02

Chapter 2: Masonry and Concrete

Br
MASONRY

Masonry building has become quicker, stronger, and more efficient than in the past,
but the basic principles of construction have changed very little since ancient times.
Masonry units include bricks, stones, and concrete blocks, and because they all come
from the earth, they are suitable for use as foundations, pavers, and walls embedded
in the earth. The strength and durability of most masonry makes it ideal to resist fire
and decay from water and air.
All rights reserved. May not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except fair uses permitted under U.S. or applicable copyright law.

Bricks
The small scale of a single brick makes it a
flexible material for use in walls, floors, and
even ceilings. Brick production, in which
the clay is fired at very high temperatures,
gives brick excellent fire-resistive qualities.

Brick Grades
(Building and Facing)

SW: Severe weathering (where

water may collect)
MW: Moderate weathering
NW: Negligible weathering

Brick Types (Facing)

course
(horizontal layer FBS: General use in exposed
of brick or other exterior and interior walls; most
masonry unit plus
mortar) common type and default choice
if architect does not specify
head joint
FBX: Special use in exposed exterior
and interior walls, where a higher
bed joint
degree of mechanical perfection,
face brick
(brick on exposed narrower color range, and minimal
surface of a wall, variation in size are required
selected for its
Copyright 2018. Rockport Publishers.

appearance and FBA: Special use in exposed

durability)
exterior and interior walls, where non-
wythe uniformity in size, color, and texture
(vertical layer
of brick or other are desired
masonry unit)

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AN: 1705037 ; THE ARCHITECTURE
Julia REFERENCE
McMorrough.; + SPECIFICATION
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 02

Brick Manufacturing

Winning (Mining) and storage: Preparation:

Clays are mined and enough raw ma- Clay is crushed
me terial is stored for several days’ use and pulverized.
to allow continuous operation in any
d
weather. The three principal types of
clay are surface clays, shales, and
fire clays.

a
Forming Processes Stiff mud process (extrusion process): Clay is mixed
nd
with minimal amounts of water and then “pugged” (thor-
oughly mixed). Air pockets are removed from the clay
,
as it is passed through a vacuum. Then it is extruded
s.
through a rectangular die and pushed across a cutting
table where it is sliced into bricks by cutter wires.

Extrusion Soft mud process (molding process): Moist clay is

pressed into rectangular molds. Water or sand are used
as media to prevent the clay from sticking to the molds.
Water-struck bricks have a smooth surface, produced
when the molds have been dipped into water before
being filled; sand-struck, or sand-mold, bricks have a
matte-textured surface, produced by dusting the molds
with sand before forming the brick.
Molding Dry-press process: Clay is mixed with a minimum of
water and machine-pressed into steel molds.

Drying Process Firing Process

Molded bricks In periodic kilns, bricks are loaded, fired,
are placed in a cooled, and unloaded. In continuous tunnel
low-temperature kilns, bricks ride through a tunnel on railcars,
kiln and dried where they are fired the entire time at various
for one to two temperatures and emerge at the end fully
days. burned. Firing can take from 40 to 150 hours.

Water-smoking and dehydration: Remaining water is removed from the clay.

Oxidation and vitrification: Temperatures reach up to 1,800º F (982ºC) and 2,400ºF
(1,316ºC), for these respective processes.
Flashing: Fire is regulated to produce color variations in the brick.

Bricks may also be glazed, either during the initial firing or in a

special additional firing.

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BRICK UNITS
Comparative Proportions
Nominal brick dimen-
sions are derived from
combining actual brick
dimensions (length,
Standard Norman Roman
thickness, and height)
with their respective
mortar joints. Typical
mortar joints are
3/8" (10) and 1/2" (13).

