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Had a beer with an old timer who said we're building walls too fast
He was a guy I met at a supply yard in Tacoma, must have been 70. He said he watched a crew lay 800 bricks in a day and just shook his head. Told me, 'You can't rush the buttering, son. A rushed joint is a weak joint, and that wall will weep in five years.' I've always pushed for speed to hit deadlines, but he said his stuff from the 80s is still dry as a bone. Made me wonder if we're sacrificing too much for the schedule. How many of you actually slow down for a perfect bed, even when the foreman is breathing down your neck?
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umabailey5mo ago
Funny how that works, @zara_west26. Reminds me of a painter I knew who rushed a whole house exterior. Looked great for a season, then the whole thing peeled. The client was furious. Sometimes the slow way is the only way that lasts.
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zara_west266mo ago
That's a good point from @dakota_king3 about the inspector. How do you handle the pressure when the foreman is literally timing you with a stopwatch?
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dakota_king36mo ago
Man, that old timer is right on the money. I learned the hard way after having to tear out and redo a whole section of my own work. The foreman was yelling about the clock, but when the inspector flagged it for bad mortar coverage, the boss was yelling even louder about the cost to fix it. Now I just set my own pace. A perfect bed might take an extra minute per brick, but that's nothing compared to losing a whole day later. Let them breathe down your neck, a wall that fails is way worse for the schedule.
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