A brick bond is a pattern in which the bricks are laid.

Brick bonds don’t only apply to the walls but

Brick masonry is made with bricks bonded together with the help of mortar. Sometimes, mud
mortar can be used to construct temporary sheds but for permanent structures mortar made of
cement or lime are used.

Most of the brick bonds demand the same size or at least compatible sizes bricks or other masonry
units. Uniform size bricks or masonry units create even, repeatable designs which can be applied
over any area size. There are many bond patterns which include some method of interlocking each
row of brick to the neighbouring courses. If bricks are stacked up in single-file columns, the stacks
can effortlessly topple down. But if they are stacked in a way that joints are staggered, or are offset,
amid neighbouring courses, the bricks are basically interlaced together. Basically, bonds are essential
to add strength to the construction and make a mortared wall even stronger.

Brick walls can be structural, like load-bearing walls, or they can also be primarily decorative, like a
brick-veneer wall. Structural walls demand solid structural bonds, while decorative walls can use any
bond pattern. Let’s take a look at some of the most traditional and popular brick bonds used for
walls:

1. Stretcher Bond / Running Bond

One of the most common brick bonds, also popularly called running bonds. This bond is very easy to
lay, in fact, is one of the simplest ones used today. Stretcher bond is suitable when walls of half brick
thickness need to be constructed. Different types of wall construction done using this kind of bond
are:

Sleeper walls

Partition walls

Division walls (internal dividers)

Chimney stacks
Stretcher bonds are not very suitable for stand-alone structural walls, but very useful for
construction of walls with less thickness. Note, this bond will fail if the thickness of the walls is more
than half of the total length of the brick used.

2. Header Bond

A header is the shorter face of the brick. In header bond brick masonry all bricks are constructed in
the header course. In this bond, the overlap is performed corresponding to a half width of the bricks.
The three-quarter brickbats are utilized in alternative courses as quoins. This bond is mainly used for
the construction of one brick thick walls.

3. English Bond

One of the most commonly utilized variations of brick bonds in masonry works. This bond essentially
comprises of alternating courses of headers and stretchers. Headers are laid centred over the
stretchers in the course below and each alternate row is vertically aligned. To break the
continuousness of vertical joints, a quoin closer is used at the start and end of a wall after the first
header. A quoin close is a brick that is cut lengthwise into 2 halves and used in the corners in brick
walls. This type of bond is mainly used to construct strong one brick thickness walls.
4. Flemish Bond

For this type of bond, each course is made up of alternate headers and stretchers. Each header is
centered on a stretcher above and below and every alternate course begins with a header in the
corner. For breaking the vertical joints in the successive courses, quoin closers are introduced in
alternate courses next to the header. This bond can be significantly sub-divided into two diverse
types:

Single Flemish Bond – A combination of English bond and Flemish Bond. The front exposed surface
of the wall is composed of Flemish bong and the back surface is composed of English bond in every
single course.

Double Flemish Bond – This bond takes a similar appearance both in the front and the back
elevations.

Walls with Flemish Bond are complex to erect and demand greater skills.

5. Stack Bond

In a stack bond, all the bricks are plainly loaded on top of each other and held with mortar where all
bonds are perfectly aligned. Because of its weak masonry structure and less strength, Stack bonds
are perfect for decorative purposes. This bond is a non-structural bond, hence not suitable for walls
which require to transfer loads.
6. Dutch Bond

A modified form of the English cross bond which consists of alternate courses of headers and
stretchers. In this arrangement of the brick bond, every single stretching course begins at a quoin
with a 3-quarter bat. Every alternate stretching course has a header set next to the 3-quarter bat
brick provided at the quoin. This bond is perfect to construct strong corners along the wall which are
subjected to excess loads.

7. Common Bond / American Bond

This bond is very similar to the English Bond, but this one has courses of headers inserted in every
five or six courses. Header courses are centered with the previous header course. This header bond
basically acts as a tie brick between the fronting and the backing. To achieve the sufficient offset in a
standard common bond, queen closers are inserted at both ends of the header courses. The
common bond is normally used in exterior load-bearing walls.

8. Facing Bond

This bond is primarily adopted for thick walls, where the facing and backing are chosen to be
constructed with bricks of diverse thickness. Typically, this bond consists of heading and stretching
courses arranged in a manner that one heading course comes after quite a lot of stretching courses.
The load distribution of walls using this bond is not uniform because of the difference between the
facing and the total number of joints in the backing. This can also lead to unequal settlement of the 2
thickness of the wall.
9. Diagonal Bond

Best suited for walls of two to four brick thickness. This bond is normally introduced at every 5th or
7th course along the height of the wall. Bricks in this bond are placed end to end in such a manner
that extreme corners of the sequence remain in contact with the stretchers.

10. Rat Trap Bond

In this bond, bricks are laid on edge or placed in a vertical position instead of the conventional
horizontal position. This creates a cavity (hollow space) within the wall. This feature helps in keeping
enhanced thermal comfort and keep the interiors cooler than the outside and vice versa. This type of
walls consumes a smaller number of materials due to the internal cavity. The Rat Trap Bond looks
very similar to the Flemish Bond in appearance. Skilled labor and extra care are needed to design
this bond.

Few other brick bonds used for walls are Brick on edge bond, Raking bond, Zigzag bond, Garden wall
bond, Monk Bond, Sussex bond, Dearne’s bond, Silverlock’s bond, and Herring-bone bond.
Common Paving Brick Bonds

Few of the most common paving brick bonds are:

Running bond – Same pattern as the wall brick, but these can be done parallel, vertical, or diagonal
to the length of a path or patio.

Herringbone bond – This is one universally attractive pattern. A very simple zig-zag pattern where
each brick is perpendicular to its neighbours.

Basketweave Bond – A square pattern with bricks placed side-by-side in pairs, and each pair is
perpendicular to its neighbours. This is an easy pattern for areas that are rectangular or square in
shape.

Stacked Bond – Also known as Jack-on-Jack paving. This is a square grid of even rows with no
staggering between courses.