Engineer Economy Utility SCR

Standard Sizes
Joint Brick Brick Brick Vertical Nominal Nominal Nominal
Thickness Thickness = T Height = H Length = L Coursing = (C) T H L
Unit Type in. (mm) in. (mm) in. (mm) in. (mm) in. (mm) in. (mm) in. (mm) in. (mm)

Standard 3/8 (10) 35/8 (92) 21/4 (57) 75/8 (194) 3C = 8 (203) 4 (102) 22/3 (68) 8 (203)
Modular 1/2 (13) 31/2 (89) 23/16 (56) 71/2 (191)

Norman 3/8 (9.5) 35/8 (92) 21/4 (57) 115/8 (295) 3C = 8 (203) 4 (102) 22/3 (68) 12 (305)
1/2 (12.7) 31/2 (89) 23/16 (56) 111/2 (292)

Roman 3/8 (9.5) 35/8 (92) 15/8 (41) 115/8 (295) 2C = 4 (102) 4 (102) 2 (51) 12 (305)
1/2 (12.7) 31/2 (89) 11/2 (38) 111/2 (292)

Engineer 3/8 (9.5) 35/8 (92) 213/16 (71) 75/8 (194) 5C = 16 (406) 4 (102) 31/5 (81) 8 (203)
Modular 1/2 (12.7) 31/2 (89) 211/16 (68) 71/2 (191)

Economy 3/8 (9.5) 35/8 (92) 35/8 (92) 75/8 (194) 1C = 4 (102) 4 (102) 4 (102) 8 (203)
1/2 (12.7) 31/2 (89) 31/2 (89) 71/2 (191)

Utility 3/8 (9.5) 35/8 (92) 35/8 (92) 115/8 (295) 1C = 4 (102) 4 (102) 4 (102) 12 (305)
1/2 (12.7) 31/2 (89) 31/2 (89) 111/2 (292)

SCR 1/2 (12.7) 51/2 (140) 21/8 (54) 111/2 (292) 3C = 8 (203) 6 (152) 22/3 (68) 12 (305)

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Orientations Bond Types

Preferred SI Dimensions
for Masonry

Nominal Height Vertical

(H) × Length (L) Coursing (C)

Rowlock Running Bond

50 × 300 mm [2C = 100]

67 × 200 mm [3C = 200]

67 × 300 mm

Header
75 × 200 mm [4C = 300]
75 × 300 mm
Flemish Monk Bond
80 × 200 mm [5C = 400]
80 × 300 mm

100 × 200 mm [1C = 100]

100 × 300 mm
Sailor
100 × 400 mm

133 × 200 mm [3C = 400]

133 × 300 mm 1/3 Running Bond
133 × 400 mm

150 × 300 mm [2C = 300]

150 × 400 mm
Soldier
200 × 200 mm [1C = 200]
200 × 300 mm
200 × 400 mm
Stack Bond
300 × 300 mm [1C = 300]
Stretcher
Acceptable Length
Substitutions for Flexibility

200 mm (100 mm)

300 mm (100 mm, 150 mm, Common Bond

200 mm, 250 mm) Shiner

400 mm (100 mm, 200 mm,

300 mm)

Flemish Bond

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Standard Modular Brick Coursing

courses

courses
no. of

no. of
9'-4" (2 845) 18'-8" (5 690)
42 84
41 83
40 8'-8" (2 642) 82 18'-0" (5 486)
39 81
38 80
37 8'-0" (2 438) 79 17'-4" (5 283)
36 78
35 77
34 7'-4" (2 235) 76 16'-8" (5 080)
33 75
32 74
31 6'-8" (2 032) 73 16'-0" (4 877)
30 72
29 71
28 6'-0" (1 829) 70 15'-4" (4 674)
27 69
26 68
25 5'-4" (1 626) 67 14'-8" (4 470)
24 66
23 65
22 4'-8" (1 422) 64 14'-0" (4 267)
21 63
20 62
19 4'-0" (1 219) 61 13'-4" (4 064)
18 60
17 59
16 3'-4" (1 016) 58 12'-8" (3 861)
15 57
14 56
13 2'-8" (813) 55 12'-0" (3 658)
12 54
11 53
10 2'-0" (610) 52 11'-4" (3 454)
9 51
8 50
7 1'-4" (406) 49 10'-8" (3 251)
6 48
5 47
4 8" (203) 46 10'-0" (3 048)
3 45
2 44
1 43 9'-4" (2 845)

