Had the worst week of my bricklaying career last May

I was on a job over in Elmwood Park and everything went wrong at once. My mortar mix came out too dry, a whole section of wall bowed overnight because I didn't check level between each course, and I chipped my favorite trowel trying to fix it. Has anyone else had a string of bad luck like that where you just wanted to walk off site?

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lindareed4mo ago

Wait, did you say you chipped your trowel trying to fix the bowed wall? That's just bad luck on top of bad luck. But that mortar mix being too dry, that's something you can actually control a bit better next time. You know, sometimes it's not just the mix ratio, it's the temperature of the water or the sand. If your water is real cold, it can mess with how the lime sets up. I've had weeks where I triple check my level and still get a bow, but it's usually because the ground shifted under the footer, not from my work.

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betht324mo ago

@lindareed you're giving the mix too much blame here. A good mason can work with slightly cold water and still get a solid wall. The real issue is probably your technique not your materials. If you're chipping trowels that means you're forcing it instead of letting the mortar do its job.

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