Been going back and forth on this for a while now. I always used a jointer for my red brick jobs, but last week on a 2000 brick wall in Denver I tried a trowel the whole way. It was faster to set up but my joints looked uneven in places. Which tool do you guys lean on for production work and why?
Old timer at the supply yard swore up and down that soaking dry bricks before laying was a waste of time. Said modern mortar sticks fine without it. So I stopped doing it on a garden wall job last July. Three months later the mortar joints are shrinking and cracking like crazy in the sun. Been laying for 6 years and never had that problem when I soaked them first. Anyone else found this out the hard way?
Spent 4 hours last Tuesday shimming every damn course on that uneven pour because nobody wanted to tear it out, how do you guys handle contractors who rush the prep work?
I did a small test area with Portland first last spring on a terrace house in Brighton, and it just cracked after 3 months. Switched to NHL 3.5 lime and worked it wetter like the old guys told me, no cracks at all so far. Any of you guys had better luck with one over the other on period brickwork?
Was reading through the Masonry Advisory Council guidelines last night (yeah, I know, real party animal here) and stumbled on a stat that blew my mind. Something like 40% of brick veneer failures they investigated traced back to ties not having enough embedment in the mortar. Not the wrong type of tie, not rust - just not shoved in far enough. I've been checking my guys' work this week and caught two spots where they barely had a half inch in the bed joint. These are guys with 10+ years experience too. Anyone else run into this on inspections or have a trick to get your crew to pay attention to embedment depth?
This guy Mike who's been laying since the 70s kept telling me to dunk my bricks in a bucket before setting them. I figured it was just boomer nonsense and ignored him for like my first 6 jobs. Then last month I did a retaining wall for a customer in Portland and half the bricks were sucking the moisture out of the mortar so fast it crumbled in spots. Had to tear out a whole section and redo it. Now I'm soaking every batch and Mike won't let me hear the end of it. Anyone else learn this lesson the hard way or was it just me?
I started laying brick back in '82 down in Mobile, Alabama, and we learned to butter with a wrist flick that wastes almost nothing. Last month I watched a kid slather a full trowel head of mud on every single brick, dropping half of it on the ground before he even set it. Has anyone else noticed the younger generation using way more mortar than needed, or am I just yelling at clouds?
Always used a chisel and mallet for splitface blocks on retaining walls, but a guy on a site near Austin swore the brick hammer was faster. Gave it a shot on a 50 foot wall and it cut my time by almost half. Anyone else switch tools and find something that worked better than they expected?
The cheap aluminum one from the hardware store stripped its threads on day 12 while I was mixing type S. Has anyone found a paddle that actually lasts more than a month without costing a fortune?
Everyone talks about speed but nobody mentions that 50,000 bricks in means you have probably also wasted 5,000 bricks on bad cuts and sloppy buttering, so take that milestone with a grain of salt I guess - has anyone else hit a big number and felt like they had to re-learn the basics?
I tried adding a handful of ice cubes to the mix at 8 AM on a 95 degree job in Phoenix last week and it stayed workable for two full hours longer than usual. Has anyone else tried this or am I just lucky it didn't mess up the bond?
Got into it with a younger crew on a job in Denver last spring. They were raving about this new mechanical paver they rented, said it would cut our time in half on a 400 square foot patio. I let them run it for three hours and they kept stopping to adjust the plate and fix uneven spots. Meanwhile I laid 80 bricks by hand in the same time with a level and a rubber mallet. Has anyone else found that the old methods still beat the new gear for small jobs?
I was working a wall near Phoenix last summer and this old timer kept telling me to dunk every brick before laying it. I thought he was just being old school and slow. The mortar was drying out way too fast on me and I kept getting these weak joints that would crumble if you looked at them wrong. After three days of fighting it I finally tried wetting the bricks like he said. It slowed me down at first but the mortar actually stayed workable long enough to strike it clean. That wall has held up perfect through two monsoon seasons now. Has anyone else had a simple trick from a old guy that you ignored for too long?
Last month I was on a job in north Denver and this old timer kept telling me to butter my bricks with a thick coat of mortar on every face. I tried his way for a full row and it slowed me down way too much, plus the mortar was squishing out everywhere. Three years ago I switched to just buttering the ends and a thin bed on the bottom, and my wall stays cleaner and I save about an hour per pallet. Has anyone else tested this and seen a difference in their speed?
I was reading through an old issue of Masonry Magazine I found at the job site last week, and it said the average bricklayer wastes about 15% of their mortar just from overmixing and not using it in time. That number hit me hard because I always figured a little extra was no big deal. Over a year, that adds up to a lot of bags and money down the drain. Has anyone here tried tracking their mortar usage per job to cut down on waste?
I was working on a retaining wall over off 5th Street last Tuesday and this older fella walks right up and starts telling me my mortar mix was "too wet." He'd never laid a brick in his life, just saw me from his porch and came over to critique. Told me he used to watch his uncle do it back in 89 and I had to bite my tongue so hard. Anyone else get random sidewalk supervisors showing up mid job?
I was working on a retaining wall in this backyard near Hawthorne last summer, had my mortar all mixed and ready to go. This fat pigeon just flew right into the bucket, splashed mud all over my arms and the fresh bricks. I spent 20 minutes fishing it out and remixing while the homeowner laughed from her porch. Has anyone else had wildlife mess up their day on a site?
Was cleaning out my garage last weekend and found like 50 sample bricks from different jobs over the years. Ended up using them as decorative edging around my flower beds at my house on Maple Street. Has anyone else repurposed leftover samples for something useful?
I was laying a backyard wall in Phoenix last Saturday and the wind dried out my joints before I could even tool them, ended up chipping out about 15 feet worth. Anyone else run into trouble mixing for the weather and have a fix besides just waiting it out?
Bought a cheap mixer off Facebook Marketplace last month from a guy in Tacoma. Said it was 'heavy duty' but on the first batch of type S mortar it bogged down and smoked after 20 minutes. Took it apart and the gearbox was plastic, not metal like he claimed. Lost $400 and a whole Saturday trying to get a refund. Anyone else get burned by those 'contractor grade' mixer scams?
I was on a job in Denver last fall, working next to this old timer named Ray. He watched me lay about 20 bricks and then just said 'you're killing your wrists, kid'. Turns out I was applying mortar with the trowel face flat instead of using the edge to cut and throw. I had been fighting the brick all day, getting mortar everywhere. After he showed me the proper flick motion, my mud stayed on the brick and my speed jumped by maybe 30 percent. Anyone else have a basic technique click after years of doing it the hard way?
Switched to a 1/4 inch notched trowel for my face bricks on a shed last Saturday and the mortar actually stuck instead of sliding off, has anyone else messed with different trowel sizes for tricky spots?
Foreman made me dump three wheelbarrows of mix after I tried to keep it workable in the sun at that Thornton townhouse complex, and now I always batch smaller loads with cold water - what do you guys do when it hits triple digits?
I used to buy the cheapest bagged mortar I could find at Home Depot, figured it's all just sand and cement anyway. Then last month on a retaining wall job in Albany, the stuff wouldn't hold a corner after 3 days and started cracking. A buddy dragged me to a masonry supply place and made me try Type N from a real brand. The difference was night and day - it stuck better, set up more even, and I didn't have to baby it. Cost me like $3 more per bag but saved me a whole day of rework. Anyone else think cheap mix is fine until it bites you on something bigger?