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Pro tip: An old timer told me my buttering was too thick and it changed my whole game
I was laying a brick veneer on a house in Tempe last month and this retired guy from the neighborhood stopped to watch. He said, 'Son, your butter is so thick you're building a dam, not a wall.' I realized I was using a 3/4 inch bed when I could get away with a solid 1/2 inch. Switched my trowel technique and my speed and mortar use improved instantly. Anyone else get a piece of simple advice that fixed a bad habit you didn't even know you had?
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wyatt_chen865d ago
Hang on, I gotta push back a little on that trowel comparison. A cheap flexible margin trowel is definitely a pain, but calling it a "wet noodle" is a bit dramatic, right? You can still get clean lines with a floppy one if you adjust your wrist angle and don't lean into it. The real game changer for me was realizing the trowel stiffness matters more for buttering than for edges. Everyone's got their own system though, so I'm probably just being picky.
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the_cora2mo ago
Man, that's so true. It's crazy how the wrong tool can make you work against yourself for years. I was using a cheap margin trowel that was too flexible for years, always fighting to get a clean edge. Bought a decent stiff one on a whim and suddenly my lines were sharp. Felt like I'd been trying to write with a wet noodle. Ever have a tool upgrade that felt like unlocking a cheat code?
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