Closers in brick masonry; English and Flemish bond

Closers

A closer is a brick or part of a brick used to complete a course and to break the continuity of vertical joints (perpends) near the end of a wall, quoin, jamb or opening. Without it the bond cannot be completed.

• Queen closer: a brick cut lengthwise to half the width. It is placed next to the quoin header in a heading course (and at reveals) to keep the perpends a quarter brick out of line.
• King closer: a brick with one corner cut diagonally (half-width at one end), used at quoins or splayed ends and for square reveals.
• Bevelled closer: a brick bevelled lengthwise over its whole length (half of the face), used where the end of a wall must show a splayed face.
• Mitred closer: a brick cut at $45^\circ$, used at angles of walls and in splayed or obtuse corners.
• Bat: a brick cut across its length (half bat, three-quarter bat), used to fill the gap and set out the perpends.

English bond: key points

• Alternate courses of headers and stretchers; each header is placed centrally over the joint between two stretchers in the course below.
• A queen closer is placed after the first quoin header in each header course, so that the vertical joints of successive courses are staggered by a quarter brick.
• It is the strongest brick bond for walls of 1 brick and thicker; the heart is filled with headers and stretchers, so there is a good transverse bond.
• The perpends of the stretcher courses lie in the same vertical line in alternate courses.

Flemish bond: key points

• Each course has headers and stretchers alternately; each header is centred over a stretcher in the course below.
• Closers (queen closer or a bat) are needed after the quoin header to start the bond.
• It looks better than English bond and needs fewer whole bricks on the face, but it is slightly weaker for thick walls and needs more skilled labour. It is used where the facework is exposed.

English bond (face)
 +-------+-------+-------+-------+
 |   S   |   S   |   S   |   S   |
 +---+-+-+-+---+-+-+---+-+-+-+---+
 | H |Q| H | H | H | H | H |Q| H |
 +---+-+-+-+---+-+-+---+-+-+-+---+
 |   S   |   S   |   S   |   S   |
 +-------+-------+-------+-------+

Flemish bond (face)
 +-------+---+-------+---+-------+
 |   S   | H |   S   | H |   S   |
 +---+-+-+---+-+---+-+---+-+-+---+
 | H |Q|   S   | H |   S   |Q| H |
 +---+-+-+---+-+---+-+---+-+-+---+
 |   S   | H |   S   | H |   S   |
 +-------+---+-------+---+-------+

(S = stretcher, H = header, Q = queen closer, placed after the quoin header.)