Masonry involves the construction of buildings using basic building materials like bricks, stones, or concrete blocks bonded together with mortar. There are different types of masonry like stone masonry, brick masonry, and hollow concrete block masonry. Mortar is used to bond the masonry units together and provides functions like load bearing, sealing, bonding, aesthetics, insulation, and protection from fire and weather. Masonry is used in foundations, structural walls, facades, and decorative walls. Key terms related to masonry include face, back, course, corbel, cornice, coping, weathering, and throating. Stone masonry uses stones and mortar, with common

1. MASONRY
• Construction of building units such as bricks, stones or precast
concrete blocks bonded with mortar.
• Types: Stone masonry, Brick masonry, Hollow concrete blocks
masonry, Composite masonry
Masonry
CONSTRUCTION IN BRICKS OR STONES
MORTAR
(CEMENT +WATER + AGGREGATES)
(BONDED)

2. Functions of mortar
 Provides for full bearing
 Seals between masonry units
 Adheres / bonds masonry units
 Aesthetics
 Subdivide space
 Provide thermal and acoustic insulation
 Provide fire and weather protection

3. Use of masonry in various places
 Foundation Walls
 Structural Support Walls
 Facing Materials
 Decorative Walls

4. TYPES
MASONRY
BRICK
MASONRY
STONE
MASONRY
Systematic arrangement of
bricks and bonding them
together with cement mortar.
Construction carried out
using stones with mortar

5. Definition of terms used in masonry
Face
Surface of the wall exposed to the weather. Material used in the
face of the wall is known as Facing.
Back
Surface of the wall which is not exposed to the weather.
Material used in the back of the wall is known as Backing.
Course
Horizontal layer of masonry unit
Thickness of a course = Thickness of modular brick + Thickness of
one mortar joint (in brick masonry)

6.  Corbel
• Projecting stone to serve as support for truss or weather shed etc.
• Should extend at least two-thirds of their length
• Generally moulded and given ornamental treatment.
 Cornice
• an ornamental moulding near the top of a wall just below the ceiling.
• Penetrates the full width of the wall; weathered and throated to dispose off rain
water
 Coping
• Covering of stone, brick of teracotta placed on exposed top of parapet or
compound wall to prevent seepage of water
• It is weathered and throated

8.  Weathering
Provision of slope on the upper surface as sills, cornices.
 Throating
Groove provided on the underside of projecting elements such as sills,
cornices so that rain water can be discharged clear off the wall surface.
 Toothing
Bricks left projecting in alternate course for purpose of bonding future
masonry work
 Lacing course
Horizontal course of stone blocks provided to strengthen a wall made of
irregular courses of small stones.

12. MATERIALS FOR STONE MASONRY
Following two materials are used for stone masonry:
1. Mortar
2. Stones
Mortar is a homogenous mixture produced by mixing of binder with inert
material (such as sand) and water to make a paste of required consistency
and is used to bind a masonry unit.
Cementitious ingredients such as cement, lime and materials which cause
adhesion when dries such as clay, mud are used as mortar.
• Lime mortar is a type of mortar composed of lime and an aggregate such
as sand, mixed with water. It is one of the oldest known types of mortar,
dating back to the 4th century BC. It is prepared from hydraulic and semi
hydraulic limes corresponding to Class A and Class B.
• Cement mortar composes of cement, sand and mortar. More suitable for
making high strength mortars.
• Lime Cement mortar also known as Gauged or composite mortar. Rate of
stiffening of lime mortar is improved.

