I was laying block on a retaining wall out near Buckeye and the temp hit 108 by noon. The mortar started crusting over before I could even tap the next block level. I ended up having to wet down both the blocks and the mix every 20 minutes just to keep it workable. Anyone else deal with this kind of heat drying out your joints mid-row?
I bought one of those digital smart levels with the laser guide built in about 6 months ago. Thought it would save me time on foundation blocks and retaining walls. First week it worked fine, then the display started glitching in direct sunlight. Couldn't even see the numbers half the time. Then the laser drifted off by about a quarter inch over 6 feet, which threw off a whole corner of a raised garden bed I was building. Ended up ripping it out and doing it over with my old 4 foot spirit level. The digital one is sitting in my truck cab now. Has anyone else had bad luck with electronic levels on actual masonry? Stick with the old bubble levels?
I was on a job last week in Cleveland with this crew who spent 20 minutes checking levels on a garden wall. Meanwhile they barely buttered the ends of the bricks. Half the joints looked dry and crumbly. I get that straight lines look nice but if that mortar isn't bonding right you're gonna have loose bricks in a year. Ive seen too many walls fall apart because people focused on looks over grip. Anyone else notice this on job sites?
I had a guy on a job in Raleigh last summer yell at me for ten minutes about soaking bricks in water before the mortar goes on, and now I see why he was so serious because the mortar dried out way too fast on a hot day and cracked bad.
I took on a curved retaining wall job for a client near the old mill pond in Amherst. I figured maybe 6 days tops, but the soil was way softer than expected and I had to dig down an extra 2 feet to get a solid base. By the time I got the first course of bluestone laid straight, I had already burned through 8 days. Has anyone else run into a situation where the ground conditions made your timeline double?
I've been repointing a 1930s wall in St. Louis this week and tried using a grout bag for the first time instead of my usual thumb-and-trowel method for deep joints. Ngl, the bag got messy fast and I ended up wasting almost 40 bucks worth of mortar mix on cleanup. Am I missing a trick with the bag or is the old school way just better for uneven vintage brickwork?
I was laying a patio in Austin last month and had to cut about 40 limestone pavers. Started with dry cutting on the first 10 and the dust cloud was so bad I couldn't see my lines and the edges chipped like crazy. Switched to a wet saw for the rest and the cuts came out smooth with zero dust. Anybody else found a trick to keep limestone from chipping on dry cuts?
He said 'if it runs off your trowel like pancake batter, you're gonna have a mess in the wall' and I started mixing it stiffer, around a 3 on the slump scale, and my bricks stopped shifting overnight... anyone else had to unlearn bad habits from YouTube videos?
I was always using a standard 11 inch trowel for everything until my wrist started hurting real bad after a big fireplace job in January. Switched to a 9 inch Marshalltown with a shorter handle and it made a huge difference on smaller blocks. The control is better for tight spots but it takes a little longer on flat runs. Anyone else swap handle lengths for different jobs or am I just getting old?
Everyone raves about saving time with a machine but I spent more time cleaning the drum than I would have just blending it myself, has anyone else found that the old way still works better for small crews?
I've been laying brick for like 15 years and always used a 3:1 sand to cement mix for everything. Last month I worked a job in Portland where the old foreman said the local sand was way finer than what I was used to. He convinced me to try a 4:1 mix with a little lime in it for a retaining wall. The mortar stuck way better and didn't crack after a week of rain. Now I'm thinking I've been overdoing the cement on soft brick all this time. Any of you guys tweak your ratios based on local materials?
An old mason I worked with in Denver 2 years ago insisted on soaking every brick in a bucket before laying it. He said it kept the mortar from drying too fast and cracking. I followed his advice for about 3 months and kept getting bricks that slid around and mortar that was too loose. Once I stopped wetting them and just adjusted my mix a bit, my rows stayed straight and I cut my labor time by almost half. Has anyone else found that old trick doesn't hold up in drier climates?
I was working on a fireplace surround in a house near Portland. Nothing was lining up. I must have pulled three rows and relaid them before lunch. Turns out my string line was stretched from the heat in the van. Anyone else ever fought a bad day like that and later found a simple fix?
Tbh I never paid much attention to weather forecasts before mixing. Got caught in a surprise shower about 20 minutes into laying brick on a retaining wall job near Bardstown Road. The mortar started washing out and I had to tear down about 30 bricks and redo the whole section the next day. Has anyone else had a batch go bad from unexpected rain, or am I just the unlucky one?
Honestly, I keep seeing brickies lay a whole 30-foot wall without snapping a mid-line check. Was on a job last month near Austin where the crew was 2 inches off plumb by the end. The foreman blamed the blocks, but nope, they just didn't reset their strings halfway. Tbh, a 5-minute check saves you ripping out a whole section later. Anyone else run into this on longer runs?
I spent 2 hours cleaning my mortar mixer and trowels after a small patio job in Portland last week. The actual bricklaying only took 4 hours, but I was picking dried mortar out of the mixer's drum until dark. Has anyone found a quicker way to keep the mixer from caking up mid-job?
Three years ago on a job in Akron I watched a guy spend 45 minutes leveling and re-laying a single course that was off by less than a quarter inch, and the structural engineer walked by and said he couldn't see it from 10 feet away, so has anyone else found that chasing dead straight lines on old foundations just slows everything down?
Was working on a garage foundation in Westbrook and the temp dropped faster than I expected. Froze solid overnight and now the homeowner's asking if it'll hold. Anyone else deal with frost damage like this?
I was working on a retaining wall in Asheville last month and this older guy came out to watch. He said my mortar was running like pancake batter and would crack in a year. I thought he was just being nosy but I checked it after three days and sure enough there were hairline fractures everywhere. I usually add water until it feels smooth but he told me to aim for a consistency like stiff peanut butter instead. Next job I cut the water by about 20 percent and the joints held much better with no slumping. Has anyone else had a homeowner call them out on technique and been wrong about being annoyed?
Was just counting up for the foreman and realized I'd passed the 10k mark without even noticing, now I'm wondering if anyone else has a weird milestone like that that snuck up on you?
I laughed it off and kept slapping them dry till the whole wall bowed and I had to tear it down by noon next day. The cold mortar just couldn't bond right without that extra spread. Any of you guys still do that trick or is it just old habits dying off?
I spent $50 on a pre-blended mortar mix from a big box site thinking it would save time on a small patio job, but it crumbled apart after two weeks in the rain. Has anyone else had trouble with those premixed bags, or did I just get a bad batch?
I kept fighting with my pointing trowel in tight gaps on a repointing job near Portland last month. Turns out if you grind down the tip of a cheap butter knife, it fits perfect in old mortar joints and saves your wrists. Has anyone else improvised tools like that on a job?
For years I thought a laser was just for big commercial jobs, but last week I was doing a tricky fireplace rebuild in an old Denver bungalow. My old 4-foot level just wasn't cutting it on the uneven stone. My buddy Jake lent me his DeWalt laser, and lining up those soldier course bricks became a 10-minute job instead of a headache. Anyone have a favorite affordable model for residential work?