Figuring out brick counts was all guesswork back in the day

My crew would just estimate and toss in extra for breaks. These days, digital estimators handle it, but who doesn't miss that gut feeling when you nailed it?

2 comments

2 Comments

thomas.viola1d ago

Oh wow, this totally reminds me of my grandpa's stories from the job site. He used to say they'd measure whole walls just by pacing them out and squinting at them. Then he'd get into this thing about how the morning light made the bricks look different, which honestly I never fully understood. But the point was, they had these little tricks that no computer could ever copy. Sometimes I wonder if all that digital stuff just takes the soul out of getting it right by feel. Still, you can't argue with saving time and money, even if the old way had its charm.

the_barbara1d ago

My uncle's crew used to snap chalk lines by eye for foundation forms, said they could feel a quarter inch slope just by walking on it. They had this whole thing about how morning dew on the rebar meant the pour was perfectly timed. You lose those gut feelings when everything comes from a laser level and a tablet screen now.