Ladder Mesh Reinforcement

When laying brick and block, you need to have lateral reinforcement within your courses above and beyond your vertical reinforcement such as rebar. The above photo is an example of what a ladder reinforcement looks like to tie both block and brick together. The main ladder, the widest part shown on the right, is used for the block course. Typically, these are set every three courses and keeps the block from moving laterally and provides extra reinforcement when the block moves due to weather or other conditions.

The left "ladder" is used to tie together the brick course with the block. Here is a photo of block that has already been laid, and waiting for the exterior brick. It shows how the only thing extruding is the brick ties.

The brick is not laid directly next to the block. Usually, there is an air gap in-between the block and the brick for air to travel up and down in order to help dry up any moisture that is trapped between the brick and block. The picture below helps to illustrate this point further-

Also, flashing put in between the air cavity between the block and any sort of exterior facade to further help mitigate any moisture from traveling up the cavity, known as capillary action.

Below is a photo of some interior or exterior ladder mesh reinforcement for only block. One can tell this because it is only the one ladder system with no extrusions coming from the ladder.

The second to last photo was taken from - http://www.designerpages.com/products/119345-270-Ladder-Eye-Wire