Glossary
Brickmason Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential brickmason terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key brickmason vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in brickmason training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- Bed joint
- The horizontal mortar joint under a course.
- Bond
- The pattern in which units are laid, such as running bond.
- CMU
- Concrete masonry unit, or concrete block.
- Course
- One horizontal row of brick or block.
- Efflorescence
- White mineral deposits on masonry from moisture.
- Flashing
- A membrane that directs water out of the wall.
- Grout
- A fluid mix poured into block cells with reinforcing steel.
- Head joint
- The vertical mortar joint between units.
- Lead
- A built-up corner or end used to guide the rest of the wall.
- Mortar types
- Grades such as M, S, N and O with different strengths.
- Repointing
- Removing and replacing deteriorated mortar.
- Story pole
- A marked pole used to keep courses at the right height.
- Tooling
- Shaping mortar joints with a jointer for weather resistance.
- Wall tie
- A metal anchor connecting brick veneer to the backup wall.
- Weep hole
- An opening that lets water drain from behind brick.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Brickmason practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Brickmason training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.