COMMERCIAL MASONRY
STONE MASONRY
No other construction material is as durable, strong, or weather resistant as stone. Stone is rarely affected by the normal day to day actions that leave wear and tear on other construction materials. Because of its durability, strength and ability to weather stone lasts for a long time. Stones depending upon their geological formations and have life from 300 to 1000 and even more years. Stone does not swell, bend, warp, splinter, or dent. Wind, rain, hail, sleet, and snow do not affect stone. Thus, due to its numerous advantages stone masonry is widely used.
BRICK MASONRY
Single-hung windows look a lot like double-hung windows, but have one major distinction: they only open from the bottom. Where you'll find them: Like double-hung windows, single-hung units are a good general window and are used throughout the home. They used to be found mainly in starter homes, but now are common in many price ranges. Photo courtesy of Jeld-Wen Windows.
BLOCK MASONRY
No other construction material is as durable, strong, or weather resistant as stone. Stone is rarely affected by the normal day to day actions that leave wear and tear on other construction materials. Because of its durability, strength and ability to weather stone lasts for a long time. Stones depending upon their geological formations and have life from 300 to 1000 and even more years. Stone does not swell, bend, warp, splinter, or dent. Wind, rain, hail, sleet, and snow do not affect stone. Thus, due to its numerous advantages stone masonry is widely used.
VENEER MASONRY
Single-hung windows look a lot like double-hung windows, but have one major distinction: they only open from the bottom. Where you'll find them: Like double-hung windows, single-hung units are a good general window and are used throughout the home. They used to be found mainly in starter homes, but now are common in many price ranges. Photo courtesy of Jeld-Wen Windows.
GABION MASONRY
Gabions are baskets, usually of zinc-protected steel (galvanized steel) that are filled with fractured stone of medium size. These gabions will act as a single unit and are stacked with setbacks to form a revetment or retaining wall. Gabions have the advantage of being both well drained and flexible, and so resistant to horizontal pressure, flood, water flow from above, frost damage, and soil flow. Their expected helpful life is only as long as the wire they are composed of and if used in severe climates (such as shore-side in a salt water environment) must be made of appropriate corrosion-resistant wire. Nowadays gabions are rectangular. In past gabions were often cylindrical wicker baskets, open at both ends, used usually for temporary, often military, construction.
REINFORCED MASONRY
Reinforced masonry is a construction system where steel reinforcement in the form of reinforcing bars or mesh is placed in the mortar or placed in the holes and filled with concrete or grout. By placing reinforcement in masonry, the resistance to horizontal loads like seismic loads and energy dissipation capacity can be improved significantly. Reinforced masonry is stronger and able to resist lateral loading better than plain masonry. It also behaves in a more ductile manner than plain masonry, allowing for some deformation under load rather than brittle failure.
BAGGED CONCRETE MASONRY
A low-grade concrete is placed in woven plastic sacks similar to that used for sandbags and then emplaced. The sacks are then watered and emplaced then becomes a series of artificial stones that conform to one another and to adjacent soil and structures. This confirmation makes them resistant to displacement. And then the sack becomes non-functional and eventually disintegrates. This type of masonry is used to protect the entrances and exits of water conduits where a road passes over a stream or dry wash. It is also used to save stream banks from erosion, especially where a road passes close by.