British Bricklaying Terms

Bat - a cut brick. A quarter bat is one quarter the length of a stretcher. A half bat is one half.[3]Closer - a cut brick used to change the bond at quoins. Commonly a quarter bat.Queens closer - a brick which has been cut over its length and is a stretcher long and a quarter bat deep. Commonly used to bond one brick walls at right angled quoins.Kings closer - a brick which has been cut diagonally over its length to show a half bat at one end and nothing at the other.Snapped Header - a half bat laid to appear as a header. Commonly used to build short radii half brick walls or decorative features.Squint - a brick which is specially made to bond around external quoins of obtuse angles. Typically 60 or 45 degrees.Dog Leg - a brick which is specially made to bond around internal acute angles. Typically 60 or 45 degrees.Corbel - a brick, block or stone which oversails the main wall.Cant - a header which is angled at less than 90 degrees.Plinth - a stretcher which is angled at less than 90 degrees.Voussoir - a supporting brick in an arch, usually shaped to ensure the joints appear even.Creasing tile - a flat clay tile laid as a brick to form decorative features or waterproofing to the top of a garden wall.Cramp - or frame cramp is a tie used to secure a window or door frame.Movement Joint - a straight joint formed in a wall to contain compressible material, in order to prevent cracking as the wall contracts or expands.Air brick - a brick with perforations to allow the passage of air through a wall. Usually used to permit the ventilation of underfloor areas.Pier - a free standing section of masonry such as pillar or panel.Quoin - a corner in masonry.Stopped end - the end of a wall which does not abut any other component.Dog tooth - a course of headers where alternate bricks project from the face.Saw tooth - a course of headers laid at a 45 degree angle to the main face.Sleeper wall - a low wall whose function is to provide support, typically to floor joists.Honeycomb wall - a wall, usually stretcher bond, in which the vertical joints are opened up to the size of a quarter bat to allow air to circulate. Commonly used in sleeper walls.Party Wall - a wall shared by two properties or parties.Shear Wall - a wall designed to give way in the event of structural failure in order to preserve the integrity of the remaining building.Fire Wall - a wall specifically constructed to compartmentalise a building in order to prevent fire spread.Withe - the central wall dividing two shafts. Most commonly to divide flues within a chimney.Toothing - the forming of a temporary stopped end in such a way as to allow the bond to continue at a later date as the work proceeds.Indent - a hole left in a wall in order to accommodate an adjoining wall at a future date. These are often left to permit temporary access to the work area.Tumbling in - bonding a battered buttress or breast into a horizontal wall.Racking back - stepping back the bond as the wall increases in height in order to allow the work to proceed at a future date.