My master mason's 12 brick rule bit me on a garage rebuild last fall

Old timer I used to work with in Akron always said never lay more than 12 brick without checking your line, I figured that was just him being fussy. Last fall I was chaining out a garage corner wall real fast to beat rain and skipped the check, by the end the whole corner was leaning like a drunk at a bar. Pulled it all down and relaid it in the mud over two hours. Has anyone else been burned by ignoring an old timer's rule that felt like overkill at the time?

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hugo23613d ago

Never lay more than 12 brick without checking your line" - yeah, I heard that one too and thought it was just old men being dramatic. Last spring I was doing a retaining wall and figured I could push it to 20, maybe 25 bricks, speed over accuracy. Got to the end and the whole thing looked like it was doing the wave at a ball game. Had to take the top two courses off and redo them in the rain, which was just me paying the stupid tax. The funny part is now I count bricks like a maniac, even when I'm just stacking firewood. These old timers probably sit around laughing at us from the grave, knowing EVERY rule they had was from getting burned exactly like this.