Brick Slip Patterns: Running Bond, Stack Bond and Herringbone

Start with a drawing showing the wall width and height, openings and exposed ends. Add a proposed joint width and the actual face dimensions of the selected slip. Browse the brick slips range for colour and format, then test the layout against those dimensions rather than assuming all products share one module.

The diagrams with this guide are simplified visual comparisons, not fixing instructions or photographs of completed installations. They help you decide what to ask an installer to set out. A useful sketch should also show where the pattern begins, what happens at its boundaries and whether it continues around a return.

Running bond, often called stretcher bond, uses the long faces in horizontal rows with an offset between courses. A half-bond layout places the joint near the centre of the piece below. Its repeated horizontal lines make it a useful starting point for comparing the character of a brick blend without introducing a diagonal pattern.

Try the appearance with TBS Traditional Red Blend, then draw both ends of alternate courses. One row may need different end pieces from the next. Do not decide the starting piece from one corner alone: look at the far end, openings and any return together. The corners and reveals guide covers those purchasing and detailing questions.

Stack bond places pieces in columns with continuous vertical joints. It makes the grid a prominent part of the design, so compare the mortar contrast as carefully as the slip. A layout with pale mortar against a darker face can read very differently from the same units with a closer-toned joint.

TBS Iced Grey is one grey product to use for a visual trial. Ask the installer how lines will be established and checked across the whole wall, including around openings. A decorative stacked facing is not a specification for structural stack-bonded masonry. The backing and fixing arrangement still needs approval for the proposed slip installation and orientation.

Herringbone alternates the orientation of adjacent rectangular pieces to create a repeated angled arrangement. Choose whether the pattern runs diagonally across the wall or is rotated to a different orientation, then agree a centre line. A symmetrical panel needs its own setting-out decision; starting with a convenient full piece at one edge may leave an awkward opposite edge.

Eurobrick’s own system guidance identifies herringbone as requiring careful planning and notes that its backing arrangement may need to differ. Do not transfer those system instructions to another board. Confirm that the proposed backing and adhesive accept the intended layout. Ask for a dry layout or drawing that includes the angled cuts at all four boundaries and the finish of exposed cut faces.

The wall’s net area does not increase just because the pattern changes, but the cutting schedule and reusable offcuts can change the order. Use the brick slip calculator as a starting point with the correct product coverage, then agree the pattern allowance with your installer. The measurement guide explains the area and whole-box steps.

For example, a narrow herringbone panel may have angled pieces along both sides and at the top and bottom. An offcut is useful only if its size, angle and acceptable face suit another position. Avoid assuming that every cut produces a second usable piece, or that one standard percentage covers every pattern. Record the agreed allowance separately so it is visible in the quotation.

Make the trial panel answer the difficult details, not just the centre of the wall. Include an end or corner where possible, use the proposed joint and review the pattern from the main viewing position. Decide whether a border is part of the design; a border adds its own cuts, dimensions and transitions.

Give the installer the approved bond, orientation, starting reference, joint specification, edge treatment and quantity assumptions. A grooved board should not be selected solely because it is marketed for slips: check that its layout and instructions suit this pattern. For ideas on where to use a bounded panel, see the feature-wall ideas guide.

If you are still deciding how slips fit into the wider project, read the brick slips overview. Once the bond is settled, return to the product listing to confirm the available formats before placing the order.