c/bricklayers

Used to mix my mud by eye but now I measure out every batch after a wall fell over

Last summer I was slapping up a garden wall in Austin and figured I had the mix right like always. Five days later the whole thing buckled because the mortar was too sandy. Now I use a 1:3 ratio with a bucket and a scale every single time, no shortcuts. Has anyone else had a job fail because of a bad mix?

The day my trowel handle snapped mid-wall and I almost lost it

Last Tuesday was going smooth on a retaining wall job in Austin until my W.R. Rose trowel handle just snapped clean off about halfway through a course. I had 300 blocks left to lay and no backup trowel in the truck since I usually just carry one. Had to drive 45 minutes to the nearest supply house and lost half the day's wages on that wall. The worst part was the mortar started setting up in my mudboard while I was gone. Anybody else ever have a tool fail on them at the absolute worst time?

Got told my mortar mix was too wet by an old timer on a job site

He said if you can see water pooling on top after a strike, you're basically making pancakes not bricks. I cut back 3 cups of water per batch and my walls finally stopped slumping on me. Anyone else had to unlearn bad habits from watching YouTube videos?

Dropped $40 on a tuckpointer from Amazon and it chipped after 20 bricks

Bought a cheap tuckpointer to save time on a retaining wall repair and the tip snapped off by the second row, has anyone found a brand that actually holds up for full day use?

Watch out for bad mortar mixes on cold mornings

Last Tuesday we started a job in Cleveland at 6 AM and the mortar was setting up way too fast. Three rows in I noticed it was crumbling when I tapped it with my trowel. The supplier had mixed the sand wrong and used too much lime for the temperature. We had to tear out 4 courses of brick before lunch and it cost us 3 hours of labor. Anyone else dealt with a batch that went bad because the mix was off for the weather?

$160 mortar mixer attachment was a total waste of my money

Bought a drill-mounted mortar mixer paddle from Home Depot for $160 thinking it'd save my arms on a big retaining wall job. First batch of type S mortar it just couldn't handle the load, motor on my 1/2 inch drill started smoking after like 3 minutes. Had to finish the whole 40-foot wall mixing by hand in a wheelbarrow like the old days. Anyone else get burned by these paddle mixers or did I just pick the wrong one?

Overheard a new guy say he'd rather stack block than brick and it got me thinking

Was working on a foundation job in Tulsa last week and this kid fresh out of the union hall was complaining about brick texture. Said he'd rather do CMU all day cause it's 'more uniform.' I get it, block goes faster and you don't have to worry about color blending as much. But brick gives you way more room to show off your skills, you know? Anyone else prefer one over the other for different reasons?

Tried tuckpointing a whole wall without grinding out the joints first in Philly last week

Joint was too shallow and the mortar fell out in chunks after 2 days. Had to chip it all out and start over, cost me an extra 5 hours. Anybody else learn this lesson the hard way?

Switched from lime mortar to Portland after a failed repair job and wish I did it sooner

I had this old chimney cap that kept crumbling no matter how many times I patched it with lime mortar. Last fall I finally bit the bullet and used a Type N Portland mix instead. That cap's been solid through two winters and a wet spring. My granddad always swore by lime for historic stuff but for modern brick this just works better. Anyone else make the same swap and get better results?

TIL a guy named Frank showed me why I was cracking corners

Been laying brick for about 5 years and kept getting hairline cracks on my corner joints. Old timer Frank watched me work for 10 minutes and said I was buttering the head joint before the bed joint. Switched the order and I haven't had a cracked corner in 3 months now. Anyone else get tiny fixes like that from watching someone work?

Unpopular opinion: the brickwork at that new coffee shop on Elm Street is garbage

I walked past last week and counted six cracked bricks in a 10-foot span, how does that even pass inspection?

Old timer on a job site in Phoenix told me something I still think about

Mortar mix went bad on a Friday afternoon job near Greenville

Last month I was laying brick for a retaining wall out in Greenville, and about halfway through the afternoon I noticed the mortar wasn't setting up right. It was crumbly and wouldn't hold a bead, even though I mixed it the same way I have for 20 years. Turns out the bag of type N had been sitting in a damp corner of my shed since last winter, and moisture got into it. I had to chip out about 10 feet of work and start fresh, which put me two hours behind schedule. Luckily the homeowner was understanding, but it taught me to always check the date stamp on bags before I load the truck. Has anyone else had a bad batch of mortar ruin a day?

