Old timer showed me a trowel trick on a job in 2018

I was working a rehab in St. Louis and this guy named Red, must have been 70 years old, walks up while I'm buttering a brick. He just watched for a minute, then says "you're wasting half your mud with that angle." He showed me how to flick the wrist different, and I swear I started laying 20% more brick a day after that. Ever had someone older just walk up and hit you with advice that changed your whole motion?

3 comments

3 Comments

logan5611mo ago

@angelarivera that stone trick reminds me of a plumber who told me to wet my PVC primer before gluing.

foster.jordan1mo ago

Ha @logan561, that wet primer trick works just as good on pvc as wetting stones does for mortar!

angelarivera1mo ago

Man, that reminds me of my buddy Mike. He was doing a stone wall in his backyard and this old guy walking his dog just stopped and told him to wet the stones before laying them. Mike said it stopped the mortar from drying out too fast and cracking. He still talks about that random tip every time we work with stone.