c/bricklayers

Tried a dry bond on a garden wall and it held better than mortar

I was building a low retaining wall in my backyard in Columbus last month and ran out of mortar halfway through. Instead of making a run to the store, I figured I would just dry stack the last few rows to see what happened. To my surprise, the dry stacked section actually stayed solid after a heavy rain. I learned that if you cut the stones tight enough and use a bit of crushed stone in the gaps, the friction does most of the work. The mortar section actually shifted a little from ground moisture, but the dry part held steady. Now I am thinking about using this method for small decorative walls where drainage is key. Has anyone else here tried dry bonding for garden projects and had it work out better than expected?

Switched from a trowel to a margin trowel for buttering and never looked back

I used to butter every brick with my standard 10 inch trowel like everyone on my crew in Cleveland. Took me 2 years to try a margin trowel just for the buttering part. The control is way better, less mortar on my fingers, and I'm cutting about 10 minutes off each pallet. Has anyone else made this switch or am I just slow on the uptake?

Older guy at the job site taught me a mortar mixing trick I still use

Wasted $150 on a mortar mixer attachment that just made a mess

Bought one of those drill-powered paddle mixers for a small retaining wall job, figured it'd save my arms. First batch of mortar I tried, it flung chunks everywhere and left dry powder at the bottom of the bucket. Anyone else had better luck with a specific brand or is it back to the hoe and wheelbarrow?

TIL a mortar mix problem cost me 3 days on a single garden wall

Honestly, I thought I had my ratios down perfect but the mortar kept crumbling after 24 hours. Took me two days of redoing sections and calling my old foreman to realize the sand I grabbed from the yard was way too fine. He said 'that's play sand, not sharp sand' and I felt like an idiot. Third day I mixed a fresh batch with the right stuff and it bonded like it should. Anyone else get tripped up by a simple material swap?

My foreman dropped a brick measurement fact on me that I never knew

I was laying out a wall last Thursday and my foreman said that a standard brick's bed depth is actually 3 and 5/8 inches, not the 4 inches I always assumed. He pulled out a worn old chart from the 1970s showing how modern bricks shrank a quarter inch for easier handling. Has anyone else run into older specs that threw off their mortar calculations?

Finally figured out why my corners kept blowing out

Was working on a garden wall last week over near Elm Street and kept having the same issue with the corners cracking after a day or two. A retired mason stopped by to chat and asked if I was wetting my bricks before I cut them. I told him nah, I just cut dry and he said that was the whole problem. Now I'm keeping a spray bottle nearby and soaking the cut line first and it's made a huge difference. Anyone else run into this or am I just late to the party on this one?

Wasted a full day on a cheap mortar mixer from a big box store

Picked up one of those $200 mortar mixers from the home improvement place last spring thinking I was saving money. It threw a bearing after mixing just three bags of type S mortar on a job in Akron. Anybody else had bad luck with those economy paddle mixers?

Tried using a milkshake mixer for mortar and it was a disaster

Honestly, I thought I was being clever last week on a job in Springfield. I grabbed an old milkshake mixer from a restaurant supply store to mix small batches of mortar for repairs. Figured it would save my arm from hand mixing. Nope. That thing whipped air into the mortar like crazy and the mix came out all frothy and weak. I laid about 20 bricks before I noticed it was crumbling in my hand. Ended up tearing it all out and redoing it with a paddle mixer. Learned that mortar needs a slow consistent mix, not a fast spinner. Has anyone else tried a weird tool for mixing and regretted it?

Warning: That time a church job taught me to always double check the brick size

I showed up to lay a wall for a small church addition over by Catoosa. The plans called for modular bricks but the supply yard sent us queen size by mistake. I laid the whole first course before my foreman walked over and just stared at me for a full 10 seconds. Now I check every pallet tag before I even mix mud, has anyone else had a shipment mix up waste their whole morning?

Spent $350 on a fancy laser level and it took me 3 hours to figure out why it kept giving me bad readings

Turned out the tripod I was using had a tiny wobble in one leg that I didn't catch until I put a bubble level on it myself. Anyone else run into gear issues that weren't the tool's fault?

Spent $400 on a used brick saw that quit after two weeks

Picked up a secondhand MK diamond saw from a guy on Craigslist outside of Austin, seemed fine when I tested it on a paver. Got it home, cut maybe fifty bricks, and the motor started smoking on a retaining wall job. Anyone else had luck with used saws or should I just bite the bullet on a new one?

