English and Flemish bond

English bond

English bond has alternate courses of stretchers and headers. A stretcher is a brick laid along the length of the wall (long face visible); a header is laid across the wall (short face visible). It is the strongest bond for walls thicker than one brick.

Rules

• Heading and stretching courses alternate. Each header sits centrally over the joint (perpend) between two stretchers in the course below.
• A queen closer (a brick cut lengthwise to half its width) is placed next to the quoin header in each heading course. It moves the perpends of the heading course a quarter brick away from those of the stretching courses, so vertical joints do not run through successive courses.
• In walls thicker than one brick, the headers run across the thickness and tie the faces together.
• Joints are about 10 mm thick.

 Elevation (English bond, 1 brick thick)
 +-------+-------+-------+-------+
 |   S   |   S   |   S   |   S   |   stretcher course
 +---+-+-+-+---+-+-+---+-+-+-+---+
 | H |Q| H | H | H | H | H |Q| H |   header course
 +---+-+-+-+---+-+-+---+-+-+-+---+
 |   S   |   S   |   S   |   S   |   stretcher course
 +-------+-------+-------+-------+
 S = stretcher, H = header, Q = queen closer

Flemish bond

In Flemish bond each course has headers and stretchers alternating, and each header is centred over a stretcher in the course below. The face looks neat, with a regular chequered pattern. A queen closer is placed next to the quoin header in alternate courses to complete the bond.

Features

• It gives a good appearance, so it is used for facing brickwork of thin walls (it is slightly weaker than English bond, as there are fewer through-headers).
• In a one-brick wall, each course shows alternate headers and stretchers on both faces.
• It needs greater skill and care in laying, and the bricks must be of uniform size.
• It uses fewer full bricks for the facing, and it is economical where the brickwork is face-pointed.

 Elevation (Flemish bond, 1 brick thick)
 +-------+---+-------+---+-------+
 |   S   | H |   S   | H |   S   |   course 1
 +---+-+-+---+-+---+-+---+-+-+---+
 | H |Q|   S   | H |   S   |Q| H |   course 2
 +---+-+-+---+-+---+-+---+-+-+---+
 |   S   | H |   S   | H |   S   |   course 3
 +-------+---+-------+---+-------+
 S = stretcher, H = header, Q = queen closer