What Is Rat Trap Bond | How to Use | Advantage & Disadvantage of Rat Trap Bond

What Is Rat Trap Bond?

• This is one of the wall constructing method of brickwork on wall construction.
• This method is having slight differences while placing bricks during brickwork; furthermore, it is working on a void making principle.
• It means there is space between two blocks when placing on layer. Bricks position in this method is vertical, so brick face with fog remains remain inner face where hollow space created due to the upright position of the bricks.
• This kind of new pattern of bricklaying introduced by Mr.laurie Baker in the 1970s in Kerala.
• The primary purpose of this idea was to draw down cost in the material in construction as much as possible moreover, parallelly, it decreased in material requirements, and also it provides excellent thermal efficiency when it compares to the older pattern of brick masonry.
• The main thing that needs to note down is that due to this method, the strength of the wall not affected.

Also, read: Type of Brick in Brick Masonry English Bond & Flemish Bond

How to Use Rat Trap Bond Method Practically.

• This method is less prominent due to people accustomed to the conventional way of brickwork. At present, these types of masonry construction are new in many areas.
• In this type of bricklaying pattern, bricks are situated on edges; hence face with fog remains inside of the wall, and it built a small rectangular section of four blocks.
• Due to this, the wall has an inside void or free space, which plays a vital role in getting effective thermal insulation inside the room.

Also, read: Test for Compressive Strength of Brick | Water Absorption | Dimensions Test

Advantage of Rat Trap Bond Method.

The few benefits are given underneath.This method is adaptable on the basis of its less consumption of construction material means it provide benefits in material costing.

This method consuming roughly 30% fewer bricks moreover 50% less mortar compare to conventional masonry.

Most people avoid using this method due to the unawareness of this method. However, the strength is as equal as an old method of bricklaying.

If considering the main benefit of this method is thermal insulations, it is beneficial to decreased room temperature, and it reduces electricity costs.

This way of bricklaying method is playing a crucial role in resisting heat and cold in both weather conditions.

This bricklaying pattern in the construction is eye-catching from both inside and outside of the wall; the plastering process is avoidable if it is not necessarily

Well, this brick laying method also used in partition wall; moreover, even capable of holding a load on it means its load-bearing capacity is not affected.

This way is very well useful in case of decreasing material cost; It reduces material consumption, which results in cost saving in the construction budget.

Also, read: Concrete Material Calculation / Concrete Quantity

Disadvantage of Rat Trap Bond Are Given Below.

This way of construction is not capable of resisting sound. Hence, the soundproof wall is not possible b this way.

Mason has to be careful while laying bricks. Extra care must be taken while designing the wall length and heights for a structure.

Pre-training required if workers are not familiar with this pattern of bricklaying, if not possible, then hired experienced workers; hence the cost of a worker may increase.

Following Care Should Be Taken While Using This Pattern:

Firstly, the quality of bricks is always checked before used, quality with regular size, and even sharp edges.

The surface layer or first bottom layer and last or topmost layer of the wall should be solid where no use of vertical bricks.

Other areas like sill and lintel levels at opening or sides of opening have to be solid, so it is easy to provide strength to fix frames for door and windows.

If the building requires more power than we can adopt reinforcement bars to place vertically at hollow space and corners and also at around openings of doors to resist earthquake effects o building.

In this case, advanced planning and smart work required to installed electrical appliances and plumbing pipes.

Sum up all things, this way of construction has overall cost in saving on cost is about 25% of a used by building value by traditional 9inch brickwork construction.

As per the experiment or survey, 350 bricks per CFM in the old method, while in this, it required only 250 blocks; moreover, mortar consumption also decreased, so it affects the building budgets directly.