Masonry, Stucco & Hardscape Diagrams
15 diagrams · 5 calculators
Brick bond and coursing, three-coat stucco with weep screed, paver base and edge restraint, sand bedding, and asphalt-driveway layer stacks — the diagrams behind durable masonry and hardscape.
Calculators in this category
Masonry, Stucco & Hardscape · 15 diagrams
- Masonry, Stucco & Hardscape
Brick bond patterns compared — running, ⅓ running, stack, common, English, and Flemish
The common brick bonds: running (½ offset, the standard), ⅓ running, stack (aligned — needs reinforcement), and the header-bonded common, English, and Flemish bonds that tie a double wythe and so use more brick.
- Masonry, Stucco & Hardscape
Where bricks-per-square-foot comes from — the nominal brick-plus-joint cell
A brick plus its ⅜″ joint is a nominal 8″ × 2⅝″ cell (21 in²), so 144 ÷ 21 = 6.75 bricks per sq ft. Tighter joints mean more bricks (¼″ → 7.34, ½″ → 6.40); bigger units mean fewer.
- Masonry, Stucco & Hardscape
Anchored brick-veneer wall section — air space, WRB, ties, flashing, and weep holes
Brick veneer is a non-structural skin hung on ties over a 1″ air space, not a load-bearing wall. Rain that gets behind it runs down the WRB onto the base flashing and out the weep holes — so never seal the weeps.
- Masonry, Stucco & Hardscape
What goes under pavers — compacted base, bedding sand, joint sand, and edge restraint
A paver field is mostly the buried layers: compacted base (4″ patio · 6″ driveway · ~10″ vehicular), a screeded 1″ bedding sand (never deeper — it ruts), pavers, polymeric joint sand, and a spiked edge restraint. Pitch it ~1.5–2% to drain.
- Masonry, Stucco & Hardscape
Paver laying patterns — running bond, herringbone, basketweave, and waste factors
The pattern sets the waste factor and the strength: running bond (~8%), 45° herringbone (~13%, the ICPI-required orientation for driveways — it locks against turning tires), and decorative basketweave.
- Masonry, Stucco & Hardscape
Why pavers need edge restraint — the perimeter creeps and unravels without it
Edge restraint is the #1 thing that keeps pavers tight: without it the perimeter creeps out, joints open, and sand washes away. Spike the restraint to the compacted base (not the soil), tight to the outside course.
- Masonry, Stucco & Hardscape
Three-coat stucco wall assembly — sheathing, WRB, lath, scratch, brown, finish (7/8″)
Three-coat stucco over framing is a 7/8″ system: two layers of WRB, then metal lath (cups out so the plaster keys behind it), then a 3/8″ scratch coat, 3/8″ brown coat, and 1/8″ finish coat.
- Masonry, Stucco & Hardscape
Stucco weep screed & ground clearance — WRB laps the flange, ≥4″ above grade
Stucco ends at a weep screed, not at the ground: the WRB laps over its flange, the lath stops on it, and weep holes drain the wall — kept ≥4″ above earth (2″ above paved) so it can’t wick water into the framing.
- Masonry, Stucco & Hardscape
Stucco control joints — break the wall into ≤144 sq ft panels so it doesn’t crack
Cement stucco shrinks as it cures. Control joints break the wall into panels ≤144 sq ft (≤18 ft any dimension, ≤2.5:1) so the shrinkage relieves at the joints instead of cracking the field randomly.
- Masonry, Stucco & Hardscape
Asphalt driveway layer stack — subgrade, aggregate base, and HMA courses in cross-section
A driveway is a layer stack, not a slab: compacted subgrade → ~6″ crushed-stone base → tack coat → 2.5–3″ of hot-mix asphalt. The base carries the load — NAPA rates 1″ of HMA ≈ 3″ of aggregate base.
- Masonry, Stucco & Hardscape
Asphalt driveway drainage — a cross-slope sheds water while a flat driveway ponds and fails
Drainage is the #1 failure mode: a flat driveway ponds water that soaks and ruins the base, while a ~2% cross-slope (plus ≥1% longitudinal grade) sheds it. No ponding, ever.
- Masonry, Stucco & Hardscape
Compacted vs loose asphalt — place compacted depth, order loose tons
Run tonnage on the COMPACTED depth, then bump the order for loose delivery: HMA ×1.10–1.15, aggregate base ×1.15–1.25 (4″ compacted base ≈ 4.6″ loose). Never compute tons from the loose depth.
- Masonry, Stucco & Hardscape
Which sand for which job — concrete, fill, mason, and play sand, and whether each compacts
The name on the ticket decides the job. Concrete/sharp (C33) and fill sand are well-graded — they lock under a tamper and carry load (concrete, paver bedding, structural fill). Mason (C144) and play sand are uniform fine grading — they stay loose (mortar, joints, sandboxes). Never use a non-compacting fine sand as a structural paver base; that needs crushed stone.
- Masonry, Stucco & Hardscape
Sand cubic yards, tons & bags — area × depth ÷ 324, ~1.35 tons and 54 bags per cubic yard
Volume: cubic yards = area(ft²) × depth(in) ÷ 324 (324 = 12 in/ft × 27 ft³/yd³). Then the format — bulk sells by weight and volume: at ~2,700 lb/yd³, 1 yd³ ≈ 1.35 tons; bags are 0.5 ft³ each, so 1 yd³ = 54 bags. Coverage is volume ÷ depth, so deeper covers less (324 ft² at 1″ down to 81 ft² at 4″). Wet sand runs 15–25% heavier.
- Masonry, Stucco & Hardscape
Paver bedding sand — screed a uniform 1″ over a compacted base, never level the base with sand
Sand is a setting bed, not a fill. Leveling a low base with 2–3″ of sand (left) lets the bed consolidate unevenly, so pavers rut and pond water. The fix (right): compact the aggregate base to grade first, then screed a constant 1″ of ASTM C33 bedding sand (ICPI Tech Spec 2). Fix the grade in the base, not the sand.