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 02

Colors
Mortar

Mortar adheres masonry Bricks come in numerous textures and

) units together, cushions them patterns, and both bricks and mortar are
while mediating their surface available in almost endless varieties of color
irregularities, and provides a (especially if either is custom produced).
6) watertight seal. Composed Coordination of brick and mortar colors can
of portland cement, hydrated be an effective way to achieve different quali-
lime, an inert aggregate (gen- ties within one brick type and color. Matching
) erally sand), and water, there mortar to brick color, for example, produces
are four basic types of mortar: a more monolithic look for the wall. Similarly,
darker mortars can make a wall feel darker
0) M: High strength (masonry overall, and lighter mortars can make it feel
below grade, or subjected to lighter. Full-scale mockups are helpful for test-
severe frost or to high lateral ing color combinations.
)
or compressive loads)

S: Medium-high strength
)
(masonry subjected to normal
compressive loads, but requir-
ing high flexural bond strength)
)

N: Medium strength (masonry

7) above grade, for general use)

O: Medium-low strength
4) (masonry in non-load-bearing
interior walls and partitions)

) Mortar Joints

concave v-shaped
)

1)
flush struck

8)

weathered raked

Masonry and Concrete 29

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 02

CONCRETE MASONRY UNITS CM

CMUs (also called concrete blocks) are available as bricks, large hollow stretcher units, and large
solid units. The cores of hollow units can receive grout and reinforcing steel, making them a com- To
mon element in masonry bearing-wall construction, either alone or as a backup for other cladding is
material. Like bricks, CMUs have nominal dimensions and accommodate mortar joints; 8" (203) blo
nominal block heights correspond to three brick courses. st

Typical Standard Sizes (W × H × L) Fir

pe
4" Block
H co
4 × 8 × 16 4×8×8 Other Shapes
nominal
(102 × 203 × 406) (102 × 203 × 203)

35/8 × 75/8 × 155/8 L 35/8 × 75/8 × 75/8

(92 × 194 × 397) (92 × 194 × 194)
W

6" Block

6 × 8 × 16 6×8×8
Screen
(152 × 203 × 406) (152 × 203 × 203)

55/8 × 75/8 × 155/8 55/8 × 75/8 × 75/8

(143 × 194 × 397) (143 × 194 × 194)

Brick
8" Block

8 × 8 × 16 8×8×8
(203 × 203 × 406) (203 × 203 × 203)

75/8 × 75/8 × 155/8 75/8 × 75/8 × 75/8

(194 × 194 × 3 97) (194 × 194 × 194)

Solid Block
10" Block

10 × 8 × 16 10 × 8 × 8
(254 × 203 × 406) (254 × 203 × 203)

95/8 × 75/8 × 155/8 95/8 × 75/8 × 7 5/8

(244 × 194 × 397) (244 × 194 × 194)

Corner Block

12" Block

12 × 8 × 16 12 × 8 × 8
(305 × 203 × 406) (305 × 203 × 203)

115/8 × 75/8 × 155/8 115/8 × 75/8 × 75/8

(295 × 194 × 397) (295 × 194 × 194)
Bond Beam

All sizes may also be 4" (102) high and 8" (203), 12" (305), or 24" (610) long.

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 02

CMU Production Decorative CMUs

ge
m- To produce CMUs, a stiff concrete mixture Concrete blocks are easily produced in
ng is placed into molds and vibrated. The wet many different shapes, surface textures, and
blocks are then removed from the molds and colors, allowing for a variety of wall surfaces.
steam cured. Numerous standard decorative units exist and
units may be custom designed.
Fire-resistance ratings for CMUs vary de-
pending on the aggregate type used in the
concrete and the size of the block.

