Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. 312 Section 4 Construction Details Summary • Solid masonry walls are built of solid masonry units, hollow masonry units, or a combination of the two. All joints between the units are filled with mortar. • Exterior nonloadbearing walls may be curtain walls (not wholly supported at each story) or panel walls (supported at each story and self- supporting between stories). • A cavity wall is built of masonry units arranged to provide a continuous air space of 2″ to 3″ wide. • Cavity walls exhibit superior rain penetration resistance, excellent thermal capabilities, good sound transmission resistance, and high fire resistance. • The cavity in a cavity wall must be kept free of mortar droppings during construction. • Suitable types of insulation materials for cavity walls are rigid boards and granular fills. • In anchored brick veneer construction, nominal 3″ or 4″ thick exterior brick wythe is anchored to a backing system with metal ties. There is a clear air space between the veneer and the backing system. • In brick veneer wall assemblies, flashing and weep holes work with the air space to resist moisture penetration. • Moisture problems in masonry walls can be minimized through the use of vapor barriers, dehumidification, ventilation, and heat exchangers. • Reinforced masonry walls are built with steel reinforcement embedded in the masonry units and are structurally bonded by grout that is poured into the cavity (collar joint) between the wythes of masonry. • Thin brick units are approximately 1/2″ to 1″ thick. Thin brick veneer is an adhered veneer. • Adhered veneer construction can be classified as thin bed set or thick bed set. In addition, thin brick can be applied to the exterior of precast wall panels prior to casting. • Chases and recesses are horizontal or vertical spaces left in a wall for the purpose of containing plumbing, heating ducts, electrical wiring, or other equipment. • In an arch, masonry units span an opening by transferring vertical loads laterally to adjacent masonry units, and thus to the abutments. • Common building arches include the jack arch, segmental arch, semicircular arch, and multicentered arch. • An arch is normally classified by the curve of its intrados and by its function, shape, or architectural style. • For short arch spans, tapered brick is recom- mended to avoid mortar joints that are too wide at the extrados. Larger span arches can be formed with rectangular brick and tapered mortar joints. • Window and door details include the head (top of a window or door), the jambs (vertical sides of a door or window), and the sill (bottom piece connecting the jambs). • A sill channels water away from a building. Slip sills are the same length as the window opening lug sills extend into the masonry on either side of the opening. • Types of movement joints include expansion joints, control joints, building expansion joints, and construction joints. • Bond breaks use building paper or flashing to separate two surfaces of masonry materials with different expansion and contraction rates in order to prevent cracks. • Garden walls are freestanding structures that include straight walls, pier and panel walls, and serpentine walls. • Caps and copings channel water away from a building. A cap is a covering within the height of the wall. A coping is the covering at the top of a wall. • Retaining walls and other hardscape units are made from concrete masonry products. Retaining wall units have a lip on the lower back edge. The units are placed so the lip locks behind the lower course, providing proper alignment and preventing forward movement exerted by earth pressure.