BondAtlas
A field guide to how bricks are laid, drawn from the real brick, by the bricklayers who lay them.
Epigraph
A bond is a rule for where the joints may not fall.Corbel & Cole, site notebook
Plate 00 · The module
One brick, four faces
Everything in the atlas is built from a single block, 215 × 102.5 × 65 mm, and a 10 mm joint. Turn it and a different face shows. That is the whole game.
Plate
Stretcher bond
Every brick laid lengthwise, each course shifted half a brick. The simplest bond and the quickest to lay, which is why nearly every house built since the 1920s wears it. It works only as a skin: no headers tie it through.
- Rule
- S S S S
- Wall
- Half a brick, 102.5 mm
- Bricks / m²
- 59
- Used for
- Cavity-wall outer leaf, screen walls, most modern housing
Plan
Plate
Header bond
Only the short ends show. Courses step by a quarter brick, so a wall can turn a tight radius without cutting a single brick. The face costs about twice as many bricks as stretcher bond.
- Rule
- H H H H
- Wall
- One brick, 215 mm
- Bricks / m²
- 119
- Used for
- Tight curves, bow fronts, gate piers
Plan
Plate
English bond
A course of stretchers, then a course of headers, repeated. Strong because the headers tie the wall across its thickness; stern because the face reads as bands.
- Rule
- S course, H course
- Wall
- One brick, 215 mm
- Bricks / m²
- 89
- Used for
- Retaining walls, Victorian and Edwardian houses, engineering work
Plan
Plate
Flemish bond
Stretcher and header alternate in each course, each header centred on the stretcher below. Fewer bricks than English, handsomer on the face, and the bond that lets dark headers draw diamonds. Slower to lay, and worth it.
- Rule
- S H S H in every course
- Wall
- One brick, 215 mm
- Bricks / m²
- 79
- Used for
- Georgian and Queen Anne fronts, garden walls, diaper work
Plan
Plate
Herringbone
Bricks laid in a zig-zag, each at right angles to its neighbour. Turned forty-five degrees, the pattern locks tight under load, which is why it is a paving staple and a decorative infill in walls.
- Rule
- Pairs at 90 degrees
- Wall
- Single skin or paving
- Bricks / m²
- 40
- Used for
- Infill panels, paths, courtyards
Plan
Plate
Basketweave
Two bricks side by side make a square; the next square turns ninety degrees, a checkerboard woven in clay. A modest pattern with a lot of character, and every joint becomes a line in the design.
- Rule
- Pairs, turning 90 degrees
- Wall
- Single skin or paving
- Bricks / m²
- 40
- Used for
- Panels, steps, garden terraces
Plan
Lay your own.
Choose a bond, a brick and a mortar. It builds while you watch.
- Bond
- Brick
- Bricks / m²
- Wall
Glossary
Six words you will hear on site
- Stretcher
- A brick laid with its long side showing in the face of the wall.
- Header
- A brick laid with its short end showing; it ties a wall across its thickness.
- Course
- One horizontal layer of bricks. Fixed here at 75 mm: 65 mm brick, 10 mm bed.
- Perpend
- The vertical mortar joint between two bricks in a course. A bond is a rule for where perpends may not align.
- Bed joint
- The horizontal mortar joint, on which each course sits.
- Closer
- A cut brick, usually three-quarter or half, used to finish the end of a course and keep the bond true.
Specification
What we build with it
- 01Garden & boundary wallsFlemish and English bond in lime mortar, with piers, coping and gate openings.See a section →
- 02Extensions & new buildStretcher-bond outer leaf, matched to the house, tied to a block inner skin.Enquire →
- 03Repointing & repairJoints raked out by hand and repointed in lime that suits the brick.Enquire →
- 04Panels, paths & feature workHerringbone and basketweave infill, steps, terraces and diaper patterns.Enquire →
Request a quote
Tell us what to lay.
We visit, measure, and send a written price. Bring a photo of the bond you like, or the plate number.