13. • Stones used for masonry should be durable, hard, tough and free from
weathering, decay or defects like cavities, cracks etc.
• They should be obtained by quarrying large massive rock and not by
breaking small size boulders having rounded faces.
• Rocks are divided into 3 groups: Igneous, Sedimentary, Metamorphic
• Igneous rocks: Suitable for heavy engineering works such as masonry
bridges, piers
• Sedimentary rocks: used for floors, steps and walls (limestone)
• Metamorphic rocks: used for floors (marble)
Purpose Type of stone
Heavy engineering work Granite
Masonry work in industry area Granite, sandstone
General building work Limestone, Sandstone
Face work of buildings Marble, granite

14. CLASSIFICATION OF STONE MASONRY
1. Rubble masonry
2. Ashlar masonry
Rubble masonry
Wall is made up of stones of irregular sizes and shapes i.e. stones are roughly
dressed. The stones from the quarry are broken into small pieces and are directly
used in construction work.
Ashlar masonry
Wall is made of accurately dressed stones with extremely fine bed and end joints.
Block may be either square and rectangular shaped.

15. Rubble masonry
Following types:
1.Random rubble masonry
i. Un-coursed random rubble masonry: Roughest and cheapest form of stone
walling. Stones are of different sizes. Greater care must be taken to arrange
them so that they distribute loads uniformly and no long vertical joints are
formed.
ii. Coursed random rubble masonry: Work is roughly levelled up to form
courses of 30 cm to 40 cm thick. All courses are of not same height. For
construction, quoins are built first and line is stretched between tops of
quoins. The intervening walling is then brought up to this level by using
different size of stones. This masonry is better than un-coursed random
rubble masonry.

17. 2. Square rubble masonry
i. Un-coursed square rubble masonry:
Uses stones having straight bed and
sides. Stones are usually squared and
brought to hammer dressed or straight
cut finish. Good appearance can be
achieved by using risers( large stone) ,
leveller (thinner stones), and sneck
(small stones) in a pattern having their
depths 3:2:1.
ii. Coursed square rubble masonry:
Same stones as uncoursed masonry but
the work is levelled up to courses of
varying depth. Courses are of different
heights. Each course consists of quoins,
throughs of same height with smaller
stones built in between upto the height
of large stones.

18. 3. Polygonal rubble masonry
• The stones are hammer finished on face
to an irregular polygonal shape. These
Stones are bedded in position to show
face joints running irregularly in all
directions. Two types: Rough picked and
close picked.
4. Flint rubble masonry
• Flint or cobbles used; may be coursed
or uncoursed; thickness from 7.5 to 15
cm; length 15 to 30 cm; made of silica;
stones are hard but brittle. Strength of
flint wall may be increased by lacing
courses of bricks or long stones at
vertical interval of 1 to 2 metres.
5. Dry rubble masonry
• Coursed; mortar not used in joints;
cheapest and require more skill in
construction; used for non load bearing
walls such as compound wall.

19. Dry rubble masonry

20. Ashlar Masonry
1. Ashlar fine tooled: Finest type of stone masonry; stones are
cut to rectangular sizes; beds, joints and faces are chiselled
to remove unevenness; thickness of course not less than 15
cm; thickness of mortar joint should not be more than 5 mm
2. Ashlar rough tooled: exposed face is dressed by rough
tooling; a strip of 25 mm wide made by chisel is provided
around the perimeter of the rough dressed face of each
stone. Thickness of mortar should not be more than 6mm.

21. Ashlar rough tooled

22. 3. Ashlar chamfered : Strip provided around the perimeter of
exposed face is bevelled at angle of 450 by chisel to a depth of
25 mm. Due to this a groove is formed in between adjacent
blocks of stone.
4. Ashlar facing: Provided along with concrete block or brick to
give better appearance; beds and faces of each block are
properly dressed. Exposed faces of stone are rough tooled and
chamfered.

26. Tools for stone dressing
Spall hammer
• Rough dressing of stones
Gad
• Split stones
Tooth chisel
• Dress hard stones
Drafting chisel
• Fine dressing
Cross cut saw
• Cut hard stones

27. Types of surface finishes
• Pitched Faced Dressing- The edges of a
pitched faced dressed stone shall be level
and shall be in the same plane being
absolutely square with the bed of the
stone. Superfluous stone on the face shall
be allowed to remain there and left raised
in the form of a natural rounded cobble
stone. The minimum width of pitched
faced dressing round the four edges of
the face of the stone shall be 25 mm.
• Hammer Dressing - A hammer dressed
stone shall have no sharp and irregular
corners and shall have a comparatively
even surface so as to fit well in masonry.
Hammer dressed stone is also known as
hammer faced, quarry faced and rustic
faced.

