Masonry vs. Concrete: What’s the Difference?

Many people, including builders and contractors, use masonry as an umbrella term to refer to any work involving stone and concrete, considering concrete work a category that falls under masonry. In reality, masonry and concrete are two separate things that differ in their appearance, structural stability, and more. In this guide, we’ll explain the differences between masonry and concrete to set the record straight.

What Are the Differences Between Masonry and Concrete?

Masonry refers to the practice of connecting individual materials using mortar or grout and doesn’t refer specifically to the materials themselves. In most cases, the materials include natural stone, clay bricks, concrete bricks, and ceramic tiles. Conversely, concrete is a singular building material made from cement, sand, and aggregate, like rock or gravel.

Masonry vs. Concrete: Differences in Appearance

Masonry and concrete differ quite a lot in terms of appearance. The materials involved, the overall look of the finished product, and the style that each fits into are all different.

Materials

One of the biggest differences between masonry and concrete is the materials involved in the construction.

Masonry includes a variety of building materials, including the following:

• Marble

• Granite

• Other natural stone

• Clay bricks

• Concrete blocks

• Tile

• Glass blocks

On the other hand, concrete work only involves using concrete, which is made from cement, sand, and large aggregate.

Uniformity

Since masonry uses mortar or grout to adhere individual materials together, the appearance lacks uniformity. In many cases, this adds some intrigue and elegance to the project. A good example would be a retaining wall made out of stacked stone adhered together with mortar. The result is purposefully imperfect, creating a more natural look.

On the other hand, a builder will create a mold when building with concrete, pour the wet concrete in, and let it cure. The result is a solid concrete block, often with smooth sides and hard corners. The single block is uniform, unlike what you’d aim for with a masonry project.

Style

Masonry can vary quite a lot in the style of homes it works with, depending on the specific building material. A natural stone fireplace, for example, can add rustic charm to a farmhouse style, while a wall made from clay bricks and mortar can provide a more industrial or post-modern look.

Concrete is more industrial, creating a hard, cool appearance with clean lines and rigid corners.

Masonry vs. Concrete: Differences in Construction

Masonry and concrete vary widely in the construction process. Masonry involves laying down single pieces of building material at a time and layering them with an adhesive, like mortar or grout. They’ll use hand tools to complete your project, contributing to a higher labor cost.

When you hire a concrete contractor, they will first construct a mold with wood and then pour the concrete into the mold to let it cure. They’ll then remove the mold from around the concrete. The tools for concrete construction include some manual tools, but your builder will mostly rely on concrete mixers and pourers to do most of the work.

The process of masonry is more involved and time-consuming, which also leads to higher building expenses. If you decide to use concrete for your next project, call a local concrete company for quotes.

Masonry vs. Concrete: Differences in Strength

Both masonry and concrete projects can last for decades with minimal loss of strength and little maintenance. However, concrete provides much greater strength overall, especially if the builder uses steel rebar to reinforce the concrete during construction.

The mortar or grout in masonry projects has low strength compared to concrete, which is why builders will use concrete more often for home foundations, where it can easily support the weight of a home and distribute its weight evenly to the soil below.

The mortar or grout in masonry projects won’t compress under weight, but it doesn’t have the same strength that concrete does and can’t take reinforcement as easily, given that the layers of mortar are thin.

Masonry vs. Concrete: Differences in Uses

The difference in strength between masonry and concrete is one reason the two materials have different building applications. Concrete is one of the strongest building materials, so it very often serves as the foundation of homes and buildings. You might see a concrete block wall—which is masonry, as the concrete blocks are held together with mortar—creating the perimeter of a basement or crawl space, but the slab serving as the floor of the foundation will always be concrete and not masonry.

Masonry can involve the use of multiple building materials, too, making it common in a wide variety of projects. Masonry is involved when tiling floors or shower surrounds, installing backsplashes behind counters, building concrete block walls or stone retaining walls, building brick walls, installing glass block windows, installing stucco siding, and more.

Concrete is most common in home foundation construction, although you might see some exposed concrete forms in modern or industrial-style homes serving as flooring, countertops, or walls.