The Northwest Masonry Guide - Glossary of Masonry Terminology

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

BACK FILLING. 1. Rough masonry built behind a facing or between two faces. 2. Filling over the extrados of an arch. 3. Brickwork in spaces between structural timbers, sometimes called brick nogging.
BACKUP. The part of a multi-wythe masonry wall behind the exterior facing.
BALUSTER. A small column that supports the rail of a balustrade.
BALUSTRADE. An ornamental fencing consisting of a series of balusters supporting a railing or molding. (See illustration Terra Cotta)
BARBECUE. A stationary open hearth or brazier, either fuel fired or electric, used for food preparation. (UBC)
BARGE STONE. A generally projecting masonry unit that edges the slope of a roof or makes up the defining edges of a gable wall.
BASALT. A hard, dense, dark, volcanic rock used extensively as a paving stone and occasionally as a building stone.
BASKETWEAVE. A checkerboard pattern of bricks or payers. Bricks or modular groups of bricks laid at right angles to those adjacent.
BAT. A piece of brick, usually half the full size or smaller.
BATTER. Recessing or sloping masonry back in successive courses the opposite of corbeling.
BATTED WORK. Hand-dressed stone surface scored with a batting tool from top to bottom in narrow parallel strokes. Strokes may be vertical (in which case the surface may be called fooled) or oblique. There are six to ten strokes per inch. Batting is also called broad, tooling, droving, or angle dunting.
BATTING TOOL. A mason's chisel, used to dress stone to a striated surface.
BEARING WALL. Any wall meeting either of the following classifications: 1. Any metal or wood stud wall which supports more than 100 pounds per lineal foot of super-imposed load. 2. Any masonry or concrete wall which supports more than 200 pounds per lineal foot super-imposed load, or any such wall supporting its own weight for more than one story. (UBC)
BED JOINT. The horizontal layer of mortar on which a masonry unit is laid.
BELGIAN BLOCK. A type of paving stone generally cut to truncated, pyramidal shape and set with the base of the pyramid down.
BELT COURSE. A narrow horizontal course of masonry, sometimes slightly projected such as window sills which are made continuous. Sometimes called string course or sill course.
BEVEL. The angle or inclination of a line or surface that meets another at any angle but 90 degrees.
BIA. Brick Institute of America.
BLIND HEADER. A concealed header in the interior of a wall, not showing on the faces of the wall.
BLOCK BOND. Same as flemish bond.
BLOCKING. A method of bonding two adjoining or intersecting walls, not built at the same time, by means of offsets whose vertical dimensions are not less than 8 in.
BOLSTER. A blocking chisel for masonry work. A broad-edged chisel made in a number of sizes,shapes, and weights.
BOND. (1) Tying various parts of a masonry wall together by lapping units one over another or by connecting with metal ties. (2) Patterns formed by the exposed faces of the masonry units. (3) Adhesion between mortar or grout and masonry units or reinforcement.
Bond Beam. A course or courses of a masonry wall grouted and usually reinforced in the horizontal direction serving as an integral beam in the wall. May serve as a horizontal tie, bearing course for structural members, or as a flexural member itself.
Bond Beam Block. A hollow concrete masonry unit with depressed sections forming a continuous channel in which reinforcing steel can be placed for embedment in grout. Lintel blocks are sometimes used as bond beam blocks.
Bond Course. The course consisting of units that overlap more than one wythe of masonry.
Bonder. A bonding unit. Also called header.
BREAKING JOINTS. Any arrangement of masonry
units that prevents continuous vertical joints from occurring in adjacent courses.
BRECCIA. A rock characterized by course, angular fragments. The fragments are formed either by a crushing and natural recementing essentially in place or by the deposition of angular pieces that become consolidated.
BRICK. A solid masonry unit of clay or shale, usually formed into a rectangular prism while plastic and burned or fired in a kiln. (ASTM
C43.)
Acid-Resistant Brick. Brick suitable for use in contact with chemicals, usually in conjunction with acid -resistant mortars.
Adobe Brick. Large roughly-molded, sun-dried clay brick.
Angle Brick. Any brick shaped to an oblique angle to fit a salient corner.
Arch Brick. 1 Wedge-shaped brick for special use in an arch. 2. Extremely hard-burned brick from an arch of a scove kiln.
Brick Joints. See joint types.
Building Brick. Brick for building purposes not especially treated for texture or color. Also called common brick. (ASTM C62)