CMU Grades
Split Face
N: General use above and below grade

S: Use above grade only; good where

wall is not exposed to weather; if used
on exterior, wall must have weather-
protective coating

CMU Types

Ribbed Face
I: Moisture-controlled, for use where
shrinkage of units would cause cracking

II: Not moisture-controlled Scored Face

CMU Weights Fluted Face

Normal: Made from concrete

weighing more than 125 lb. per cu. ft.
(pcf) (2 000 kg/m3)
Medium: Made from concrete weighing
105–25 pcf (1 680–2 000 kg/m3)
Light: Made from concrete weighing
105 pcf (1 680 kg/m3) or less

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 02

CONCRETE SI

Concrete comprises a mixture of aggregate (sand and gravel), portland cement, and Si
fo
water. Because these elements are found almost everywhere, concrete is employed
ing
as a construction material throughout the world. When combined correctly with steel sit
reinforcing, concrete becomes virtually indestructible structurally and is generally not
susceptible to burning or rotting. It can be shaped into almost any form. Co

COMPOSITION
ply
Aggregate: Mixture of sand and gravel. for
Gravel sizes can range from dust to 2 1/2"
but should not exceed one-quarter of the
thickness of the unit being poured (that
is, for a 4" slab, gravel should not be
greater than 1"). Rounded fragments are
preferred. Larger gravel yields more cost-
effective concrete and fewer problems
from shrinkage. stu

wa
Portland cement: Chemical combination
of lime, silicon, aluminum, iron, small
for
amounts of other ingredients, and gyp-
sum, which is added in the final grinding
process. Exact ingredients vary by region,
based on local availability.

There are five basic types of portland

cement.

Water: Clean and impurity free.

bra

Air: Millions of tiny air bubbles in the

mixture make up a fourth component of
some mixes of concrete. Air makes the rei
ba
concrete lighter and more able to with-
stand the effects of freezing and thawing, co
and is thus useful in cold climates.

Wa

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 02

SITECAST CONCRETE FRAMING

Sitecast concrete is concrete that is cast into forms on the building site. It can be cast into any shape
for which a form can be made; however, the work and time involved in building formwork, reinforc-
ing and pouring the concrete, waiting for the concrete to cure, and dismantling the formwork makes
sitecast concrete slower to erect than precast concrete or structural steel.

Concrete Casting edge form

concrete
welded wire mesh

plywood
formwork

stud
Slab on Grade
moisture barrier

waler crushed stone

Cast concrete uses welded wire mesh or rein-

form tie forcing steel bars (rebar) to prevent cracking or
uneven settling and to supply rigidity.

Casting floor slabs, slabs on grade, plates,

walls, columns, beams, and girders all involve
the use of formwork, which is often plywood but
can also be metal or fiberboard. Standardiza-
tion within a project helps to mitigate the cost of
the formwork, which can be reused.

To hold formwork together during pour and

curing, form ties are inserted through holes in
the formwork and secured in place with fasten-
ers; the protruding ends are snapped off after
bracing formwork comes down.

Poured concrete must have regular control joints

designed into walls and slabs, either as part of
reinforcing the form or tooled onto the surface before the
bar
concrete has cured. A control joint is a line of
concrete discontinuity acting as a plane of weakness
where movement or cracking can occur in
response to forces, relieving potential cracking
Wall elsewhere.

