Traditional Brick work

Masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar. Typically, rows of bricks — called courses— are laid one on top of another to build up a structure such as a wall. Elsewhere, brickwork may have a non-load-bearing function, and may exist for a purpose such as that of finishing the corners of walls with brick quoins, or for finishing door or window openings on a building whose load-bearing structure is made of other materials such as timber or steel. In all cases, wherever the bricks are left fully visible — as opposed to being covered up by plaster or stucco — they are called facing bricks.

The construction industry frequently makes use of brick as a building medium, and examples of brickwork are found right back through history as far as the Bronze Age — the fired-brick faces of the ziggurat of ancient Dur-Kurigalzu in Iraq date from around 1400 BC, and the brick buildings of ancient Mohenjo-daro in Pakistan are from around 2600 BC. Much older examples of brickwork made with dried (but not fired) bricks may be found in such ancient locations as Jericho in the West Bank, Çatal Hüyük in Anatolia, and Mehrgarh in Pakistan; these structures have survived from the Stone age to the present day.

Stack layed

Concrete blocks have been used in building construction for many years. Traditionally, they are laid with mortar between blocks, much like bricks are laid. But dry-stacking is an option, which is much easier for a do-it-yourselfer and can produce a wall as strong as a conventional concrete block wall. Dry-stacking has been done for more than a century, but new products, including interlocking blocks and improved surface bonding cements, make it even easier and better. You can use interlocking blocks, which have ridges and hollows at joints, or plain blocks.

Solid masonry

Solid masonry, without steel reinforcement, tends to have very limited applications in modern wall construction. Such walls can, however, be quite economical and suitable in some applications; solid unreinforced masonry walls tend to be low and thick as a consequence of their lack of tensile strength.

Dry set masonry

The strength of a masonry wall is not entirely dependent on the bond between the building material and the mortar; the friction between the interlocking blocks of masonry is often strong enough to provide a great deal of strength on its own. The blocks sometimes have grooves or other surface features added to enhance this interlocking, and some dry set masonry structures forgo mortar altogether.

Veneer masonry

A masonry veneer wall consists of masonry units, usually clay-based bricks, installed on one or both sides of a structurally independent wall usually constructed of wood or masonry. In this context the brick masonry is primarily decorative, not structural. The brick veneer is generally connected to the structural wall by brick ties (metal strips that are attached to the structural wall, as well as the mortar joints of the brick veneer). There is typically an air gap between the brick veneer and the structural wall. As clay-based brick is usually not completely waterproof, the structural wall will often have a water-resistant surface (usually tar paper) and weep holes can be left at the base of the brick veneer to drain moisture that accumulates inside the air gap. Concrete blocks, real and cultured stones, and veneer adobe are sometimes used in a very similar veneer fashion.