English bond and Flemish bond are the two most common brick masonry patterns used in wall construction. A brick construction pattern with alternate courses of brick laid as stretchers and headers forms an English bond. A flemish bond is a brick construction pattern that consists of alternate stretchers and headers for each course.
Also Read: Types of Bonds in Brick Masonry Construction
Detail features of English and Flemish bonds along with their difference are explained in this article.
English Bond
An English bond can be constructed for almost all wall thicknesses. This bond is the strongest among all other bonds. This bond consists of alternate courses of headers and stretchers as shown in figure-1.
Also Read: Types of Bonds in Brick Masonry Construction
As shown in the figure above, the vertical joints come over each other. This is also followed by the vertical joints of the stretcher course. The vertical joints are broken to avoid the joints to form inline, by using a queen closer. The queen closer is placed after the quoin header for each heading course.
The figure-2 and 3 show the English bonds for the walls with various thicknesses.
Features of English Bond
The basic features of English Bond are:
- No continuous vertical joints are formed.
- In the elevation, the alternate course either shows headers or stretchers.
- Every header in an alternative course comes centrally over the joint formed by two stretchers below it.
- The stretchers have a minimum lap of one-fourth their length over the headers. This is the case for the stretcher course.
- Those walls with even multiple half bricks show the same appearance on both the faces. Hence a course that shows stretchers on the front face would show stretchers on the back face.
- Those walls with odd multiple half bricks show stretchers on one face and the headers on the other dace.
- The middle portion of the thicker walls consists of headers.
- Queen closer is not required for a stretcher course. It is used for the header course placed just after the quoin header. No header course should start with the queen closer.
- The joints formed in the header course are greater (twice) than the stretcher course. Hence the joint in the header course is made thinner compared to the joints in the stretcher course.
Flemish Bond
A Flemish bond pattern consists of each course of alternate headers and stretchers. Every alternate course starts with a quoin header at the corner. To the next of quoin header, quoin closer is placed in alternate courses to develop face lap. The patterns arrange such that every header is centrally supported over the stretcher below it.
Flemish bonds can be either:
- Double Flemish Bond
- Single Flemish Bond
1. Double Flemish Bond
The figure-3 below shows a double flemish bond with alternate headers and stretchers in each course. The feature of the double flemish bond is that it has the same appearance both in the front face as well as in the back face. This feature hence gives a better appearance compared to the English bond for all the wall thickness.
Features of Double Flemish Bond
The basic features of Double Flemish Bond are:
- Each Course has headers and stretchers placed alternately.
- The facing and backing of the wall have the same appearance.
- In alternate courses, quoin closers are placed next to quoin headers.
- The walls with odd multiple of half brick employ half bats and three-quarter bats.
- The walls with even multiple of half bricks, do not require bats.
2. Single Flemish Bond
A single flemish bond comprises the double flemish bond on its facing and English bond as backing with hearting in each course. Hence, the bond makes use of the strength of both English and Flemish bond. This bond can be used for the construction of walls with a thickness not less than one and a half brick. The facing with double flemish bonds is employed with good quality expensive bricks. For backing and hearting, cheap bricks can be used.
Difference between English and Flemish Bond
| ENGLISH BOND | FLEMISH BOND |
| Bond pattern with alternate header and stretcher course | Bond Pattern with each course having alternate header and stretcher |
| More strength given for bricks with thickness greater than one & half brick | Less strong and compact compared to English bond |
| Less pleasing appearance | Appearance is more attractive and pleasing |
| Expensive | Economical |
| No strict supervision and skill is demanded | Requires good workmanship and careful supervision. |
Also Read: Terms Used in Brick Masonry Construction