c/bricklayers

Watch out for that new quick-set mortar mix from the big box store

I was laying a herringbone patio in Austin last week and a veteran mason on the crew said my joints looked 'sloppy and weak' because I was mixing the whole bag at once. He told me to only mix half a bag at a time, because this stuff starts to set way faster than the old formula. How are you guys adjusting your mix times for these newer products?

Overheard a young apprentice in Tacoma call his trowel a 'spreader' and it took me right back to my first foreman's lessons on tool respect.

He said, 'A trowel's not just a spreader, son, it's your hand's best friend, and you keep it clean and sharp like one,' a simple truth that's stuck with me for forty years, so what's the one piece of advice an old-timer gave you that you still follow today?

Switched from a standard trowel to a brick trowel with a narrower heel

I mean, I always thought the wider ones were better for speed, but this one just gets into the corners on these old Chicago brick jobs so much easier. Has anyone else made a switch like that and noticed a big difference in tight spaces?

Hot take: Everyone says a 10 inch brick is standard, but my count on the old mill job in Lowell says different

Just finished tallying up my order from the Lowell mill restoration, and we used over 7,000 of the 8 inch modular bricks. I always heard the 10 inch was the go-to for everything, but this project needed the smaller size for the historic look. Has anyone else found themselves using way more of a 'non-standard' size than they expected on a big job?

Laid my first 500 bricks in a day on the new school job in Springfield

Been laying for six years but always stuck around 350, maybe 400 on a real good day. My foreman just counted my section and told me the number... honestly thought he was joking. What's a personal best that caught you off guard?

Always thought lime mortar was just for old buildings until a job in Savannah

I was working on a historic restoration down there, and the lead mason showed me a test from the National Park Service. It said lime mortar can flex up to 10 times more than modern cement mortar, which is why it doesn't crack old brick. I found the actual guide online after he mentioned it. Now I get why they insist on it for repointing. Has anyone else had to switch their thinking on mortar for a specific project?

I finally asked my apprentice why he kept checking the level after every single brick

Honestly, he looked me dead in the eye and said 'My grandpa told me a wall is only as straight as your last doubt.' Ngl, that hit different coming from a 19-year-old kid. Anyone else get hit with some unexpected wisdom on the job?

That old mason in Cincinnati told me to stop using a level on every single brick.

I was on a big church job about five years ago, and this guy, must have been seventy, watched me for a solid hour. He finally walked over, tapped my level with his trowel, and said, 'Your eyes are better than that glass. You're building a wall, not a watch.' He made me lay a whole course just by sight, and it was straighter than my first one. Anyone else had a mentor tell them to trust their hands over the tool?

Update: I used a different mortar mix on a chimney repair in Duluth and the color cure was way off

I swapped to a pre-blended Type N for speed on a cold day last week, but after it set, the color didn't match the existing brickwork at all, so what's your go-to method for matching old mortar in a pinch?

TIL a trick for keeping your line tight on a windy day, saw a guy do it on a site in Phoenix last month

I finally gave up on that new quick-set mortar mix everyone's been pushing

Tried it on a small patio job in Springfield last month, mixing a 60-pound bag exactly like the bag said. The stuff set up way too fast in the heat, maybe 15 minutes, and I lost a whole batch. Had to chip it out of the wheelbarrow with a cold chisel. Switched back to my regular Type S for the rest of the job and had zero issues. Is there a specific temperature range where that quick-set stuff actually works right?

My uncle told me to always soak my bricks in Phoenix, and he was right

He said, 'Pat, if you don't wet them down in this heat, the mortar will cure too fast and you'll get a weak bond.' I was working on a garden wall last July and decided to test it on one section. The bricks I soaked laid up perfectly, but the dry ones sucked the moisture right out of the mix and the joints crumbled after a week. Has anyone else found a specific trick that works in your local climate?

Just realized I was wrong about mixing mortar by hand

I was talking with a mason from Cincinnati who's been laying brick for 30 years, and he said 'machines make it too easy to get the mix wrong, your hands know the right feel.' I've used a mixer for the last 5 years, but his point about consistency and control has me second-guessing my whole setup. Has anyone else switched back to hand mixing and found it better for certain jobs?

