Stack bond

Stack bond is a masonry pattern where the units sit directly on top of each other so the vertical (perpend) joints line up in continuous columns, rather than overlapping as they do in the usual stretcher bond. It is a weaker arrangement structurally, has specific provisions in AS 3700, and is popular as a contemporary feature look.

In a traditional stretcher bond, each unit overlaps the two below it (typically by half a unit), so the perpend joints are staggered and load is spread sideways across the wall through the overlap. Stack bond removes that overlap: the units are stacked in straight columns with aligned perpends. The crisp grid it produces is the reason architects specify it, but structurally the aligned joints create continuous vertical planes of weakness, so the wall does not distribute load or resist cracking as well as bonded masonry.

Because of that, AS 3700 treats stack bond differently. It generally requires additional reinforcement (for example bed-joint reinforcement at specified spacing) to tie the units across the aligned joints and to carry the loads a bond pattern would otherwise share, and closer attention to control joints.

For a builder the practical points are to treat stack bond as an engineered, reinforced detail, not just a laying pattern: follow the specified bed-joint (or other) reinforcement and spacing, because without it stack-bond walls crack along the aligned perpends. Set out carefully, the aligned joints make any deviation in plumb, gauge, or perpend width glaringly visible, far more than stretcher bond hides. And confirm whether the wall is loadbearing or a veneer feature, because the reinforcement requirement scales with what the wall has to do.

Also known as: Stacked bond, column bond.

Category: Masonry / Bonds.

Related

• AS 3700 masonry structures

See also

• Control joint

References

• AS 3700 Masonry structures, Standards Australia (verified 2026-06-01)

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Last updated: 2026-06-01. Verified: 2026-06-01. Quarterly review for currency.