Masonry is the process of building individual units from brick, mortar, stone and other types of building materials and joining the individual units to form structures, such as residential, commercial or industrial buildings. The two major types of masonry units are walls and ceilings – while the principle role of the ceiling is always to provide a link between walls, masonry walls can serve different purposes – here are some:

• Load bearing masonry walls – these walls can be exterior or interior walls and their task is to transfer the load of the roof to the foundation and at some point might require the expertise of a masonry restoration Connecticut consultant;
• Reinforced masonry walls – they can be load-bearing or non-load-bearing walls and they are used wherever the wall needs to be able to withstand lateral forces as well as vertical ones;
• Hollow masonry walls – these walls have cavities inside and they are installed between the interior and the exterior face of the wall to improve the thermal balance inside the building;
• Composite walls – these walls are used for conferring the building attractive appearance while also reducing building costs;
• Post-tensioned masonry walls – these walls use post-tension rods for reinforcement in the foundation and at ground level to make the wall more resistant to seismic movements.