Types and styles of garden brickwork
Any type of brick masonry produced by a brick layer by laying bricks and mortar together is known as brickwork; this includes walls and corner finishes. The pattern used for laying the bricks or the structural layout is known as the bond. There are two ways to create a structural bond by over lapping brick units and using mortar to bond them or through the use of metal ties.Plaster or stucco can be used in garden brick work or the bricks can be keep visible; this is called facing brick work. However, this is only recommended in case of small walls; if you intend to construct a wall that is more than 5 feet tall, it is recommended that you use some cement on to cover the brick faces.
The dimension of the bricks used: The sizes of bricks are coordinated so that two layers of bricks can be laid one on top of the other and joined together with mortar and to form a bond; the length and width of the bricks has to be uniform. The structure is built such that the width of the two adjoining rows is the sae as the length of a single brick placed across the two rows. Because of this formation, bricklayers can lay headers at a 90 degree angle to the wall and tie together two layers of bricks. The common metric used in the manufacture of bricks is 215x102.5x65mm; the size works well with a mortar joint of 10 mm.
The different types of garden brickwork construction styles:
Depending on the thickness of the wall and the technique used to build it; wall construction can be segregated into three categories
Cavity Wall: As the name suggests; there is a cavity in this wall of about 2 to 4 inches which can eventually be filled with insulating material; metal ties are used in this type of construction to tie together two layers of brick.
Solid Wall: This is the simplest construction technique in which a wall with a thickness of one brick or more is constructed
Brick facing: This is a structure where the bricks are not covered with concrete; this is linked to an internal structure through the use metal studwork, a layer of block work or timber.
Garden Brickwork laying positions:
Header: When a brick is laid flat with the short end being exposed; the placement is known as header
Stretcher: When a brick is laid horizontally with the long, narrow side exposed; this placement is known as stretcher.\
Sailor: This is the placement where the vertically with the broad side being exposed
Shiner: In this placement; the brick is laid on the narrow side and the broad side is exposed.
Soldier: When the brick is laid vertically and the stretcher side is exposed the placement is known as soldier.
Rowlock: In this placement the header side is exposed while the brick is laid on the narrow side.
Veneer Patterns: The common veneer patterns that are seen in homes built over the last few centuries include:
The Stock Bond: This is a pattern that either uses all headers or all stretchers laid out with vertically aligned joints; this pattern is appropriate for planters and low walls used in the garden.
The Common Bond: Also known as American or Scottish Bond; this patterns has a running bond till the 5th or 6th course is reached and then this is alternated with a header course and the pattern turns back to the running bond.
The Old English Bond: This is a typical design from the Tudor period; the pattern has alternating courses of headers and stretchers.
The Running Bond: Also called the stretcher bond; this is a simple pattern where alternating stretcher courses are laid. This type of brickwork pattern is only suitable for a thin wall such as a half brick wall. However, such a thin wall will need to be tied to a support because it will be too weak to sustain itself. This type of brickwork is commonly seen in modern building where it is constructed as the outer face of a cavity wall.
The Flemish Bond: Also called the Dutch bond; this pattern has long been considered to be the most decorative of all brickwork patterns. It is seen extensively in building that wee constructed before the dawn of the cavity wall era. The pattern is created by alternating course of header and stretchers. However; the bricks are laid such that the headers used on the next course lie in between the stretchers in the lower course. The bond is just one brick thick; however; laying a Flemish bond can often prove to be quite a task because all the perpendicular or vertical joints have to be perfectly vertically aligned. One of the advantages of using this type of bond is that only one face of the Flemish bond is visible in certain structures which means that one third of the bricks can be of low visual quality; helping you to save a bit on construction. This type of pattern is used for load bearing walls. The Monk bond is a uses a variation of the Flemish bond where two courses of stretchers are used with one course of header and the headers are one again centred over the joint between the two stretchers at the lower level.
Other garden Wall Bonds:
The Rat trap bond: This type of bond is also known as the Chinese bond and is similar to the Flemish bond; however the pattern has alternating courses of shiners and rowlocks instead of the stretchers and headers used in the Flemish bond. This type of pattern allow an internal cavity to be created which is bridged by the headers, hence the name. One of the advantages of using this bond is that the wall can be of one brick thickness with the use of fewer bricks which makes this a very economical bond.
The Flemish garden wall bond: This pattern has three to five cours4 of stretchers between the headers
The English garden wall bond: In this pattern three to five rows of stretchers are alternated with a single course of headers.
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