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The mason on the Fort Worth job flipped my whole view on laying head joints first
I always ran my bed joints and tapped the brick down, then buttered the head joint on the next one. Been doing it that way since I started. Two weeks ago I was on a three story apartment building off Camp Bowie in Fort Worth and this older guy named Ruben was running the lead on the other wall. He watched me for maybe ten minutes and said "you're fighting the brick, butter the head first and slide it in." I tried it and the brick just drops into place, no tapping, no tapping the level back and forth. With a full head joint already there the mortar squeezes out the front the same way every time and my line stays cleaner. I ran about 200 brick that afternoon and my shoulders felt way better than usual. Anyone else here lay head joints first or am I late to something everyone already knows?
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sean85419d ago
Man that line about "you're fighting the brick" hits home. I've been tapping and leveling back and forth for years and just figured that was part of the deal, sore shoulders and all. What I want to know is how you handle the corner when you're laying head first, do you still butter the head on the closure brick or does that one go in dry and get packed after? Also does the mud stiffen up on you at all with the head joint sitting there while you set the brick? Ruben ever say anything about the mix being a touch wetter for that style? I'm about ready to try it on my next wall but I don't want to mess up my corners.
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