Running-bond corner coursing for concrete block — how half and corner units keep the offset

Running bond offsets each course a half block so joints never stack; at corners the units alternate direction, so a corner or half unit closes every course. 12 courses = 8 ft (8″ each), and each linear foot of wall is 0.75 block.

An elevation of a block wall corner laid in running bond. Each course is offset half a block from the course below so the head joints never stack, and at the corner the units alternate direction course by course — one course turns the corner one way, the next turns it the other — so a corner or half unit closes each course. Two intersecting walls share the single corner column rather than each counting it. The vertical module is 8 inches per course, so 12 courses make a nominal 8-foot wall, and each linear foot of wall length is 0.75 block, giving the 1.125 blocks per square foot the count is built on. — Source: ASTM C90 running bond; NCMA/CMHA TEK 04-02A

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An elevation of a block wall corner laid in running bond. Each course is offset half a block from the course below so the head joints never stack, and at the corner the units alternate direction course by course — one course turns the corner one way, the next turns it the other — so a corner or half unit closes each course. Two intersecting walls share the single corner column rather than each counting it. The vertical module is 8 inches per course, so 12 courses make a nominal 8-foot wall, and each linear foot of wall length is 0.75 block, giving the 1.125 blocks per square foot the count is built on.

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