c/bricklayers

Rant: Dropped $200 on those fancy silicone joint spacers and they're junk

I got suckered into buying a set of those silicone spacers for keeping mortar joints consistent. Thought they'd save me time on a big retaining wall job I had last month. Paid almost $200 for a full kit from a supplier online. First day using them they kept slipping out of place and the mortar just pushed them around. Ended up having to pull every single one out and go back to my old method of using a piece of rebar to gauge my joints. Wasted half a day fiddling with them and they're sitting in my truck now collecting dust. Anyone else tried these spacer gimmicks and had them fail on the job?

Heard an old timer say 'tight joints are lazy joints' and it stuck with me

I was on a site last Tuesday near Austin helping with a retaining wall and one of the older guys, must have been 70 or so, was watching me lay some brick. He just said 'tight joints are lazy joints' out of nowhere and walked off. At first I was annoyed, like who is this guy critiquing my spacing without even asking. But later I realized he was right about my mortar joints being too compact (I was rushing to get done before lunch). I started leaving a hair more space for the mortar to breathe and grab, and my wall actually looked cleaner after that. The whole interaction got me thinking about how much I still have to learn from the old school methods. Has anyone else had a random one-liner from a journeyman totally shift how you approach a job?

Old foreman told me my mortar mix was too wet and he was right

I've been laying brick for about 5 years now and always mixed my mortar on the wetter side because it was easier to spread. Last month on a job in Arlington, the foreman walked over and told me my mortar was too wet and I'd end up with weak joints. I tested his way with a dryer mix on a small garden wall and the bricks held way better. Has anyone else had to unlearn a bad habit like that?

Drove past an old job site from 20 years ago and the brick wall I built is still standing

I was driving through downtown Springfield last week and took a detour past a restaurant remodel I worked on back in 2004. The brickwork on the front facade looks exactly the same as the day we finished it, not a single crack or shifted course. Has anyone else gone back to check on their old work and been surprised at how it held up?

Tried a herringbone pattern on a patio job in Portland and it came out wavy

Laid about 200 bricks in a herringbone pattern for a client's backyard patio last month, and by the end of the day the lines looked like a snake crawled through them. I thought I was checking levels every few rows, but the ground must have shifted a bit under the sand base. Has anyone else had issues with herringbone shifting on you like that, or is it just my prep work that was sloppy?

Twenty years of bricklaying and I just learned my mortar mix was off

I've been laying brick around Cleveland since 2005, always using the same mix I learned from my old foreman. Last month a structural engineer on a commercial job told me my joints were too soft and failing the test. Has anyone else had to completely redo their mix ratios after thinking they had it down forever?

Watched a mason in Savannah rebuild a 150-year-old retaining wall last month and it hit me how much we lost with modern methods

He didn't use any mortar just dry stacked the whole thing with this crazy precision cutting each brick by eye and I gotta ask how many of you still do dry stack work or is everybody just mixing mud these days?

Swapped my standard brick trowel for a wider one last week and the difference is unreal

I was using a 9 inch for years but a buddy let me try his 11 inch on a retaining wall job and I got through 40% more bricks before lunch, has anyone else made the switch and noticed the same thing?

Rant: Why I ditched the hawk for a hand board after 20 years

Man, I used to swear by my hawk and trowel for every job. Thought I was saving time slinging mud that way. Then last spring on a big retaining wall in Austin, I kept losing my rhythm with the hawk wobbling on uneven stone. Switched to a good hand board and now I load it once and lay brick for an hour straight. Anyone else find that the extra setup time with a board beats the hassle of a hawk on tricky ground?

Vent: Dropped a whole corner of a garden wall in Bellevue yesterday

I was setting a curved retaining wall for a backyard project, and the base course shifted on me after I had already laid 4 courses on top. The whole corner slumped about 3 inches before I caught it, and I had to tear out 3 hours of work to reset the foundation. Has anyone else gotten burned by trusting a slippery clay base, or was that just my bad luck?

Showerthought: I'd been mixing mortar wrong for 15 years

Guy at the supply yard watched me dump water in first. He said stop. Told me to dry mix everything first then add water slow. I argued with him for 5 minutes. Finally tried it on a small retaining wall job in Salem last month. Mixed 4 batches his way and the consistency was perfect every time. No more soupy bottoms or dry pockets. Anyone else get taught wrong by some old timer and never questioned it?

TIL most people butter their bricks wrong on a wall tie job

I was on a job in Dayton last month and watched a guy slather butter on the whole brick face before setting it. That's way too much. You only need 3/4 inch thick on the head joints and a thin bed on the side. He ended up with mortar squeezing out everywhere and had to clean it up with a wire brush for an extra 2 hours. Has anyone else run into this overbuttering habit on their crew?

Mortar mix was off on a retaining wall job yesterday, had to tear out 6 feet before it set.

