c/bricklayers

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?

Overheard a foreman say lime mortar is only for historical houses

Told this old timer on a site last month that I use NHL 3.5 on a garden wall and he laughed saying modern Portland is all you need, but isn't lime better for the bricks breathing in the long run, who's got the right take here?

Switching from a dry line to a wet line on my trowel changed everything this year

I used to dip my trowel in water every few bricks to keep the mortar from sticking, but it slowed me way down on a big wall job in Austin last spring. Then an old timer showed me how to flick water directly into my mortar line instead, and I picked up about 30% more speed in a day. Has anyone else found a better way to keep mortar from grabbing that doesn't involve stopping every 10 minutes?

Stopped by an old job site in Austin last month and noticed the brickwork was already crumbling

There was this house I helped build about 5 years ago out in the Mueller neighborhood. The mortar joints were cracking and some bricks had spalled right on the south facing wall. I talked to the homeowner and he said the builder skimped on the mix, used too much sand. Has anyone else seen newer work fall apart way faster than it should?

I hit 500,000 bricks laid last week and it hit me different

I've been keeping a rough count in my notebook for years, just a tally every time I finish a job. Last Thursday I totaled it up and realized I crossed half a million bricks since I started apprenticing in 2006. That number felt huge, like all those sore mornings and busted knuckles actually added up to something. Has anyone else ever tracked their lifetime count and gotten surprised by the total?

Old timer told me to wet my bricks before laying and I never listened

Had a guy named Fred who's been laying since the 70s tell me to dunk my bricks before mortaring them. I always thought it was some old school waste of time. Then last week on a job in downtown Portland the damn mortar was drying too fast and cracking. Fred was right, the water slowed it down and the bond held way better. Any of you guys still wetting your bricks or am I behind the times?

My bullnose corners took 3 days longer than I planned

I was working on a fireplace surround last week and kept messing up the bullnose corners on the firebrick. Thought I could just grind them freehand like the videos show, but every single one chipped or came out uneven. Ended up spending three full afternoons redoing the same four corners before I broke down and built a jig for my grinder. The jig took maybe 20 minutes to make from scrap wood and a hinge, and after that the corners were perfect in one pass. Anyone else got a tip for doing bullnose work faster without a specialized machine?

Watch out for bad lime in your mortar mix

I was reading through some old masonry handbooks from the 1920s online last week and found a stat that said over 30% of mortar failures back then came from using unslaked lime. I always thought lime was lime but apparently if it isn't properly slaked it can blow out your joints months later. Has anyone else run into issues with modern bagged lime acting up on a job?

I was butterflying all my joints wrong for 8 years until a retired mason in Ohio set me straight.

He saw me finishing a wall and said, 'Son, you're butterflying the far end first, that's backwards.' I had been fighting the mortar every time and never understood why.

Burned $150 on a fancy mortar mixer attachment - did I just waste my cash?

Two years ago I bought a $150 paddle mixer attachment for my drill, thinking it would save time on mixing mortar for big jobs. First few batches were fine, then the paddle bent on a stiff lime mix. Now I'm back to using a $30 square shovel and a wheelbarrow, which takes longer but never breaks. Has anyone else had good luck with those paddle mixers, or are they just junk for anything beyond small patch work?

Laid my 500th brick today since starting this patio project back in April

Took me 4 months of weekends in my backyard in Phoenix, but seeing that last corner brick drop in perfectly level made all the sweat and sore knees worth it how long did your first big project take?

Old timer taught me to wet my bricks different

Had a job in Portland last summer on a retaining wall. Guy with 40 years in the trade walked over, watched me for a minute, then asked if I always soak my bricks that long. Told him I just dunk them till the bubbles stop. He showed me to dip for 10 seconds max, then let them sit for a minute before laying. Said oversaturated bricks push the mortar out and you get weak joints on the back side. Tried it the rest of that week and noticed my cleanup was half the work. Anyone else adjust their soaking method based on the weather that day?

Rethinking mortar mix after a talk with a mason from the 70s

An old timer at the supply house said he used nothing but Type N lime mortar for 30 years and swore modern pre-mixes cause more cracks. He showed me a wall from 1982 that still looked solid. Has anyone else switched back to a lime based mix?

That foreman who said to wet my bricks twice taught me a lesson

Guy named Dave on a job in Denver kept yelling at me to soak the bricks before laying and I thought he was crazy for wasting time. Found out after a week that my mortar was cracking because the dry bricks sucked up all the moisture before it could set. Any of you guys run into a situation where you ignored advice and had to tear out a wall?

That $80 mortar mixer paddle burned me twice before I returned it

Bought a cheap paddle off Amazon thinking it'd save my back on a big retaining wall job in Austin, but it warped after three mixes and threw mortar everywhere. Anyone else stick with a mortar hoe after trying the budget paddle route?

Tried wetting my bricks before laying them on a hot day last July and the mortar held up way better.

I noticed my previous wall had these tiny cracks forming after two weeks, but since I started giving the bricks a quick spray with a hose before setting them, I haven't seen a single hairline crack in the three jobs I did last month. Has anyone else found a specific soaking time that works best for different brick types?

Finally got my butter joints to look clean after 6 months of trying

I switched from a 3/8 to a 1/2 inch trowel on a job in Austin last week and the mortar started sticking right for the first time. Anyone else find that trowel size makes that much of a difference in how your joints come out?

Used to butter my bricks for years till a mason called me out on it

I always thought buttering the head joint with a thick blob of mortar was the right move, made me feel fast. Then a job in Denver last fall, an old timer watched me lay a whole wall and said 'you're just making a mess, let the trowel do the work.' He showed me how to put just a thin smear on the end, and my joints actually came out clean and uniform. Now I barely touch the buttering and my walls look way better, but it took me like 12 years to unlearn that habit. Anyone else have a basic technique they had to relearn after thinking they had it down?