Solid masonry is a wall built entirely of load-bearing brick, block, or stone, often two or more wythes tied together, where the masonry itself carries the structural weight rather than a wood or steel frame behind it.
In solid masonry construction, the wall itself is the structure. Older homes and buildings in this region were often built this way, with multiple wythes of brick bonded together using header courses or metal ties so the whole assembly acts as one thick, load-bearing wall. That's different from modern veneer, where a thin brick skin rides outside a stick-built frame. Solid masonry walls are heavier and more expensive to build today, but they hold up differently over time than veneer.
Solid masonry doesn't have a drainage cavity behind it, so when water gets in, it moves straight through the wall. On older solid brick homes around Hillsville and Galax, that means winter freeze-thaw cycles can spall brick faces on both the outside and, less obviously, on interior plaster. Repairing solid masonry right means matching the original bond pattern and mortar so the repaired section moves with the rest of the wall instead of trapping water at the seam.
More masonry vocabulary from the glossary.
The services where this term comes up.
Chelo's Brick & Stone serves Hillsville, Galax, Wytheville, Fancy Gap, and Independence, VA. Call for a straight answer and a free on-site estimate.
