearance of a
grapevine. It is commonly used on matte-
finish and antique-finish brickwork.
Grapevine Joint
 Extruded Joint
 This joint design requires no tooling and is
formed naturally as excess mortar is
squeezed out from between the bricks. The
result is a rustic, textured appearance that
is especially attractive in garden settings.
This design is not recommended for
exterior building walls due to the tendency
for exposed mortar to break away,
degrading the wall’s appearance.
Extruded Joint
 Beaded Joint
 Raising a rounded, bead-shaped
segment of the mortar away from the
mortar surface produces this old-
fashioned, formal design. Although
beaded joints can create interesting
shadows, they are not recommended
for exterior use due to their exposed
ledges.
Beaded Joint
 Struck Joint
 This joint is formed in a similar
fashion as the weathered joint, except
that the bottom edge, instead of the
top edge, is recessed. It is a very poor
insulator against water, as it will allow
water to collect on its bottom ledge.
Struck Joint
 Raked Joints
 For this design, mortar is raked out to a consistent
depth. Although often left roughened, it can be
compacted for better water-resistance. This design
highly emphasizes the joint and is sometimes used in
modern buildings in order to match the historic
appearance of their locales. Unless it is compressed,
it is not as water-resistant as other mortar joints
because the design incorporates ledges, which will
collect water as it runs down the wall.
Raked Joints
 Flush Joint
 This joint is best used when the wall
is intended to be plastered or joints
are to be hidden under paint.
Because the mortar is not
compressed, it is less water-resistant
than some of the other designs.
Flush Joint