A hollow or solid cast block made from Portland cement, aggregates, and water, used as a primary structural building material. The standard nominal size in North America is 8 by 8 by 16 inches, which includes a 3/8-inch allowance for the mortar joint. Masons lay them in overlapping courses to form walls, often filling the hollow cores with steel reinforcement and fluid grout for structural integrity.
Heard on the job
We need two pallets of 8-inch concrete masonry units delivered to the foundation trench by tomorrow morning.
Also heard as
- CMU
- concrete block
- cinder block