Had to pick between a mixer and a pointing gun on a job last Tuesday

I was working on a garden wall in St. Louis and couldn't decide if I should mix my mortar by the bucket or finally break down and buy a pointing gun. I went with the bucket and trowel because my boss always says guns are for rookies. Took me twice as long as I wanted and my wrist is still sore. Has anyone else tried one of those guns and found it actually works?

2 comments

2 Comments

ivangrant2d agoMost Upvoted

Grabbed a pointing gun about six months ago for a brick repair job and honestly it saved my wrist. The trick is getting the mortar consistency right - you want it wet enough to flow but still stiff enough to hold shape. If it's too thin it'll just ooze right out the back of the gun and make a mess everywhere. I still mix in a bucket and scoop it into the gun with a trowel, beats trying to load it straight from a mixer. For anything over a few feet of pointing it's worth it, but for small touch ups the trowel is probably fine.

christopher_singh922d ago

@ivangrant how long did it take you to get the hang of loading it without making a mess?