🐿️Pinecone Attack

c/bricklayers

1

max808•14d ago

Switched from a line pin to a string line for long walls

Spent 10 years using a line pin on every job, figured it was the only way to keep things straight. Last month on a 60 foot retaining wall in Austin, I borrowed a guys string line setup and it was way faster. No more bending down to reset the pin every few feet, just pull the line tight and lay. Anyone else made this switch or still sticking with pins?

30

hernandez.jordan•15d ago

I went with wire mesh instead of fiberglass for my last big retaining wall job

Everybody says fiberglass is the way to go for parging and thin walls, but on a 300 foot curved wall in Austin last month I stuck with 2x2 wire mesh and the thing held up way better through that clay soil. Has anyone else seen fiberglass let go after a couple freeze-thaw cycles?

8

wyatta30•15d ago

Mortar mix went bad on me mid wall and I had to tear it all out

Was building a garden wall behind my house last Saturday and noticed the mortar felt a little off halfway through. By Sunday morning the joints were crumbling like stale bread when I tapped them. Turns out the bag of mix I grabbed from the shed was about 10 months old and had gotten damp over winter. Had to knock down about 4 feet of wall and start over with fresh stuff. Anybody else ever get burned by old mortar bags that looked fine on the outside?

18

anthony883•16d ago

Saw a guy use a spirit level from 1975 on a job last week

Ngl, it made me think about how we all rely on laser levels now. I was working on a garden wall in Brighton and this older bloke pulled out this beat up wooden level and his lines were straighter than mine. Has anyone else noticed the old tools just feel better in the hand?

10

christopher_singh92•16d ago

Hit 500 mortar joints on a single wall today and it messed with my head

I was laying a long garden wall for a client in Oakville and counted exactly 500 mortar joints after finishing yesterday. That number hit me hard because I never realized how MANY repetitive motions go into even a small job like this 12-foot section. Has anyone else ever counted their joints on a project and been surprised at the total?

5

garcia.charles•17d ago

Kind of kicking myself for not trying the mortar mix bag trick sooner

I was fighting with getting consistent color across a long retaining wall last month on a job near Lexington, and kept having to remix small batches that never matched. Finally tried adding a full bag of dry mortar into the wheelbarrow before any water and mixing it bone dry first until the color looked even. Has anyone else found that a dry pre-mix step saves you from having to redo sections?

17

young.emma•19d ago

TIL a simple brick bond pattern can change how water drains off a wall

I was down in Charleston last month cleaning a house that backed up to this old garden wall. The bricks were laid in a Flemish bond, but what caught my eye was how the headers stuck out just a hair past the stretchers. The owner told me it was on purpose, something about directing rainwater away from the mortar joints. I always thought bond patterns were just for looks, but now I am starting to wonder if we overlook the practical side of things. On one hand, a flush face looks cleaner and is easier to tool. On the other hand, a slight overhang might save you from repointing every 10 years. Has anyone else seen this done on purpose, or was that guy just feeding me a story?

18

wyatt862•20d ago

Finally got my first big retaining wall done last Saturday in Akron

Spent three days digging footing and laying 80 blocks, and the homeowner actually asked for my card when I finished. Has anyone else had a retaining wall settle weird after a heavy rain the first week?

11

rubyj11•22d ago

My brick trowel handle snapped mid-wall yesterday

I was laying a corner on a house in Oak Park and the handle on my Marshalltown trowel just gave out. I had put about 40 bricks down when the wood split right where it meets the tang. No warning, just a crack and suddenly I'm holding a handle and the blade is on the scaffold. I had to drive 20 minutes to the nearest supply house to grab a new one. Anybody else had a trowel handle fail on them like that?

9

faith_schmidt•23d ago

Old foreman told me to wet my bricks before laying. He was dead wrong.

I had this crusty old foreman (must be 70 now) who swore you gotta soak every brick in a bucket before you lay it. Told me it helps the mortar stick better. Well, I did that on a small retaining wall job in Austin last month and the whole thing sagged after two days. Turns out wet bricks make the mortar too soupy and it slides around. Has anyone else had bad luck with this trick, or did I just do it wrong?

21

rubyj11•23d ago

Old timer told me to use a string line instead of a level for long runs

An old mason at a job site in Columbus told me to ditch the level for anything over 10 feet and pull a tight string line instead. I tried it on a 30 foot retaining wall and the course came out perfectly straight on the first try. Has anyone else had better luck switching to string lines for long brick walls?

13

rubyj11•24d ago

Was dead wrong about fiberglass rebar until I used it on a job

I used to think fiberglass rebar was just hype, figured steel had been working fine for 100 years. Then a customer in Tampa wanted it for a retaining wall near the coast, and after 8 months there is zero rust bleed or cracking. Has anyone else switched materials based on location and had the results change their mind?

3

barbaragarcia•25d ago

Overheard a kid call brick patterns 'building memes' and it stuck with me

I was grabbing lunch near a job site and some teenager pointed at a running bond wall and said that. Now I can't look at a herringbone without thinking about which brick pattern would go viral.

10

wyattbennett•1mo ago

Old timer Larry told me to butter my ends more and I fought him on it for weeks till today I tried it on a tricky corner

I finally gave in and did what he said on that garden wall I was fighting with and the whole thing came together in half the time, has anyone else had a stubborn habit they had to break?

23

the_cora•1mo ago

Old timer told me to let my mortar sit for 20 minutes before using it... I thought he was nuts

Honestly, I was sure he was just trying to mess with me or wasting time. Tried it on a retaining wall job last week and the mortar was way stickier and way less crumbly. Is this a common trick or did I just get lucky?