Clinker Brick. A very hard-burned brick whose shape may be distorted or bloated due to nearly complete vitrification.
Common Brick. Also Building Brick. (ASTM C62.)
Concrete Brick. Solid concrete masonry unit available in clay brick dimensions. (ASTM C145.)
Cored Brick. A brick in which the holes consist of less than 25 percent of the section.
Designation. For facing brick that controls tolerance, chippage, and distortion. (See Brick Type)
Dry-Press Brick. Brick formed in molds under high pressures from relatively dry clay (5 to 7 percent moisture content.)
Economy Brick. Brick whose nominal dimensions are 4 by 4 by 12 in.
Engineered Brick. Brick whose nominal dimensions are 4 by 3.2 by
8 in.
Face Brick. Brick made especially for facing purposes, often treated to produce surface texture. They are made of selected clays, or treated, to produce desired color. (ASIM C216.)
Fire Brick. Brick made of refractory ceramic material which will resist high temperatures.
Floor Brick. Smooth dense brick, highly resistant to abrasion, used as finished floor surfaces. (ASTM C410.)
Gauged Brick. 1. Brick which have been ground or otherwise produced to accurate dimensions. 2. A tapered arch brick.
Hollow Brick. A masonry unit of clay or shale whose net cross-sectional area in any plane parallel to the bearing surface is not less than 60 percent of its gross cross-sectional area measured in the same plane. (ASTM C652.)
Jumbo Brick. A generic term indicating a brick larger in size than the standard. Some producers use this term to describe oversize brick of specific dimensions manufactured by them.
Norman Brick. A brick whose nominal dimensions are 4 by 2-2/3
by 12 in.
Paving Brick. Vitrified brick especially suitable for use in pavements where resistance to abrasion is important. (ASTM C901.)
Roman Brick. Brick whose nominal dimensions are 4 by 2 by 12 in.
Salmon Brick. Generic term for under-burned brick which are more porous, slightly larger, and lighter colored than hard-burned brick. Usually pinkish-orange color.
"SCR Brick". Brick whose nominal dimensions are 6 by 2-3/4 by 12 in. (See SCR.)
Sewer Brick. Low absorption, abrasive-resistant brick intended for use in drainage structures. (ASTM C32 .)
Soft-Mud Brick. Brick produced by molding relatively wet clay (20 to 30 percent moisture). Often a hand process. When insides of molds are sanded to prevent sticking of clay, the product is sand-struck brick. When molds are wetted to prevent sticking, the product is water-struck brick.
Squint Brick. Factory made corner unit.
Stiff-Mud Brick. Brick produced by extruding a stiff but plastic clay (12 to 15 percent moisture) through a die.
BRICK GRADE. Designation for durability of the unit expressed as SW for severe weathering. MW for moderate weathering, or NW for negligible weathering. (ASTM C216, C62 and C652)
BRICK LEDGE. A ledge on a footing or wall which supports a course of masonry.
BRICK TROWEL. A trowel having a flat, trianglar steel blade in an oftset handle used to pick up and spread mortar. The narrow end of the blade is called the "point"; the wide end, the "heel."
BRICK TYPE. Designation for facing brick that controls tolerance, chippage, and distortion. Expressed as FBS, FBX, and FBA for solid brick, and HBS, HBX, HBA, and HBB for hollow brick. (See ASTM C216 and C652.)
BROACH. 1.In quarrying, to free stone blocks from the ledge by cutting out the webbing between holes drilled close together in a row. 2. To finish a stone surface with broad parallel groves. A general term describing machine-worked stone finishes. Some broached work has a shallow drafted margin surrounding the broaching,
BROAD TOOLING. See batted work.
BRUSHED FINISH. Stone finish produced by a coarse, rotating wire brush.
BUILDING STONE. Any stone that may be used in building construction; granite, limestone, marble.
BULL HEADER. A header that is laid on its edge so that the end of the unit is exposed.
BULLNOSE. A convex, semicircular molding used on edges of such masonry units as stair treads, window sills, and partitions.
BUSHHAMMER FINISH. A stone surface dressed with a bushhammer. Used decoratively or to provide a roughened traction surface for treads, floors, pavements.
BUSHHAMMER. A hammer having a face that is sharply ridged or toothed with points in a square-set pattern.
BUTTERING. Placing mortar on a masonry unit with a trowel before laying such unit.
BUTTRESS. A projecting mass of masonry set at an angle to or boned into a wall that it strengthens or supports.
BUTTON. In setting masonry, lead discs or other materials to carry the weight of the superincumbent stone while the mortar is green and curing.

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