I spent $400 on a fancy laser level and honestly it's been more trouble than it's worth.

Everyone swears by them for perfect lines, but on a real site with dust and vibration, I'm constantly recalibrating it. My old 4-foot level and string line get the job done just as fast without the fuss. Has anyone else gone back to basics after a tech upgrade?

I was laying a herringbone patio in my backyard and my neighbor, a retired mason, came over and said 'kid, your bed's too dry, it's gonna suck the life out of that mortar before it even sets'.

I'd been mixing my mud way too stiff for years because I hated how sloppy wet mortar felt, but after that patio started crumbling in a few spots last fall, I finally listened and now I keep a spray bottle handy to mist the bricks as I go, does anyone else have a trick for judging the perfect wetness?

My uncle told me to always use a 3/8 inch joint for a garden wall, and I finally listened after a winter of frost heave.

TIL a trick for keeping your line tight in high wind

Last week I was on a job in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where the wind just would not quit. We were building a garden wall, maybe 40 feet long, and my mason's line kept sagging and dancing all over the place. I was getting so frustrated trying to keep my courses straight. My foreman, a guy named Ray, saw me fighting it and just walked over. He took two of our standard concrete blocks, set them about ten feet apart past the end of the wall, and tied the line off to them instead of the wall itself. He said the weight of the blocks kept the tension perfect and the wind couldn't shake the wall enough to mess with the line. It was such a simple fix, but I'd never seen it done before. Has anyone else found a good way to handle string lines when it's really breezy?

I was buttering my bricks wrong for a whole year

I was on a job in Tacoma last fall, laying a garden wall, and my apprentice just stared at my trowel. He finally asked why I was putting the mortar on so thick. I said 'to make it stick, obviously.' He showed me his line, perfect and thin, and said his old boss called my way 'plastering, not laying.' I had been wasting mix and making a huge mess for months. Anyone else ever have a basic skill they were just doing backwards?

Just laid my 10,000th brick on the new library project

We started the foundation last month, and I've been keeping a rough count in my head. Hit the number this morning on the south wall. It's a big job, but seeing that wall go up straight and true felt solid. Anyone else ever keep track like that, or am I just weird?

I used to think a 3/8 inch joint was fine for everything

For years I just used the same joint size on every job, figuring it was good enough. Then I was working on a big house in Boise last month and the architect pointed out how the smaller joints on the chimney looked way better with the thin brick they chose. He was right, it made the whole wall look tighter and more finished. Now I match the joint size to the brick type and the look we're going for. What's the smallest joint you guys feel comfortable laying for a clean look?

Got told my mortar mix was 'sloppy as soup' by a foreman on a Denver job last year. Switched to measuring by weight, not volume, and my walls got STRAIGHT.

My mortar mix went totally wrong on a patio job yesterday

I was doing a small patio in Springfield and the mix just wouldn't set right, it stayed way too wet. Turns out the sand I grabbed from the yard was still damp from the rain two days ago, so my water ratio was off. Had to scrape it all out and start fresh, which set me back like three hours. Anyone have a good trick for checking sand moisture before you start mixing?

Update: The day we had to tear down a whole wall in the rain

Got a call for a repair on a 1920s chimney in the old part of town. The homeowner said it was just a few loose bricks. We pulled the first one and the whole interior was just dust and old mortar, no solid core left. Spent eight hours in a downpour carefully taking it apart brick by brick to avoid damaging the roof. Anyone had to do a full rebuild in bad weather and have tips for keeping the new mortar from washing out?

Finally got the hang of that herringbone pattern after a week of messing it up

Last week on a patio job in Bellingham, I kept messing up the spacing and had to pull up the first few rows twice. The trick was snapping a center line and working out from there, not from the edge. Anyone else have a go-to method for keeping that pattern tight?

A guy in Denver swore by using a plastic bucket to mix small batches of mortar

I always used a metal tub, thought plastic would be too flimsy and static would make the mix weird. Tried it on a small patio job mixing just a 60-pound bag, and it was way easier to scrape clean with a margin trowel. Have any of you switched from metal to plastic for mixing?