c/bricklayers

I finally stopped leveling by feel after a Saturday job in Ohio

Set a battered old laser level on a fresh pad last week and the wall came out straighter than anything I've done in 12 seasons of eyeballing it, so now I'm wondering how many crooked footers I've actually laid, has anyone else switched late and felt like a fool?

My mortar mix was off for 3 weeks and I blamed everything else first

Started a retaining wall job outside Columbus and the joints kept crumbling no matter what. I swapped sand, checked my water, even blamed the weather. Turns out my cement bags from the supplier were mislabeled, they gave me a weaker blend than what was on the sack. Three weeks of redos couldve been one phone call, now I weigh every bag before I trust it. Has anyone else gotten a bad batch from a supplier that made you second guess your whole setup?

The $15 brick hammer that outlasted my $80 one

Been swinging a cheap fiberglass handle from the hardware store for 14 months now. My old Estwing started cracking at the head after 6 months of daily use. Thought the cheap one would fall apart in a week. It hasn't. Weight is a bit off but it splits brick cleaner. Anyone else had a budget tool surprise them like that?

Mortar dried too fast in July heat, now the wall looks like patchwork

We started a garden wall at 7am last Tuesday and by noon the mix was flash setting before I could even tool the joints. The client's property is a fully exposed south facing yard in Phoenix, no shade anywhere. I had to bust out three courses and redo them, cost me almost a full day and an extra 4 bags of type S. My apprentice keeps saying we should have added a retarder but I never use the stuff. Has anyone else had luck with that or do you just adjust your water and work faster?

Skim coat mix disaster ate my whole Saturday

Bought a 5 gallon bucket of premixed skim coat on sale, thought I was saving $40. Turned out it was old stock, lumpy as hell, and dried way too fast on the wall. Spent 6 hours in Ocean City trying to scrape it off and redo a 12x10 room. Anyone else got burned buying bulk compound on clearance instead of fresh bags?

Old timer told me to stop washing my joints and my corners got tighter

Been laying brick for about 12 years now, mostly residential in the Charlotte area. I always cleaned my joints with a wet brush right after striking, thought it looked professional. Then this 70 year old guy, Bob, watched me on a job last spring. He said, "You're washing out all the fines, that's why your joints look blotchy after a week." I switched to dry brushing and only using water if the mud starts crusting. Took a few tries to get the timing right, but my last two jobs the color came out even and I stopped getting callbacks about efflorescence spots. Anyone else have an old school habit they had to unlearn?

Vent: My mortar went bad overnight and I had to tear out 40 feet of wall

Mixed a batch with cold water last Tuesday in Portland and by morning it was crumbling like dry sand, so I ripped out 40 feet of freshly laid brick and redid it with warm water and a plastic cover, has anyone else had temperature wreck a whole morning's work like that?

Old foreman's mortar mix ratio finally clicked after 6 years

I used to think he was nuts for eyeballing 4 parts sand to 1 part cement on every job until I saw his 20 year old retaining wall next to my neat but crumbly one from 2021. The difference was the water content, he kept it stiff and beat it in place, mine was wet and slumped before curing. Anyone else find that dry mixes hold up way better than the bag instructions suggest?

Walked by an old jobsite in Trenton and the brick still looks perfect

I drove past a row of houses we laid back in 1998 over on Mulberry Street, and after 26 winters of salt and freeze-thaw, there's barely a cracked joint. Meanwhile, a patch job I saw from last spring on the same block is already spalling off in chunks. What are they doing different now, or are we just cutting corners on mortar mix these days?

Got burned by a lime mortar mix from a local yard in Scranton

The supplier swore it was the same blend I always used, but three walls spalled out on me last month and I had to chip back 40 feet of joints. Anyone else ever get a bad batch that looked fine in the bag but fell apart on the trowel?

Question about fixing a bowed foundation wall before it gets worse

I ran into a bowed block wall at a reno over in Akron last month and it took me 11 hours just to get the wall plumb again. Anchors alone didn't do it, I had to brace it in stages and wait overnight for the mud to set before pulling it further. The homeowner kept asking if I was sure it wouldn't crack again, which made me second-guess my process. Next time I'd start with a laser level and check the sill plate for twist first, that threw me off for a full afternoon. Has anyone else dealt with a wall that moves a bit after you think it's locked in? What did you use to hold it steady while the mortar cured?

Caught a wet wall problem before the mortar even set, question about my flashing approach

Last Thursday on a job in Frankfort, I noticed water pooling along the foundation after a big storm hit the night before. I already had two courses laid and checked the weep holes, but the flashing I put in was sitting too low by maybe an inch. I pulled the bottom row and redid it with a drip edge cut from aluminum coil, took about 90 minutes extra. Has anyone else had luck with that trick, or do you usually just lay a second layer of flashing tape when the substrate slopes weird?

Finally ditched the dead blow for a rubber mallet, wish I did it sooner

I used to swear by my dead blow hammer for leveling courses, but after a job in Austin last month I got tired of it bouncing off the leads. A guy I was working next to told me to try a 2 pound rubber mallet with a shorter handle, and the control is way better for tapping bricks into place. No more fighting the rebound, and my wrist doesn't ache by 3pm. Anyone else switch hammers and notice their joints feel better at the end of the day?