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 02

PLACING AND CURING

Fibrous admixtures: Short glass,
As concrete is poured and placed, care must
steel, or polypropylene fibers that act
be taken to ensure that it is not subjected to
as reinforcing.
excessive vibration or sudden vertical drops,
which could cause segregation of the materi- Fly ash: Improves workability of wet
als (course aggregate to the bottom, water concrete while also increasing strength
and cement to the top). For this reason, verti- and sulfate resistance, and decreases
cal transportation should be done with drop permeability, temperature rises, and
chutes. If the concrete must travel excessive needed water.
distances from the mixer to the formwork, it
should be pumped through hoses, not trans- Pozzolans: Improve workability, reduce
ported in the formwork. internal temperatures while curing, and
reduce reactivity caused by sulfates.
Concrete cures by hydration, as a binding
chemical combination of the cement and Retarding admixtures: Promote slower
water; it must be kept moist during this curing and allow more time for working
period, generally twenty-eight days, before it with wet concrete.
is adequately cured. Surfaces may be kept
moist by spraying them with water or a curing Silica fume: Produces extremely high
compound or by covering them with moisture- strength concrete with very low
resistant sheets. permeability.

Super-plasticizers: High-range water-

reducing admixtures that turn stiff con-
crete into flowing liquid for placing
Admixtures in difficult sites.
Other ingredients may be added to
Water-reducing admixtures: Allow for
concrete for various desired effects.
more workability with less water in the mix.
Accelerating admixtures: Promote
faster curing (may be used in cold
weather, when curing is slowed down).
Reinforcing Steel
Air-entraining admixtures: Increase
workability of wet concrete, aid in
Without reinforcing, concrete would
reducing freeze-thaw damage, and may
have few or no structural uses.
produce lightweight, thermal-insulated
Fortunately, steel and concrete are
concrete.
chemically compatible and have a
Blast furnace slag: Similar to fly ash similar rate of dimensional change
in effect. due to temperature.

Coloring agents: Dyes and pigments.

#8
Corrosion inhibitors: Reduce corrosion Rebar
of reinforcing steel. #3
Rebar

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 02

FINISHES

Concrete can be finished in a variety of Color

ways, allowing it to be used on virtually
any surface in almost any kind of space. Colored concrete provides numerous de-
sign opportunities, It is generally achieved
As cast: Concrete remains as it is after in one of two ways:
removal of forms and often bears the
imprint of wood grain from the plywood. Integral coloring: Color is added to the
wet concrete or mixed in at the jobsite—
Blasted: Various degrees of sandblast- in either case, the color is distributed
ing smooth the surface while exposing throughout the concrete. Because so
successive levels of cement, sand, and much concrete is involved, colors are
aggregate. limited to earth tones and pastels.
Once cured, the surface is sealed,
Chemically retarded: Chemicals are
which provides protection and a sheen
applied to the surface to expose the
that enhances the color.
aggregate.
Dry-shake color hardeners: Color harden-
Mechanically fractured: Tooling, ham-
ers are broadcast onto freshly placed con-
mering, jackhammering, and scaling pro-
crete and troweled into the surface. The
duce varied aggregate-exposing effects.
hardeners produce a dense and durable
Polished: Heavy-duty polishing machines surface. Because the color is concentrat-
polish the surface to a high gloss, with ed on top of the concrete, more vibrant
or without polishing compounds. and intense tones are possible. Sealers
applied after curing further accentuate
Sealed: Acrylic resin helps protect con- the richness of the color.
crete from spalling (chipping or flaking
caused by improper drainage or venting As in all natural materials, variations in
and freeze/thaw damage), dusting, ef- color outcome will occur. The base color
florescence (whitening caused by water of the cement determines the ranges
leeching soluble salts out of concrete possible.
and depositing them on the surface),
stains, deicing salts, and abrasion.

Reinforcing bars: Bars come in the fol- Welded wire fabric: Reinforcing steel is
lowing sizes: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 18. formed into a grid of wires or round bars
Nominal diameters of #8 and lower are the 2"–12" (51–305) on center. Lighter styles
bar number in eighths of an inch; that is, are used in slabs on grade and some
#3 is 3/8" (9.52). Nominal diameters of #9 precast elements; heavier styles may be
and higher are slightly larger. used in walls and structural slabs.

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