28. • Plain finish: surface made smooth with a
saw or chisel.
• Vermiculated finish: After having the stone
to a level and smooth finish, marginal
drafts are sunk about 10 mm below the
surface. These sinkings are cut to form
ridges; gives worm eating appearance
• Polished finish: Used in marbles, granite.
Glossy surface; Polished manually or with
machine

30. Lewis Pin - Single Pin
• A lifting device for blocks of masonry consisting of two
cranked pins attached to a steel ring. The pins are inserted
into a hole cut in the top bed of the stone and a hoist can
then be used to lift the block.

31. Chain dogs
• Hooks known as dogs fit into 20 mm deep
holes or depressions made in the stone to be
lifted.
• Dogs are connected to hoisting chain
• When the chain is lifted, dogs bite into the
stone and hence a firm grip is maintained.

32. Chain lewis
• A chain-linked lewis or chain lewis is made from two
curved steel legs, linked by three steel rings. The legs
fit into a seating cut in the top of the stone, above
the centre of mass. When the top of the curved legs
are pulled together by the rings, the bottom portions
are forced into the lower part of the seating, thereby
providing enough friction to lift the stone.

33. Three-legged lewis
Also known as a dovetailed lewis, St
Peter's keys, or a Wilson bolt fits into
a dovetailed seating in the top of a
building stone. It is made from three
pieces of rectangular-section 13 mm-
thick steel (legs) held together with a
shackle, allowing connection to a
lifting hook. The middle leg is square
throughout its length. The outer legs
are thinner at the top, flaring towards
the bottom. Held together, the three
legs form a dovetail shape.

34. Joints in Stone masonry
• Butt joint: commonly used joint; dressed edges are placed
side by side
• Rebated or Lapped joint: provided in arches, gables, copings
to prevent movement of stones; length should not be less
than 70 mm.
• Tongue and grooved joint or joggle joint: prevent sliding
along joints; made by providing projection in one stone
• Tabled joint: prevent lateral movement of stones such as in
sea walls; made by forming a joggle of 30-40 mm
• Cramped joint: cramp made of non-corrosive metal such as
copper; holes made in adjacent stones; cramp placed to depth
of 4-5 cm; after placing cramp, joint grouted with cement,
lead or asphalt.

35. BRICKS
COMPOSITION
• Alumina: - A good brick earth should contain 20 to
30 percent of alumina. This constituent imparts
plasticity to earth so that it can be moulded. If
alumina is present in excess, raw bricks shrink and
warp during drying and burning.
• Silica-A good brick earth should contain about 50
to 60 percent of silica. Presence of silica prevents
cracks, shrinking and warping of raw bricks. It thus
imparts uniform shape to the bricks Excess of silica
destroys the cohesion between particles and
bricks become brittle.
• Lime – A small quantity of lime is desirable in
finely powdered state to prevents shrinkage of raw
bricks. Excess of lime causes the brick to melt and
hence, its shape is lost due to the splitting of
bricks.

