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?
So did Bob mention anything about how the timing changes with hotter or cooler weather? I feel like dry brushing in July would be a nightmare if the mud dries too fast.