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?

2 comments

2 Comments

wade_young861mo ago

From an old timer who swore by it" is the dangerous part. You can pick up some really bad habits that way, and they're hard to unlearn.

parkerrodriguez1mo ago

That "slapping mortar on the brick face" thing... I did the exact same thing for a year before my boss caught me.