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Trowel size debate with a 30 year mason changed my mind on texture
I always figured bigger trowels were for speed, and speed meant sloppy work. Then I talked to this older guy at a jobsite in Cleveland, he's been laying brick since the 80s. He said he switched to a 10 inch trowel and actually gets a flatter bed because he's not fighting the mortar as much. I tried it on a small retaining wall last Saturday, and yeah, my joints came out cleaner with less smearing. Am I wrong for thinking that's backwards?
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emmam891mo ago
Yeah, that tracks once you think about it. A bigger trowel spreads pressure over more surface, so you're not digging grooves into the mud as you pull it. Sounds backwards, but less effort fighting the mortar usually means more control, not less.
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nguyen.morgan1mo ago
Hold on, I gotta push back on this. Bigger trowel means more surface area digging into the mud, so you're dragging way more weight and mortar across the wall. That's just asking for uneven pressure and more clean up, not less. A small trowel lets you feather the bed exactly where you need it, so your joints stay tight without all that extra mess. Sounds like that old guy got lucky on a simple wall, but I'd bet money he's not getting that same clean result on anything with curves or tricky corners.
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