Brick NomenclatureFrequently, the Builder must cut the brickinto various shapes. The most common shapes areshown in figure 7-50. They are called half or bat,three-quarter closure, quarter closure, kingclosure, queen closure, and split. They are usedto fill in the spaces at corners and such otherplaces where a full brick will not fit.The six surfaces of a brick are called the cull,the beds, the side, the end, and the face, as shownin figure 7-51.Brick ClassificationA finished brick structure contains FACEbrick (brick placed on the exposed face of thestructure) and BACKUP brick (brick placedbehind the face brick). The face brick is often ofhigher quality than the backup brick; however,the entire wall may be built of COMMON brick.Figure 7-50.-Nomenclature of common shapes of cut brick.Figure 7-51.-Brick surfaces nomenclature.Common brick is brick that is made from pit-runclay, with no attempt at color control andno special surface treatment like glazing orenameling. Most common brick is red.Although any surface brick is a face brick asdistinguished from a backup brick, the term facebrick is also used to distinguish high-quality brickfrom brick that is of common-brick quality orless. Applying this criterion, face brick is moreuniform in color than common brick, and it maybe obtained in a variety of colors as well. It maybe specifically finished on the surface, and in anycase, it has a better surface appearance thancommon brick. It may also be more durable, asa result of the use of select clay and othermaterials, or as a result of special manu-facturing methods.Backup brick may consist of brick that isinferior in quality even to common brick. Brickthat has been underburned or overburned, orbrick made with inferior clay or by inferiormethods, is often used for backup brick.Still another type of classification divides brickinto grades according to the probable climaticconditions to which it is to be exposed. These areas follows:GRADE SW is brick designed to withstandexposure to below-freezing temperatures in amoist climate like that of the northern regions ofthe United States.GRADE MW is brick designed to withstandexposure to below-freezing temperatures in a drierclimate than that mentioned in the previousparagraph.GRADE NW is brick primarily intended forinterior or backup brick. It maybe used exposed,however, in a region where no frost action occurs,or in a region where frost action occurs, but theannual rainfall is less than 15 in.Types of BricksThere are many types of brick. Some aredifferent in formation and composition whileothers vary according to their use. Somecommonly used types of brick are described in thefollowing paragraphs.COMMON brick is made of ordinary clays orshales and burned in the usual manner in the7-31
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