Vent: Had to tear down a whole wall because I skipped the string line

I've been laying brick for about 12 years now and thought I could eyeball a long run last Tuesday on a garage build in Akron. Got about 10 feet in and noticed my courses were starting to drift off by almost half an inch. I tried to fake it with extra mortar on the next few rows but that just made it worse. Finally admitted I had to pull down everything I laid and start over. I grabbed my line blocks and strung a tight line this time and the rest of the wall came out dead flat in half the time. Why do I keep thinking I'm too good for the basics? Anyone else get humbled by a simple mistake like this?

Saw a huge difference in a brick wall after using a jointer instead of a tuck pointer

I've been laying brick for about 8 years now, mostly residential stuff around Portland. Last week I did a small garden wall and decided to try a jointer for the mortar joints instead of my usual tuck pointer. The lines came out way cleaner and more uniform, like night and day compared to before. Any of you guys made that switch and stuck with it?

Saw a retaining wall in Boise that was 12 courses high with no drain pipe behind it

I was driving through an older neighborhood near downtown Boise last week and noticed this massive retaining wall that had some serious bowing in the middle. Got out to take a look and there was no sign of any drainage pipe behind it, just dirt packed right up against the blocks. Has anyone else run into old walls like that and had to figure out how to fix them without tearing the whole thing down?

Had my doubts about using a diamond blade on a circular saw for brick...

I watched a guy in Cleveland cut 200 pavers with one blade and it held up way better than my old abrasive wheels. Gave it a try on a retaining wall job and it cut through like butter with hardly any dust. Anyone else switched over and seen their blades last longer?

Switched from a 12 inch trowel to a 10 inch for brick veneer and my back thanked me by Friday

I used to think bigger was better for laying out mortar fast, but after 6 months of that extra weight pulling on my shoulder I tried the shorter trowel last Monday and not only did my joints feel better but my coverage came out way more even too, anyone else find a smaller tool made a big difference?

Joint rakers vs striking joints: which actually holds up better down the road?

I been on jobs where the old timers swear by striking with a jointer right after laying. But I worked with a crew last summer that only rakes out and brushes later. They said striking pushes the mortar too tight and causes cracking. The raked joints they did 3 years ago still look clean though. I always learned to strike fresh. But now I wonder if I been doing it wrong. What's your experience with long term durability on these two ways?

Switched from striking joints with a tuck pointer to a 5-gallon bucket lid scrap

Used to think striking with the same cheap tuck pointer was fine. Cut a curve into a plastic lid and got perfect concave joints every time. Anyone else make their own strike tools from junk laying around?

Hot take: Hand mixing beats paddle mixers for small jobs

I see everyone on sites loading up their paddle mixers for a half pallet of block. Did that last Tuesday on a garage foundation in Austin and spent 20 minutes cleaning the thing after. Mixed three batches by hand with a hoe and trowel and was done quicker total. The mortar stays wetter too since you're not aerating it. Anyone else find paddles more hassle than they're worth on tight pours?

That time my mortar mix kicked too fast on a hot job site

I was laying block for a retaining wall in Phoenix last August and the sun was just cooking everything. My mortar started setting up in the wheelbarrow after maybe 10 minutes because I didn't cool my water down first. How do you guys keep your mix workable when the temps hit 105?

That stat about brick wastage in cold weather caught me off guard

Was reading through some old trade journals my grandpa left me, came across a study from 1988 that said you can lose up to 12% of your bricks to frost damage if the moisture content is above 3% when it freezes. I always knew cold weather was rough but I never put a number on it like that. Been laying for 15 years and I never bothered checking moisture before a freeze. Has anyone else ever tracked their waste rate through a winter?

My best day ever on the scaffold was also my worst. Let me explain.

Last spring I was working on a retaining wall project outside Richmond, Virginia. We laid over 800 bricks in one day, a personal record for me, and the alignment was perfect. But the next morning the homeowner said it looked like a fence post was leaning even though it wasn't. That one comment killed all the pride I had in the day before. Has anyone else had a great day on the job ruined by a customer's offhand remark?

Shoutout to the old school guys who taught me how to fix a weeping joint

Had a weep hole on a chimney cap that kept leaking, tried every new sealant under the sun for a week. Finally called my old foreman, he reminded me about the proper mortar mix and a copper flashing trick, fixed it in an afternoon. Anyone have a go-to method for those stubborn leaks?

I just laid 1,200 bricks in a single shift and my brain is fried

It was a big commercial job in Tacoma, and the foreman needed a long, straight wall done fast. I started at 6 AM, mixed my own mud, and just kept my head down. By 4 PM, I counted the courses and did the math. I've never hit a number like that before, and my arms feel like lead. Anyone else ever push past what they thought was their limit on a wall?