Brick frequently must be cut to fit

Brick frequently must be cut to fit into corners and other places where a whole brick cannot be used. Serveral common shapes are shown in figure 14-33.
Figure 14-4 illustrates the terms applied to the components of a brick wall. A course is a horizontal layer of brick in the plane of the wall. In this illustration the individual bricks in each course, except the top course, are in the stretcher position. A wythe is a vertical section one brick thick. A header is a brick placed with its long axis perpendicular to the direction of the wall. Headers aare used to bond two wythe together. The bricks in the top course of figure 14-4 are in the header position. A bed joint is a horizontal layer of mortar ( or bed ) on which bricks are laid. Head joints are vertical mortar joints between brick ends. Acollar joint is a vertical joint between brick withes. The usual thickness of mortar joints is ¼ in (6mm) for glazed brick and tile and either 3/8 in (10mm) or ½ in (13mm) for unglazed brick anf tile. The exposed surfaces of mortar joints may be finished by troweling, tooling, or raking, as shown in figure 14-5. A troweled joint is formed by cutting off excess mortar with the trowel and then compacting the joint with the tip of trowel. Troweled joints include the flush joint, the struck joint, and the weather joint. A tooled joint is formed by using a special tool to compact and shape the mortar in the joint. The two most common tooled joints are the concave joint and the V-joint. Tooled joints form the most watertight joints. Raked joints are formed by removing a layer of mortar from the joint with a special tool. Raked joints are often used for appearance but are difficult to make completely watertight.