I was laying a herringbone patio for a year before a foreman pointed out my spacing was off

I was working on a big backyard project in Tempe, setting a herringbone pattern with standard pavers. I always just eyeballed the spacing, thinking it looked fine. Last Tuesday, the foreman came by, knelt down, and ran his finger along a joint. He said, 'Your lines are walking, kid. You need a story pole for this pattern.' He showed me how the gaps were getting bigger by a sixteenth of an inch every few rows, which made the whole section drift. I went home and checked my old jobs with a laser level, and he was totally right. Has anyone else had a pattern trick them like that before they started using a guide for every course?

3 comments

3 Comments

calebc401mo ago

Switched to a story pole after my second patio started looking like a snake.

aaron_perry1mo ago

Honestly, a sixteenth per row? On a patio, who's gonna notice that but another mason. I get that it's the principle of the thing, but if the base is solid and it's not tripping anyone, it's probably fine. I've seen way worse from "pros" with all the right tools. Sometimes you just lock into a rhythm and your eye adjusts to the drift. It's not like you were using different sized bricks.

irisowens1mo ago

You thinking of starting a new trend called 'masonry drift' @aaron_perry? Pretty soon you'll be calling it a design choice.