c/bricklayers

TIL a $150 laser level can save you a whole afternoon of arguing with a foundation.

Got a new job laying block for a garage, and the footing was a solid inch out of square over 20 feet. I set up my DeWalt laser, showed the contractor the red line on the tape measure, and we had it fixed before lunch. How do you guys handle it when the concrete guys leave you a mess to fix?

Finally got the hang of laying a full course without a line

For the first two years I was on the job, I used a line for every single course, no matter what. It felt safe, but it was slow. About six months ago, my foreman on a job in Cincinnati told me to try going without it on a simple garden wall. I was off by almost half an inch by the end. Kept at it, practicing on small stuff after hours. Now I can run a full course on a straight run just by eye and a level check, and I'm way faster. What's a small skill you guys worked on that made a big difference in your speed?

Heard a guy at the supply house say you can't lay brick in the rain at all

I think that's way too rigid. I've finished plenty of jobs on schedule by using a good tarp system and adjusting the mortar mix, like adding a bit less water. When's the last time you had to push through some wet weather?

PSA: watch your footing on fresh footings in wet weather, especially in Seattle.

I was setting a corner on a footing pour that had just been stripped yesterday and my right foot sank a good three inches into the muck, throwing my whole line off and nearly sending me into the rebar cage before I caught myself on the string line. Has anyone else had a footing settle weird after a rain and how do you check for it?

Used my grandad's old trowel on a repair job and it felt totally different

I was fixing a garden wall at my place in Cincinnati last weekend and grabbed my grandad's old 10 inch pointing trowel from the shed. It's got a wooden handle worn smooth from his hands and the steel is thin and flexible. I've been using my newer, stiffer one for years. Honestly, laying the brick felt weird at first, like I had to relearn the pressure. But the mortar just seemed to slide off easier and seat nicer, especially in the tight joints. I mean, maybe it's just me, but it made the whole rhythm slower and more deliberate. I didn't get as much done, but the finish looked cleaner. It got me thinking about how the feel of the tool changes the work. Has anyone else gone back to an older piece of gear and had a similar surprise?

Changed my mind about those quick-setting mortar bags

Bought a pallet of the 'Rapid-Set' brand for a chimney repair job, thinking it would save a day, but the stuff hardened in the mixer before I could even get half the batch on the wall. Wasted about $400 on material that's now a solid block in my tub. Anyone have a go-to mix for repointing that gives you a decent working time?

Remembering an old mason in Cincinnati who told me 'A good line is worth a thousand bricks' when I was rushing a foundation.

He saw me fumbling with my string and just walked over, set a perfect corner block without a word, and said that line has stuck with me for fifteen years, you ever have a simple piece of advice just click like that?

My mortar mixer belt snapped halfway through a foundation job yesterday

I was mixing a batch for a house in Springfield and the whole thing just gave out. Had to finish by hand with a hoe, which added 3 hours to the day. What's the best heavy-duty mixer brand you guys trust for daily use?

Warning about mixing mortar in cold weather without the right steps

I keep seeing crews around town just adding a bit more water to their mix when it's cold out, thinking it will help it set. That is a huge mistake. I learned this the hard way on a job in Springfield last winter. We had a morning temp of 35 degrees and the mortar never properly cured. It stayed soft and crumbly, and we had to tear out and redo an entire chimney base, costing us two full days of labor. The issue isn't just the water, it's the temperature of the sand and the water itself. You need to use warm water and, if possible, store your sandbags somewhere above freezing the night before. Just adding cold water to a cold mix guarantees a weak bond. Has anyone else had a project fail from cold weather mixing, and what's your go-to method to prevent it?

I thought those plastic brick line blocks were a total gimmick, but they saved my butt on a big chimney job last month.

I used to think a 10mm joint was fine for any brick in my area

A guy I work with in Toledo kept telling me to use a 12mm joint for the older, softer bricks we get up here. I thought he was just being picky until I saw a wall I did last fall with 10mm joints start to weep water after a hard rain. The wider joint let the mortar lock in better and shed water. Has anyone else had to change their joint size for local brick types?

My boss swore by a 12mm joint for a 2-story chimney in Colorado, but after the first freeze-thaw cycle, I saw the cracks he warned me about.

He said 'anything thinner than 15mm on that elevation is asking for trouble,' and now I'm re-pointing the whole thing with a wider trowel, so what's your go-to joint width for high-altitude exterior work?

Showerthought: Spent 3 hours trying to get a single brick to sit right on a curved garden wall in Tacoma.

Turns out the old brick was warped from a fire decades ago, had to grind it down with a diamond wheel. Anyone else ever get fooled by a weirdly shaped brick?

Saw a brick facade on a new bank in Springfield that looked like it was laid by a toddler.

