Types of Bonds in Brickwork | Stretcher and Header Bond

Bonds in Brickwork | Building Construction

In our previous articles, we discussed “what is a bond?” and “Rules for good Bonding”. Let us start our further discussion on types of bonds.

Different types of bonds are:

1. Stretcher bond
2. Header bond
3. Facing bond
4. English bond
5. Flemish bond
6. Dutch bond
7. English cross bond
8. Brick on edge bond
9. Raking bond
10. Zigzag bond
11. Garden wall bond

Now we will proceed with our in depth discussion on “Stretcher bond” and “Header bond”.

What is a Stretcher Bond?

As the name itself suggests, stretcher bond is formed by laying bricks horizontally as stretchers on the faces of walls. The length of the bricks is along the horizontal direction of the wall.

Stretcher bond is used when walls of half brick thickness are to be constructed. The average size of the brick is 9cmx9cmx18cm. If the wall of thickness 9cm is to be constructed, then stretcher bond can be used.

Various types of wall constructions are done using this type of bond.

• Sleeper walls
• Partition walls
• Division walls (internal dividers)
• Chimney stacks

It should however be remembered that this bond is only possible in case of walls with less thickness and the bond will fail if the thickness of the walls is more than half of the length of the brick.

Now let us move on with our brief discussion on “Header Bond”.

• The square face of the brick which measures (9cm x 9cm x 9cm) is called as “header”.

• When all the bricks are placed as headers on the faces of the walls, the bond formed is called “Header Bond”.

• Stretcher bond is used for the construction of walls of half brick thickness whereas header bond is used for the construction of walls with full brick thickness which measures 18cm.

• Header bond is also known as heading bond. The overlap is kept equal to half width of the brick. To achieve this, three quarter brick bats are used in alternate courses as quoins.

• Since header bonds lacks strength in pressure transmission along the length of the wall, it is not preferable to use this kind of bond for load bearing walls.

• Header bond is useful when the design demands curved surfaces to be constructed. In such cases, stretcher bond cannot be used. Apart from using it for curved surface, it can also be used for the brickwork in foundations.

So here we come to the end of the discussion on Header Bond and Stretcher bond. In our next article, we will discuss “English Bond” in detail.