36. • Oxide of iron- A small quantity of oxide of Iron to the extent of 5 to 6
percent is desirable in good brick to imparts red colour to bricks. Excess of
oxide of iron makes the bricks dark blue or blackish.
• Magnesia- A small quantity of magnesia in brick earth imparts yellow tint
to bricks, and decreases shrinkage. But excess of magnesia leads to the
decay of bricks.
• The ingredients like iron pyrites, alkalies, pebbles, organic matter should
not present in good brick earth

37. TYPES OF BRICKS
• Traditional bricks
Not standardized in size; dimensions vary; commonly adopted
23 cm x 11.4 cm x 7.6 cm
• Modular bricks
BIS standards
Nominal size : 20 x 10 x 10 (cm)
Actual size : 19 x 9 x 9 (cm)

38.  Header
• A full stone or brick unit whose length is
perpendicular to the face of the wall. In
case of stone masonry, header is
sometimes called Through stone.
 Stretcher
• A full stone or brick unit whose length is
parallel to the face of the wall
 Header course
• A course of brick showing only headers
on the exposed face of the wall
 Stretcher course
• A course of brick showing only
stretchers on the exposed face of the
wall

39.  Bond
• Overlapping of bricks or stones in alternate courses, so that no continuous
vertical joints are formed and individual units are tied together.
 Quoins
• Exterior angle or corner of wall. The stones or bricks forming the quoins are
known as Stone quoins or Quoin bricks. If the quoin’s width is parallel to the
face of the wall, it is known as quoin header. If the length is parallel to the face
of wall, then it is called quoin stretcher
 Queen Closer
• Portion of brick obtained by cutting a brick length-wise into two portions. It is
half as wide as the full brick.

40.  King Closer
• Obtained by cutting off the triangular pieces between the
centre of one end and the centre of the other (long) side.
 Bevelled Closer
• Whole length of the brick is bevelled in such a way that half
width is maintained at one end and full width is maintained at
the other end.

42.  Mitred Closer
• It is a brick whose one end is cut splayed or mitred for full width.
Angle of splay may vary from 45o to 60o .
• One longer face is of full length of the brick while the other long
face is small in length
 Bat
• Portion of the brick cut across the width. If the length of the bat is
equal to half the length of the original brick, it is known as half
bat. A three quarter bat is the one having its length equal to three
quarters of the length of a full brick.
 Bevelled bat
• If a bat has its width bevelled (sloped), it is known as bevelled
bat.

43.  Perpend
• Vertical joint on face of wall, which lies directly above the
vertical joints in alternate courses.
 Frog
• It is an indentation or depression on the top face of a brick
made with the object of forming a key for the mortar. This
prevents the displacement of the brick above.

45. Bonds in Brickwork
• Bonds is the method of arranging the bricks in courses and
vertical joints of successive courses are not in same line.
Rules for bonding
• Bricks should be of uniform size
• Amount of lap should be minimum ¼ brick along the length of the wall
and ½ brick along thickness of wall.
• Use of brick bats should be discouraged except in special locations
• Vertical joints in alternate courses should be along same perpend.

46. TYPES OF BONDS
• Stretcher bond
• Header bond
• English bond
• Flemish bond
• Zig Zag bond

47. Stretcher bond
• Bricks are laid as stretchers on the faces of wall, length of
bricks is along the face
• Use for walls which have thickness of half brick i.e. 9 cm
• Used as Partition walls, chimney stacks
• This bond is not possible if thickness is more

48. Header bond
• Bricks are laid down as headers, width is along the direction
of wall.
• Used only when thickness of wall is equal to one brick
• This bond is not suitable for transmitting pressure in the
direction of wall, hence not used for load bearing walls.
• Used for curved brick work

49. • Most commonly used bond for all wall thickness
• Strongest bond; Alternate course of headers and stretchers;
Vertical joints of header courses come over each other; same
with stretcher.
• In order to break the vertical joints in the successive courses,
it is essential to place queen closer after the first quoin
header in each heading course.
• In a stretcher course, the lap must be minimum ¼ of their
length.
English bond

51. Flemish Bond
• Each course is comprised of alternate headers and stretchers.
Every alternate course starts with a header at the corner
(quoin header).
• Queen closer are placed next to quoin header in alternate
course to develop the face lap.

