Better Know A Brick: Part 1

There’s more to a brick than, well, a brick. In this first installment of Better Know A Brick (BKAB), we’ll go over some brick lingo.

The photo below shows a brick as it is typically laid in a wall. The bed of the brick would receive the mortar. The face is what we call the part of the brick that remains exposed in a wall; when it’s the long narrow side, it’s called a stretcher. The shorter narrow part is called a header. The arris is simply the corner or edge formed by the intersection of two surfaces.

Now it gets a bit tricky. Let’s say the brick was oriented as in the photo below, laid on its narrow long edge (what we’d usually call the face). A new orientation means new names: if the broad surface of the brick (the part we’d call the bed if it was laid flat) is showing, it’s called a shiner. Laid on edge rather than flat, the end of the brick is called a rowlock.

One final orientation: if the brick is laid on its end with the wide part exposed, it’s called a sailor, and if it’s laid on its end with the narrow edge exposed, it’s called a soldier.

For next time: courses, wythes, and bonds!