Why does nobody check the mortar mix before they start?

Walked onto a job in Boise last Tuesday and watched two guys lay 40 feet of wall with a mix that was clearly too wet, sagging everything between the corners. The foreman shrugged and said "it'll dry fine," but we all know that's a call-back waiting for winter. How many of you have had to rip out someone's sloppy wall because they skipped the slump test on day one?

My foundation color shifted after 8 years, mortar mix or something else?

I laid a front walk and small retaining wall back in 2016 using a standard Type N mix from the local yard. Fast forward to last month and I noticed the mortar lines have gone from a light gray to a yellowish tan, while the brick face stayed the same. I checked my records and the sand I used came from a pit outside Trenton, so I wonder if it had more iron in it than I thought. A buddy of mine said it could be efflorescence that never got washed off, but I've pressure washed it twice since then. Has anyone seen their mortar shift color this slowly, or is my sand just garbage? Would repointing only the joints be worth it, or should I live with it?

Started using a 4 foot level for every course instead of eyeballing, night and day difference

Customer watched me lay 500 bricks then asked if I could make it look 'more rustic'

Whole job on a patio in Phoenix, 3 days of sweating and leveling every course, and this guy walks up and says that while pointing at a perfectly straight wall. I asked him if he wanted me to just kick a few out and call it character, and he actually said 'yeah, that works.' Has anyone else had a client completely miss what straight lines mean?

That fancy mortar mixer attachment I mocked is now my go to

Rented one for a job in Toledo after my arm gave out on the third batch, figured it was a gimmick but it cut my mixing time by half. Anyone else eat crow on a tool they swore was a waste?

Knocked a retaining wall at Golden Gate Park, now I always dry-stack test before mortaring

Watched an 8-foot segment collapse two days after we finished because the base gravel wasn't compacted, and since then I've made every crew do a dry run on the footprint first, anyone else swear by that?

Mixing mortar by hand vs paddle mixer, never going back

I spent 6 years mixing mortar in a wheelbarrow with a hoe on jobs around Cleveland. Last month my foreman made me borrow his paddle mixer for a big retaining wall job and now I feel dumb for not getting one sooner. The difference is night and day, the mix comes out way more consistent and I cut my mixing time down from 20 minutes to maybe 5 if I measure the water right. Hand mixing always left dry pockets or wet clumps that would mess up my joints and cause cracking later on. The paddle mixer also lets me do smaller batches, like half a bag, which is perfect for repairs when I only need a few bricks done. I bought a cheap 800 watt one off Amazon for $65 and it's already paid for itself in labor time. Anyone else switch over and notice their shoulders hurting less at the end of the day?

Cold mortar on a windy Tuesday in Wichita taught me a lesson

I was out on a job near the old train depot in Wichita, laying a garden wall for a client, when the wind picked up out of nowhere. The mortar I mixed that morning started crusting over in the wheelbarrow within an hour because the air was so dry and gusty. I kept trying to use it anyway, and the joints came out crumbly, not smooth at all. After the third retry, I finally dumped the whole batch and remixed with a bit more water and a wet tarp over the barrow. It took an extra 40 minutes, but the next wall section looked clean and held firm. I learned to check the weather forecast before I start mixing, not halfway through. Has anyone else dealt with wind ruining a batch, or do you just add more water from the get-go?

Pre-mixed mortar vs. mix-your-own: Is the extra cost really worth it for a small patio job?

I just finished a 200 square foot patio in Denver using pre-mixed mortar from the hardware store, and it cost me about $80 more than if I'd mixed my own from bags. The joints came out way cleaner though, no guessing on the water ratio or dealing with dusty clouds in my face. I'm wondering if that convenience trade-off is worth it for a one-time job or if I should just stick to the old-school bucket and hoe method for the next project. What do you guys usually go with for smaller residential work?

Took me 10 years to finally stop buttering the bricks

Back when I started in 2010 I used to wet every brick before laying because my old man swore by it. Last winter I had this job on a retaining wall in Phoenix and the mud just kept sliding off no matter what. I quit soaking them halfway through and the bond actually held better. Why do we keep doing stuff just because some guys from the 70s said so? Anyone else drop an old habit and get better results right away?

Had a talk with an old foreman that made me look back at how I work

Ran into Mike, a guy I worked for back in 2011 on that big school job in Akron. He pointed out how I was laying brick with my off hand leading and said I've been doing it backwards for years. Made me realize I picked up bad habits from rushing when I was younger and never fixed em. Anyone else ever get a wake up call from someone you haven't seen in a while?

That job on Elm Street in 2008 changed how I tie off scaffolding

I was working a three story rehab on Elm Street in Portland back in 2008. Foreman had us tying off with rope and a half hitch knot, just like we always did. Halfway through the second week a gust caught the tarp and the whole section shifted about six inches. Nobody got hurt but it shook me up. Now I only use ratchet straps and check them every morning. Any other guys run into a close call that made you switch up your rigging?