13

nora_barnes•1mo ago

Saw a crew in Denver doing brick veneer over foam backing board. Not a single tie anchor in sight.

I was walking a job site last week over on Colfax and noticed a crew slapping thin brick onto this foam stuff. They were just buttering and sticking it on, no metal ties or anything. My old timer mentor would lose his mind seeing that, but I guess the manufacturer says it's fine. Is this stuff actually going to hold up through a Colorado winter or are we going to be ripping it all off in 5 years?

17

pat360•1mo ago

Found a trick to stop my mortar from drying out too fast on windy days

Was working on a retaining wall last week out near the foothills and the wind kept crusting up my mud before I could even butter a brick. Tried spraying it with water but that just made it sloppy. Old timer named Gus pulled up and told me to lay a damp burlap sack over my pile between grabs. Worked way better than I thought. Kept the mortar workable for a solid 20 minutes longer. Anybody else use burlap or do you got a better method?

31

thompson.tyler•1mo ago

Old timer at the supply yard told me I was wasting time on butter joints

Been doing brickwork for about 8 years now, mostly residential and small commercial. Last Tuesday I was at the masonry supply place near St. Louis picking up some red commons, and this older guy maybe 70 or so watched me loading my truck. He asked what I was working on, I told him a little retaining wall out in Chesterfield. He just shook his head and said "son, you're wasting half your day making butter joints on a wall that's gonna get covered in dirt anyway." I told him I always do butter joints for consistency and water runoff, and he laughed and said the dirt will pack in tighter than any mortar ever will. Now I'm second guessing if I'm being too picky on stuff that doesn't matter. Anyone else run into an old timer that made you rethink how you do basic stuff like this?

17

anthony_lane55•1mo ago

Just hit 10,000 bricks on one chimney and it stopped me cold

Was working a chimney job outside Cleveland last week and kept a tally as I always do. When I hit 10,000 bricks laid on that single structure I had to stop and think about it. That's a lot of mortar mixing and level checking without a single major screw up. Anyone else ever stop and count their total bricks on a big job and get surprised by the number?

1

claire992•1mo ago

Am I the only one who was buttering joints wrong for like two years?

I was working on a garden wall last week, just a simple run in a backyard in Springfield, and the homeowner's kid was watching me. He points at my trowel and goes, 'Mister, why are you putting the mud on like that?' I was basically just slapping mortar on the brick face and then shoving it into place, which I learned from an old timer who swore by it. But this kid's question made me actually look at the joint after I set the brick... it was all uneven and thin in spots. I watched a video that night and realized I should be buttering the end of the brick too, not just the bed. Felt like a total idiot. My speed has actually gotten better now that I'm doing it right, and the walls look way cleaner. Has anyone else had a basic technique they messed up for way too long?

18

daniel_martinez84•1mo ago

An old timer in Omaha watched me mix mud and told me my water ratio was off by a full gallon.

I was working on a small garden wall last month, mixing my own mortar like I always do. This retired bricklayer, Frank, was walking his dog and stopped to watch for a minute. He just said, 'Kid, you're a gallon short on the water, it's gonna set up like concrete before you lay ten bricks.' I argued at first, but he was right. My mix was way too dry and I was fighting it, rushing. I added the water he said, and suddenly it was perfect, sticky but smooth, and my pace evened out. It made me realize I'd been guessing the water for years based on how it looked, not a real measure. Now I use a marked bucket for the water every single time, no exceptions. Has anyone else had a simple tip like that completely change a basic part of your routine?

6

barnes.jamie•1mo ago

That one corner on a brick arch that just would not line up

I was building a curved archway for a fireplace in a house over in Springfield. The plans called for a 6 foot span, and I cut the wooden form just right. But when I started laying the bricks, the final wedge on the right side kept sitting a quarter inch too high, no matter how I tapped it. I spent almost three hours just on that single brick, trying different mortar mixes and shaving the brick itself. In the end, the whole arch took me two full days instead of the one I planned. Has anyone else had a simple arch turn into a major time sink like that?

19

wade_young86•1mo ago

Vent: A client in Austin complained my brick joints looked uneven until I switched from a standard trowel to a 3/8 inch pointing trowel for the final pass.

The difference in joint clarity and consistency after making that one tool swap was like night and day, so has anyone else found a specific trowel size that just clicks for a certain brick type?

13

reese_lane29•1mo ago

Tried a new lime mix on a chimney job in Denver and it set way too fast

Last fall I was repointing an old brick chimney and decided to try this pre-blended NHL 3.5 lime mortar from a local supplier. It was a dry, windy day, maybe 50 degrees out. I mixed a small batch like normal, but it started to get stiff in the hawk after only 20 minutes. By the time I was halfway up the scaffold, my trowel was dragging through it like wet sand. Had to ditch the whole batch and start over with my usual stuff. Anyone else run into issues with these 'natural' limes in low humidity?

17

cole_mitchell8•1mo ago

The old way of mixing mortar for a 1920s chimney rebuild in St. Paul

I know everyone says you need to add lime to the mix for old brick, but I just did a full rebuild on a chimney from the 1920s with a standard type N mix and it turned out better than the last three jobs where I used lime. The old mortar was crumbling, so we tore it all out. I mixed one part portland cement, one part hydrated lime, and six parts sand for the first few courses, like the books say. It was slow going and the workability felt off. For the rest, I switched to a bagged type N pre-mix. The bond was just as strong, the color match after curing was spot on, and we finished the job two days faster. The homeowner hasn't had a single issue with water getting in after two Minnesota winters. Has anyone else had a good run with modern mixes on historic repair work, or did I just get lucky?