I was laying brick for 10 years before a guy on a job in Tacoma pointed out my line was wrong

He saw me setting up my line pins and just said, 'You know you're putting that pin in the fresh mortar joint, right?' I always did it that way, thinking it was fine. Turns out, it can crack the brick below if you're not careful. I switched to using a separate block of wood to hold the line off the wall, and it made a huge difference. Anyone else have a simple trick they learned way later than they should have?

3 comments

3 Comments

troy_torres1mo ago

Man, that hits home. I spent my first year pressure washing thinking more soap meant a better clean, just dumping it in the tank. Ended up leaving streaks and sticky junk on everything that attracted more dirt. A client finally asked if I was using too much and it clicked. Now I measure it out and it's night and day. Those little oversights you don't even know you're making can really mess things up.

matthewwilson1mo ago

That wood block trick is solid, but you gotta be careful with the type of wood. I used a soft pine scrap once and the line actually cut a groove into it over the day, throwing my whole course off by an eighth inch. A little chunk of hardwood or even a plastic shim is way more reliable.

felixm291mo ago

Wait, you were just free-pouring soap straight into the tank? How did you even get the mix right? That's the kind of thing that seems like a good idea until you're scrubbing off a sticky film for an hour. I'm surprised your machine didn't just start coughing up bubbles.