Glossary
Masonry Glossary
Bond, course, flashing, lintel, spalling, voussoir and more: the words masons use, explained in plain English. Search or scroll.
- Ashlar
- Stone cut into squared blocks and laid in even courses.
- Batter board
- A frame at the corners of a footing that holds the string lines.
- Bed joint
- The horizontal layer of mortar under and over a brick.
- Bond
- The pattern in which bricks are laid, such as running or Flemish.
- Buttering
- Spreading mortar on the end of a brick before setting it.
- Cap
- The top course or a covering that sheds water from a wall or chimney.
- Course
- One horizontal row of bricks or stones.
- Crown
- The cement top of a chimney that slopes water away from the flue.
- Efflorescence
- White salt left on masonry when water moving through it evaporates.
- Flashing
- Metal or membrane that turns water out of a wall.
- Flue
- The passage that carries smoke up and out of a chimney.
- Head joint
- The vertical layer of mortar between two bricks in a course.
- Header
- A brick laid with its short end showing on the face of the wall.
- Jointer
- A tool that shapes and compresses the mortar joint.
- Keystone
- The center stone at the top of an arch that locks it in place.
- Lintel
- A beam over an opening that carries the masonry above it.
- Mortar
- The paste of cement, lime and sand that bonds masonry units.
- Parging
- A thin coat of cement troweled over a foundation wall.
- Pointing
- Finishing or renewing the mortar joints in a wall.
- Quoin
- A corner stone or brick that stands out from the wall face.
- Rowlock
- A brick laid on its long edge with the narrow face showing.
- Sailor
- A brick laid upright with its wide face showing.
- Soldier
- A brick laid upright with its narrow face showing.
- Spalling
- The flaking away of a brick or stone face.
- Stretcher
- A brick laid with its long side showing on the face of the wall.
- Tuckpointing
- Filling joints with new mortar, often with a thin contrasting line on top.
- Veneer
- A single layer of masonry tied to a backing wall.
- Voussoir
- A wedge-shaped brick or stone in an arch.
- Weep hole
- A small opening at the base of a wall that lets water escape.
- Wythe
- A single vertical thickness of masonry in a wall.
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