c/bricklayers

Found a 40 year old trowel in a wall I was tearing out

I was working on an old house in South Philly last month and pulled out this rusty Marshalltown trowel from inside a cavity wall. Someone must have dropped it during the original build back in the 1980s and just left it. I cleaned it up and the handle is still solid, the blade just needed a good sharpening. Has anyone else ever found old tools hidden in a job site? I don't know if I should keep using it or just hang it on the wall.

Had a guy on site last week tell me he never uses a line for anything under 20 feet, just eyeballs it and says it's faster

He swears his work is straight but I've always thought that's asking for trouble, especially on a curved wall we were doing, so which side are you on line or no line for short runs?

Was dead set against those expensive corner trowels until I borrowed one on Friday

I've been laying brick for about 8 years now and always used the basic $8 corner trowel from the hardware store. My foreman Tom kept pushing me to try a Marshalltown one that runs around $30, but I figured it was just branding. Last Friday I was finishing a fireplace in a house out near Springfield and had to borrow his after I dropped mine in a mortar bucket and couldn't find it. The feel of the handle and how the blade slid along the corner was a total game changer. I finished that fireplace in about two hours less than usual and the joints came out way cleaner. Tom just grinned at me and said "told you so." Has anyone else had a cheap tool surprise them like that after years of use?

My worst day laying brick in Austin last summer nearly made me quit

I was working a retaining wall job near downtown Austin in July and it hit 105 degrees by 10am. The mortar started drying before I could even tap the bricks into place. I had to redo a whole 40-foot section because the bond was garbage from rushing. Foreman yelled at me for wasting materials, but what was I supposed to do with that heat? Ended up taking a $300 loss on materials and two extra days to finish the job. Has anyone else had a day where the weather just wrecked your work like that?

Picked a trowel with a wooden handle over a plastic one for my first big wall

Been bricklaying for about 2 years now, mostly small jobs like garden walls and patios. Last month I took on a 40 foot long retaining wall near a creek in Ohio, pretty serious project for me. I had to choose between my old plastic handled trowel and a new Marshalltown wood handle one I got as a gift. Decided to go with the wooden handle because I heard it absorbs sweat better on humid days. Man, what a difference it made for my grip over the 8 hour days out there. My hand cramped way less and I didn't drop anything. Has anyone else noticed a big difference between handle materials on longer jobs?

TIL that old timer at the hardware store about buttering your bricks

I was grabbing some mortar mix at the yard in Dayton last Tuesday and this old guy, probably 70 plus, asked me how I butter my bricks. I said I just slap it on the frog mostly. He laughed and showed me how he does a full bed on each brick before laying it. Took me an extra 10 seconds per brick but man the joints came out way tighter on this little retaining wall I did for my cousin. Anyone else got any weird tricks from old timers that actually work?

Old timer convinced me to stop using plastic corner beads on Friday

I had a wall crack right down the bead joint last Tuesday on a job in Cleveland, and when I pulled it off the corner was all rusted and swollen. The guy next door showed me how to fold a galvanized bead and now I'm wondering why I ever bothered with the plastic stuff - has anyone else had trouble with those things splitting?

Found a simple trick to keep mortar from drying out on hot days in Phoenix

I was fighting with mortar drying way too fast on a 105 degree job near the Camelback area. Someone told me to throw a couple wet towels over the mortar board between loads. Kept it workable for an extra 20 minutes easy. Anyone else do this or have a better fix for the heat?

Switched to a 3/8 inch notch trowel for my fireplace project and it was a total accident

I grabbed the wrong trowel out of my truck last week when I was laying firebrick for a customer's hearth remodel. Didn't even notice until I was halfway through the first row and the mortar was squishing out way more than normal. Turns out the bigger notch gave me way better coverage on the rough brick surface and the whole thing locked in solid. Has anyone else ever used a bigger notch than recommended and gotten better results?

Shoutout to the old timers who still butter their own corners

I was on a job down in Frederick last week helping a buddy finish a retaining wall and I noticed the younger guys on site were using those pre-mixed corner blocks for every turn. Nothing wrong with them I guess but they just don't look right to my eye. The old guy I learned from back in 2005 would spend the extra 10 minutes cutting and buttering each corner by hand so the mortar lines matched up perfect all the way around. I swear these pre-formed corners leave these weird gaps that collect water over time. I brought it up to the foreman and he just shrugged and said it's faster. Am I just being a grump or do other people notice the difference in quality after a few seasons of weather?

I watched a wall settle 3 inches in 6 months, no joke

I did a retaining wall job for a guy in Akron last spring. Used the same clay mix and technique I always use. Came back this November to fix a gate, and the whole middle section had dropped almost 3 inches. Turns out the ground underneath had a hidden layer of decomposed shale that just gave up. I dug down and found water pooling in that spot too, so drainage was the real killer. Anybody else run into surprise settling like that even when the base looked solid?

