Standard Brick Walls

Facade or Veneer

• A standard brick wall on a house is called a facade or veneer. Bricks are laid against a wall of wood or some type of concrete. Brick veneer on a wood wall is secured to a metal mesh called lath, which is nailed to the wood; the mortar fastens the bricks to the lath and is further secured by metal tabs called ties that are nailed to the wood and placed in mortar joints. Brick veneer on a concrete wall is laid flush against the wall and mortar fastens bricks to the concrete.

Cavity Walls

• Another type of brick wall is called a cavity wall. This is an ancient form, dating to early Greeks and Romans. It essentially is two walls, built side by side with a space in between. That space may be left open or filled with insulation or other material. Some cavity walls are made with two sides of brick, others are formed with concrete blocks or other masonry on one side with bricks on the other. Insulated cavity walls have bricks secured with metal ties through the insulation to connect the two sides.

Free-standing

• Freestanding brick walls up to 3 feet high can be built with courses of bricks laid side by side with mortar joints overlapped, so the joints on one layer are in the center of the bricks of the layer below. An alternative style uses a course of bricks set on ends, called soldiers, for every third course of flat bricks. Another alternative uses bricks crosswise, overlapping the two layers, every third brick. Free-standing walls over 3 feet high need vertical reinforcing bars in a cavity that is filled with a cement-based grout.

Patterns

• Either veneer or freestanding brick walls can be laid in several patterns. The running bond, with bricks overlapping by half a brick, is the most common. Other styles mix in vertical bricks, bricks laid with ends out or bricks laid with 4-inch faces out. Some patterns offset some bricks, so they jut out from the surface of the wall by half an inch or so. It is even possible to mix in other sizes of brick to break up the regular pattern.