52. Two types:
Double flemish bond;
Single flemish bond
• In double; each course presents the same appearance both in
front and back face; presents better appearance than English
bond; best suited for economy and appearance
• In walls having thickness equal to odd multiple of half bricks,
half bats and three quarter bats are used.
• In single flemish; uses English bond backing and double
flemish bond facing
• Can be used for walls having thickness at least equal to 1 ½
brick

55. Garden wall bond:
• This type of bond is suitably adopted for one brick thick
wall which may act as a garden wall or a boundary wall.
In garden wall bond, it is possible to build uniform
faces for a wall without much labour or expense. This
type of bond is not so strong as English bond and its
use is restricted to the construction of dwarf walls or
other similar types of walls which are not subjected to
large stresses. On accounts of its good appearance, this
bond is sometimes used for the construction of the
outer leaves of cavity walls.
• There are two types of garden wall bond,
• (a) English garden wall bond
(b) Flemish garden wall bond

56. • English garden wall bond. The general
arrangement of bricks in this type of bonding
is similar to that of English bond except that
the heading courses are only inserted at every
fourth or sixth course. Usually the
arrangement consists of one course of
headers to three courses of stretchers. A
queen closer is placed next to the quoin
header of the heading course to give the
necessary lap.

58. • Flemish garden wall bond. This consists of
alternate course composed of one header to
three or sometimes even five stretchers in
series throughout the length of the courses.
Each alternate course contains a three quarter
bat placed next to the quoin header and a
header is laid over the middle of each central
stretcher.

60. Raking bond:
• This is a bond in brick work in which the bonding
bricks are laid at any angle other than zero or ninety
degrees. This arrangement helps to increase the
longitudinal stability of thick walls built in English
bond. In this arrangement of bonding, the space
between the external stretchers of a wall is filled
with bricks inclined to the face of the wall. This bond
is introduced at certain intervals along the height of a
wall.
• There are two common forms of raking bond ;
(a) Herring bone bond
(b) Diagonal bond.

61. Herringbone bond
• a brickwork bond in which the exposed brickw
ork is bonded to the
heart of the wall by concealed courses of brick
s laid diagonally to the
faces of the wall in a herringbone pattern.
• In this arrangement of brick work, bricks are
laid in course inclined at 45° in two directions
from the centre. This bond is also commonly
used for brick pavings.

63. • Diagonal bond. This bond is best suited for
walls which are 2 to 4 brick thick. This bond is
usually introduced at every fifth or seventh
course along the height of the wall. In this
bond, the bricks arc placed end to end in such
a way that extreme corners of the series
remain in contact with the stretchers.

65. • Zig-Zag bond:
• This is similar to herring-bone bond with the
only difference that in this case the bricks are
laid in a zig-zag fashion. This is commonly
adopted in brick paved flooring.

66. Used for making ornamental panels in the brick flooring

68. Comparison of English and Flemish bond
• English bond is stronger than Flemish bond for
walls thicker than 1 ½ brick
• Flemish bond gives more pleasing appearance
and requires greater skill than English bond
• Broken bricks in the form of bats can be used
in Flemish bond

69. Comparison of Brick and Stone masonry
• Brick masonry can be constructed with less
skilled masons in comparison to stone work.
Hence brickwork is cheaper.
• No special lifting arrangement is required for
bricks
• Brick masonry can be used in any type of
mortar; mud mortar can be used in low rise
houses
• Better fire resistant than stones

70. • Stone masonry is stronger than brick masonry
of same wall thickness
• Life of stone masonry is longer than bricks
• Stone masonry doesn’t require external
plaster.
• Stone masonry is more water tight than
bricks.

71. Defects in Brick masonry
• Sulphate attack: sulphate salts
present in brick react with
hydraulic lime in case of lime
mortar and with alumina
present in cement mortar,
volume of mortar increases;
chipping and spalling of bricks
• Crystallization of salts: If bricks
containing soluble salts get
dissolved with water, appear in
the form of fine white crystals
on the surface; Efflorescence
• Drying shrinkage leading to
cracks