I was rushing through a job near downtown Portland and used a batch of Type S that sat too long in the wheelbarrow, the whole section crumbled when I tapped it with my trowel, has anyone else had a mix go bad on them mid-pour?

I think I mixed my mortar a bit too wet on that church job in Raleigh

Last Tuesday we were laying brick on a retaining wall behind First Baptist. Foreman said keep the mud loose so it doesn't grab too fast in the heat. But I swear my joints were sagging by the end of the day. The next morning I came back and two bricks had slid out of place overnight. Had to pull a whole section and redo it. Anyone else have trouble finding that sweet spot with water in the mix?

PSA: wetting your line before buttering the joint actually works better

Spent 10 years fighting dry mortar that wouldn't stick right until an old timer showed me to dip the line in water first. Anyone else pick up one of those old-school tricks that just makes everything click better?

Showerthought: Saw the difference between wet mud and dry mud on a wall I fixed 6 months ago

I patched a section of my own front wall back in March, like a 3 foot section where the old brick was crumbling. Used some mix I had left over. Yesterday I was out there looking at it and the new brick and old brick are totally different colors now. The new stuff dried way lighter than I thought it would. Guess I should have wet the old bricks first before matching the mortar? Anyone else have a wall that looks like a checkerboard after a few months?

Old timer told me to butter my ends. Changed my whole game.

Been laying brick for about 4 years now. Always just slapped mortar on the bed and set the brick. Then this 60 year old guy named Bill watched me for like 2 minutes on a job last fall. He goes "you know you're gonna get cold joints doing that right?" Told me to always butter the vertical ends of every brick before setting it. I was like nah that takes too long. But I tried it on a retaining wall I did near my house in Akron. Huge difference. No more gaps or weak spots. My wall came out way straighter too. Anyone else get taught this way late?

Dropped $80 on a laser level for brick walls and it was a total waste

Used to hate those premixed mortar bags until a wet Thursday changed my mind

I was always a mix-it-myself guy, you know, bag of type S and sand from the yard. But last month I had a small retaining wall job in Portland and the forecast said rain all day. I grabbed a few 80lb premix bags on a whim just to save setup time, and honestly they were way more consistent than my usual batches. No dust cloud, no guessing on water, and I finished the whole wall in 5 hours instead of 7. Has anyone else caved on these premix bags or am I late to the party?

Tried a lime-based mortar on a garden wall in Austin, got a weird white crust on every brick

Wanted to do an old school mix for a client's flower bed wall. Used Type S lime putty instead of the usual portland blend. Looked GREAT going on, real creamy. But after 3 days of dry heat, every single joint had this white powdery bloom. Not efflorescence exactly, more like a crust. I guess I didn't wet cure it enough. Anyone know if that stuff goes away or do I need to scrub every brick off with acid?

Had an apprentice argue with me about mortar mix ratios yesterday

Kid spent 5 minutes telling me I was using too much lime in the mix for a retaining wall in Richmond. I just pointed to the 20-year-old wall still standing behind him that I built the same way. Anyone else deal with know-it-alls fresh out of school?

Had a day last week where every single brick I laid was perfectly level. Not one redo.

I swear the mortar gods were smiling on me. Thursday afternoon, job out in Canton, Ohio. I'm laying a retaining wall block, and I hit every bubble dead center first try. Didn't have to tap a single brick. My trowel felt like an extension of my arm. Even my foreman stopped and just said 'you're on fire.' Usually I crack at least one brick or smear mud somewhere dumb. That day was a total fluke and I'll probably never feel it again. Anybody ever have a day like that where everything just clicked?

A customer told me my mortar joints were too fat and he was right

Guy was a retired mason from Chicago who watched me lay a whole patio and finally said 'son, you're wasting mud with those half-inch joints.' I dropped down to 3/8 and my work looks 10x cleaner now. Anybody else had a random stranger fix a bad habit?

Old timer told me to slow down my tuckpointing and it clicked

I was working on a brownstone in Brooklyn last summer and this retired mason walked by while I was grinding out old mortar. He just shook his head and said 'you're going too fast, you're gonna pop the brick corners.' I thought I was being efficient but he was right. I changed my angle on the grinder and started taking shallower passes instead of trying to hog it all out at once. The finish came out way cleaner and I didn't chip a single brick after that. Has anyone else had a random passerby give advice that actually improved their work?

Pro tip: Stop wetting your bricks before laying them

Heard a guy at the supply yard last week saying you gotta soak every brick before laying. Said it helps the mortar stick better. Been doing this 12 years in Phoenix heat and I never wet my bricks. Dry bricks actually pull water from the mortar at the right speed. Wet bricks make the mortar runny and weak. Tried it on a job in Mesa and had to rip out a whole wall after 3 days. Anyone else see more failures from wet bricks?