ABSTRACT
A course of block or brick is one horizontal row. Two block or brick courses laid side by side have two “wythes”. Block and brick have joints of mortar that bind the courses together. Concrete masonry units, or CMUs, combined with concrete and reinforcing steel (rebar), are the choice for many buildings and load-bearing situations. When the voids of block, which are called cells, are filled in horizontal coursing, the resulting beams are called bond beams. Horizontal filled courses of block are easier to count than vertical cells and should be figured first. Typical locations of vertical concrete-filled cells are at corners, wall intersections, and door and window jambs. There are many sizes of brick and only one will be used in the takeoffs. The actual size is the exact measurement of any given clay brick after it comes out of the oven, which will be ever so slightly different than specified because of the manufacturing process.