The joints are all over the place, some are an inch thick, others are a sliver. The soldier course above the door is wavy. It's a brand new building, too. How does that even pass inspection? Makes our whole trade look bad. What's the worst brickwork you've seen on a new construction job?

That time a 90 year old mason in Savannah showed me how to really lay a curve

I was on a church restoration job about five years back, trying to rebuild a curved garden wall. My lines were okay, but the curve felt stiff, not smooth. An old timer named Frank, who had worked on the original building, stopped by. He didn't say much, just took my trowel. He showed me how to tilt the brick slightly on its bed, using a sliver of mortar on one edge to guide the arc, not fight it. He called it 'letting the brick find its place.' It was a tiny shift, maybe a quarter inch difference in how I set the mortar. But that one minute changed how I see every non straight line now. It's not about forcing it, it's about setting it up right from the start. Anyone else have a simple trick that flipped a whole skill for them?

Bought a $400 laser level for a big commercial job and it paid for itself in two days.

We were laying out a 200-foot foundation wall and the old string line method would have taken forever. The laser let two of us get everything plumb and level in half the time, saving on labor costs. Do you think a tool that expensive is worth it for smaller residential jobs, or is it overkill?

My apprentice swears by the new polymer-modified mortar for everything, but I'm not sold

Had a small patio job in Tacoma last week where he insisted we use it for the entire bed, but I think it sets up too fast for proper adjustment on a big layout. Anyone else find it tricky to work with on larger, more complex patterns?

Showerthought: I used to mix my mortar in a wheelbarrow with a shovel for every job.

After a big patio job in Tempe last summer where my back was killing me by day three, I finally bought a small electric mixer for about $400. Now I can't imagine going back to doing it by hand, but I'm curious if anyone else made that switch and what brand they went with.

My uncle told me to always lay a dry course first on a big patio job, and after 20 years I finally get it.

I ignored him on a 500 square foot job in Phoenix last summer and ended up with a 3/4 inch slope error that took a whole day to tear out and fix, so has anyone else got an old tip that took you way too long to appreciate?

Just read about the weight of a single brick in the old city walls of York

I was looking up some history on old brickwork for a project and found a fact that really surprised me. The bricks used in the medieval city walls of York, England, weigh about 9 pounds each on average. I found this in a book about historic building materials from my local library. That's way heavier than the standard bricks we use now, which are usually around 4.5 pounds. It makes you think about the sheer effort it took to build those walls back then, moving and placing all that weight by hand. I can't imagine laying a full day's worth of those without some serious muscle. It gives you a new respect for the guys who did that kind of work centuries ago. Has anyone else ever worked with or seen bricks that were way outside the normal weight range?

Saw a brick arch in Savannah that made me question my corner work.

Was down in Savannah last week for a family thing. Walked past this old church off Bull Street. The brickwork on the arch over the main door stopped me cold. The soldier course at the top was perfect. Each brick cut so tight you couldn't fit a dime in the joint. Made me think about the corners I did on that garage job two months ago. I rushed them a bit near the end of the day. Seeing that old craftsmanship was a real kick in the pants. How do you guys keep your focus sharp on the finish work when you're hours into a job?

Heads up on that new 'fast set' mortar mix

Had a big garden wall job in Springfield last month and the supplier was out of my usual Type N. They pushed this new 'fast set' blend, said it would cut my time in half. I had to choose between waiting a week for my normal stuff or trying it. Went with the fast set to keep the job moving. Big mistake, it started going off in the mixer after like 20 minutes in the sun, wasted two full bags. Had to stop and scrub everything. Anyone else run into this with the quick mixes in hot weather?

Remember when we all used to mix mortar by hand?

I was stubborn about it for way too long. About five years ago on a big garden wall job, I figured I could save cash by not renting a mixer. I spent three full days just mixing, and my back was shot. I probably lost two full days of actual bricklaying time, which at my rate then was close to $800 in lost wages. The wall got done, but it took twice as long and hurt way more than it should have. Now I won't even start a job bigger than a small patio without a mixer on site. Anyone else have an old habit they finally gave up that saved them time or pain?

Finally got the arch on that old fireplace to look right after three tries

It was a repair job on a 1920s house in Tacoma, and the homeowner wanted the brick arch over the fireplace rebuilt exactly like the original. My first two attempts had a slight dip on the left side, but on the third try, using a plywood template I cut myself, the curve finally matched perfectly. Anyone else have a trick for getting those tricky arches to line up without a ton of trial and error?

Just had a week where every single mix was wrong

We were on a big job in Tacoma and the new guy kept adding too much water to the mortar, making it slump out of every joint. The foreman finally said, 'If I wanted soup, I'd go to a diner.' What's the fastest way you fix a batch that's too wet without wasting it?