Old timer at the supply yard told me to wet my bricks before laying in July heat

After fighting mortar drying out in 5 minutes on a patio job in Phoenix last summer I tried soaking a batch of firebrick overnight and the mortar stayed workable almost twice as long, has anyone else found certain bricks need more soak time than others?

Tried wet saw vs angle grinder for 2 weeks straight on a job in Portland

Wet saw was cleaner but slow as hell, angle grinder cut my time by 30% but left me dealing with dust clouds. Which do you guys lean on for quick cuts on a tight timeline?

Watch out for old lime mortar on repointing jobs - it cost me 3 extra days

I took on a repointing job last week on a house built in 1920 near Cleveland. Thought I could just mix up some standard type N and be done in two days. Turns out the original mortar was soft lime based, and my new mix was way too hard - it would have cracked the old bricks over time. I had to grind out all my work and order a special lime mortar from a supplier 60 miles away. Has anyone else run into this with older homes, or did I just miss something obvious in my prep?

Figured out I was mixing mortar wrong after 8 years on the job

Was laying brick at a church renovation in downtown Akron last week and noticed my joints kept cracking after just a day. An old timer walked by and asked if I was measuring my water by eye. I told him yeah, always have. He pulled out a bucket and showed me how my mix was way too wet compared to his. Been doing it that way since I started and never questioned it. Anyone else have a basic trick they learned way later than they should have?

Best day I've had on the job in years was last Tuesday in Detroit

Started laying a curved wall for a garden project at 7am. Got the whole thing done by lunch. No mistakes, no rework. The homeowner even brought out sandwiches. Been doing this 12 years and that kind of day is rare. Anyone else ever have a job just click like that?

The difference a lime mortar mix made on my 1920s repoint job

Been doing brickwork for 15 years. Always used standard Type N mortar for repointing old houses. Figured it was fine. Then I got a call to fix a wall on a 1922 house in our historic district. Owner insisted on lime mortar. I was skeptical. After I mixed it up and started working it in, the difference was night and day. The old soft bricks weren't fighting the mortar at all. That was two years ago. I drove by last week and the joints still look perfect with no cracks. My normal mortar jobs always show hairline cracks after one winter. Anyone else switch to lime for historic work and see your repairs last way longer?

Just realized my mortar mix was too wet for months

I was working on a retaining wall in Akron last week and kept having bricks slide out of place. Finally measured the slump on my mix and it was way off, like 6 inches when it should have been 2. I always just eyeballed the water, but now I use a 5 gallon bucket with marks. Anyone else have trouble with consistency on hot days?

Ran into an old foreman who changed how I look at mortar mix ratios

He told me he's been using a half scoop less sand per batch for 20 years and his walls never crack, so now I'm second guessing everything I learned about mix consistency - has anyone else tweaked their sand ratio and seen better results?

That old timer who showed me a trick with a wet sponge...

Had a guy about 70 years old stop by a job site in Dayton back in 2013... he just watched me lay a few bricks, then showed me how to wet the sponge just right to clean the mortar off the face without smearing it... Has anyone else picked up a tip from a random stranger that stuck with you?

Thought those fancy mortar additives were a gimmick, but a job in Cleveland changed my mind

I've been laying brick for 12 years and always swore by just water and type N, figured the extra stuff was just upselling. Then I had to repoint a 1920s church wall last October in the rain and the regular mix kept washing out before I could finish. Has anyone else found a specific additive that actually made your work hold up better in bad weather?

I finally switched to a mud board on a job site in Richmond

Was working a tight fireplace job last month in Richmond and my bucket kept sliding around. A older mason I was subbing for handed me his mud board setup and I got through the rest of the day without spilling a drop. Has anyone else found that a mud board saves time on small corners or is it just me?

Unpopular opinion: brick ties matter more than most guys think

Last Tuesday I was working on a retaining wall in Austin and the inspector flagged my spacing because I had them every 16 inches instead of 12. I double checked my math and the wind loads in that area were way higher than I thought. Has anyone else had an inspector make them add more ties on an existing wall?