Types of Bonds

Flemish bond Flemish bond, also known as Dutch bond, has throughout history been considered the most decorative bond, and for this reason was used extensively for dwellings until the adoption of the cavity wall. It is created by alternately laying headers and stretchers in a single course. The next course is laid so that a header lies in the middle of the stretcher in the course below. This bond is two bricks thick. It is quite difficult to lay Flemish bond properly. Flemish bond's main rival for load-bearing walls. A common variation often found in early 18th-century buildings is Glazed-headed Flemish Bond, in which the exposed headers are burned until they vitrify with a black glassy surface..

Stretcher bond Stretcher bond, also known as running bond, consists of bricks laid with only their long narrow sides (their stretchers) showing, overlapping midway with the courses of bricks below and above. It is the simplest repeating pattern, but, since it cannot be made with a bond to the bricks behind, it is suitable only for a wall one-half brick thick, the thinnest possible wall. Such a thin wall is not stable enough to stand alone, and must be tied to a supporting structure. It is common in modern buildings, in particular as the outer face of a cavity wall, or as the facing to a timber or steel-framed structure. Stretcher bond is now used in building garden and boundary walls that are "stand alone" by incorporating a layer of steel brick-reinforcing mesh, laid every three or so courses, thus acting as headers in tying the two leaves together.

Monk bond Monk bond is a variant of Flemish bond, with two stretchers between the headers in each row, and the headers centred over the join between the two stretchers in the row below. It was commonly used in the region around the Baltic Sea until turn of 13th and 14th centuries, then it was gradually replaced by Flemish bond.

English bond This bond has two alternating courses of stretchers and headers, with the headers centered on the stretchers, and each alternate row vertically aligned. There is a variant in which the second course of stretchers is half offset from the first, giving rise to English cross bond or Dutch bond.

American bond By one definition, Common, American, or Scottish bond has one row of headers to five of stretchers.The number of stretcher courses may vary from that, in practice. For example, the brick Carke Palmer House in Henrico County, Virginia, has a lower level built in 1819 described as being American bond of 3 to 5 stretcher courses between each headers.

Garden wall bonds English garden wall bond - A repeating sequence of three courses of stretchers followed by a course of headers.

Flemish garden Wall Bond  A repeating sequence of three stretchers followed by a header in each course. The courses are offset so that the headers of the courses above and below is centered on the middle stretcher of the course between (so at any header the sequence vertically is header-stretcher-header etc.). A variation of Flemish Garden Wall bond is Flemish diagonal bond - A complex pattern of stretcher courses alternating with courses of one or two stretchers between headers, at various offsets such that over ten courses a diamond-shaped pattern appears.

Rat-trap bond Rat-trap bond, also known as Chinese bond, is a type of garden wall bond similar to Flemish, but consisting of rowlocks and shiners instead of headers and stretchers (the stretchers and headers are laid on their sides, with the bed face of the stretcher facing outward). This gives a wall with an internal cavity bridged by the headers, hence the name. The main advantage of this bond is economy in use of bricks, giving a wall of one-brick thickness with fewer bricks than a solid bond. The bond also gives the advantage that both skins are tied together. Rat-trap bond was in common usage in England for building houses of fewer than 3 storeys up to the turn of the 20th century and is today still used in India as an economical bond, as well for the insulation properties offered by the air cavity. Also, many brick walls surrounding kitchen gardens were designed with cavities so hot air could circulate in the winter, warming fruit trees or other produce spread against the walls, causing them to bloom earlier and forcing early fruit production.