Noticed a huge difference in my brickwork after switching to a new mortar mix

I've been laying brick for about 8 years now, mostly residential jobs around Columbus, and I switched to a Type N mortar mix about 6 months ago. The color stayed way more consistent across the whole wall, and I didn't have to clean up as much efflorescence on the face of the bricks. Has anyone else noticed a big change like that when they swapped mortar types?

Found a cheap trick to keep my mortar from drying out too fast on hot days

I was working a job in July last year and the sun was just killing my mix. It would start crusting over in like 10 minutes no matter how much water I added. So I grabbed a spray bottle from my dog grooming shop and started misting the mud pile every few minutes. Kept a wet burlap sack over the wheelbarrow too. That little setup saved me from wasting about 2 buckets a day. Anyone else do something similar or have a better method for this?

That job on a bank in downtown Cleveland where the mortar mix was bad from the batch

Three months back I was working on a six story bank renovation in Cleveland, laying face brick. On the third day I noticed the mortar wasn't setting right, staying soft even after 24 hours. Boss told me to keep going, said it was fine. Six weeks later the whole first three courses are crumbling out. Now I always test a small batch first no matter who tells me to hurry up. Has anyone else dealt with a bad mortar mix from a supplier that tried to deny it?

Used to lay brick by eye. Now I pull string lines on every job.

Wasted two days last spring on a retaining wall in Springfield because I thought I had the level down. Two inches off by the end. Client saw it before I did. Now I pull lines for every course. String cost me six bucks. Saves me hours of fix work. You guys pull lines every time or just on big walls?

Old timer told me my mortar mix was too wet, changed how I lay brick

Was working a patio job outside Ann Arbor last spring. Guy walked by my site, watched me for a minute, and said "son your mud is running like a river." He told me to cut my water back by a third and let the mix sit for 10 minutes before using it. I tried it on the next wall and my joints stayed cleaner and my bricks stopped sliding around. Has anyone else had an old timer call them out on something basic like this?

Messed up a wall in Kalamazoo cause I skipped a step

I was working on a retaining wall job out in Kalamazoo last spring, big one about 40 feet long. Got in a hurry cause the sun was beating down and I wanted to wrap up. I stopped checking my lines every third course like I normally do. By the time I got to the top, the whole thing was leaning back about an inch from where it should have been. Looked terrible, like a drunk built it. I had to tear down the top 6 courses and start over, cost me an extra 3 hours and a ton of mortar. My foreman just shook his head and said "that's what happens when you rush." Has anyone else had a wall go sideways on em cause you got lazy with the line?

Had a brick stack collapse on me in Grand Rapids last Tuesday

Debate: Cleaning mud off your mixer every day or letting it build up for a week?

I've been on two different crews in San Antonio and both had opposite rules about this. One foreman made us hose down the mixer every afternoon without fail, said it saves bearings long term. The other crew let mud cake on for days then knocked it off with a hammer on Friday. I tried the build up method for a month and my 12 cubic foot mixer started wobbling on the third week. What do you guys do on your job sites?

Spent $60 on a used pointing trowel from a retired mason and it's way better than my new one

Picked it up at an estate sale last month and the balance is just perfect, handles like it was made for my hand. Has anyone else found older tools that just feel better than what you can buy today?

Vent: Blew $400 on a fancy laser level that barely worked in the sun

I figured spending real cash on a self-leveling green beam would save me time laying foundation blocks out on a jobsite in Phoenix last July. That thing was useless once the sun hit it, just a faint ghost line I couldn't see from ten feet away. Anyone else stick with the old string line method or is there a budget model that actually shows up in bright light?

TIL the old timer was right about wetting my bricks in the middle of summer

I had a crusty old mason tell me to soak my bricks for 10 minutes before laying them back in June. I shrugged it off until I noticed 3 walls I built last August all had hairline cracks along the mortar. Anyone else learn this the hard way?

Old timer told me to soak my bricks before laying them. I laughed it off.

Last summer on a job in Phoenix, this 70 year old mason watched me struggle with dry suction on a 100 degree day and just handed me the hose. Has anyone else noticed that the old school tricks actually save time in the heat?

Hand mixing vs drum mixer on my last job in Cleveland

I was laying block on a retaining wall last August and ran out of mud halfway through the morning. The drum mixer from the rental place was such a pain to clean out between batches. Hand mixing on a board just felt more controlled, even if my arms were screaming by lunch. Anybody else prefer the old way for small jobs?

Old timer at the supply yard told me to stop wetting my bricks

I've been soaking bricks before laying them for years because that's how my uncle taught me. Last week this guy named Pete who's been bricklaying since the 70s said I was making the mortar too weak doing that. He showed me how dry bricks actually grip the mortar better and I tried it on a garden wall job in Austin. The whole thing went up faster and feels way more solid now. Anyone else ever get bad advice passed down like that?