c/bricklayers

Can we talk about mortar going bad in the mixer overnight?

Left a batch of Type N in the mixer after a long Friday last month. Figured I'd wet it down and it would be fine come Saturday morning. Came back to a solid block of concrete that took me an hour with a chisel and hammer to break apart. Never making that mistake again. Anyone else learned this one the hard way?

Heard a guy at the supply house say he only lays firebrick on weekends now

He was arguing that you get a cleaner line when you're not rushed but I feel like breaking up the week just messes with your rhythm. What's your take on doing specialty brick work in chunks versus all at once?

Looked up how much brick we actually lay in a day now versus 40 years ago

Was reading an old Bricklayers Union newsletter from 1984 my buddy found and they were averaging around 500-600 bricks a day back then. These days with better mortar and mixers we're pushing 800-900 easy but my back sure feels the difference. Any of you guys track your daily count or just go by feel?

That old lime mortar mix I tried on a 1920s house in Richmond just crumbled apart

Tried going traditional on a repoint job last month. Mixed it up myself based on some old timer's notes I found online. Looked good going in, but after two freeze thaw cycles it's basically dust. Found out the sand I used was too fine, didn't have enough aggregate to hold it together. Had to chip it all out and redo with a type N blend. Anyone else run into trouble trying to match old mortar specs for historic work?

Why does nobody talk about foundation settlement around brick veneer

I've been laying brick for about 8 years now and I keep seeing the same mistake on jobs. Guys will tie the brick veneer directly to the foundation wall without any real expansion joints. Then 2 or 3 years later the veneer starts cracking at the corners because the foundation settles different than the brick. I just finished a repair job in Raleigh where a house built in 2021 had cracks big enough to stick a quarter in. The original crew used rigid ties every 16 inches and no soft joints near the grade beam. Anybody else run into this or do I just work in a weird area with bad soil?

Had a talk with a young apprentice that made me rethink my pointing technique

I was showing a 19 year old kid how to finish a chimney in St. Louis last Thursday. He asked why I was using the same mortar mix for all the joints. I told him that's just how I'd always done it. He pulled out his phone and showed me a video from this German mason who uses different mixes for vertical and horizontal joints depending on the weather. I tried his approach on the south facing wall and the joints aren't cracking near as much. Has anyone else changed their ratios based on which side of the building you're working on?

That old timer said to wet my bricks before laying and I called him crazy

Old foreman at the job site in Phoenix told me my mortar mix was too wet for the summer heat

After I spent 10 minutes re-laying a whole course of brick that slid right out of place on a 108 degree day, he walked over and showed me his drier mix that held solid, and now I don't trust my own gauging until the temp hits triple digits - anyone else have a blend that only works in certain weather?

That moment I realized I'd been laying bricks with the wrong face all along

Last week on a job in Portland, an old guy walks up to my wall and just stares at it for like 30 seconds. Then he says 'son, you're putting the smooth face out on every single brick.' I'd been doing this for about 3 years at that point, always figured the smooth side was the finished side because it looked cleaner. He told me half the bricks have a rougher face meant to catch mortar better and give texture. Now I'm wondering how many of my past walls look off and nobody said anything. Am I the only one who made this mistake? Do you guys go by feel or by look for which face to show?

Took me 6 hours to figure out why my brick was spalling on a simple garden wall job

I was working on a small retaining wall for a lady's backyard in Austin last week. Nothing fancy, just a single wythe wall about 3 feet high. But after the first row was laid, I noticed the bricks looked like they were starting to chip and flake on the surface. I spent the next 6 hours tearing out what I had done, checking my mortar mix ratios, looking up online if maybe the local supplier gave me soft bricks by mistake. Turns out, I was using a cheap brick that wasn't rated for ground contact. The supplier had switched brands on me without saying anything. The lady just wanted a cheap wall and I didn't double check the materials before I started. Has anyone else had a supplier slip in lower grade brick on a hurry-up job?

Pro tip: switched from a trowel to a margin trowel for buttering bricks and it changed my speed

Boys at the supply yard told me my mortar was too wet. Six months later I finally get it.

I been laying brick for about four years now. Always mixed my mortar on the wet side because it was easier to spread. Old timers at the yard kept saying dry it up, you're making weak joints. Last spring a wall I did in March started cracking near the top. Nothing huge but enough to bug me. I went back to a job I did two years ago when I first started mixing it stiffer. That wall still looks perfect. Took me six months and a cracked wall to see the difference. Anyone else learn the hard way that wet mortar is just asking for trouble later on?

Unpopular opinion: I think we rely too much on the frogging technique in modern brickwork

I was reading an old masonry manual from 1978 and found a stat that said traditional hammer-and-chisel cutting was 40% faster than frogging for certain hard bricks, which kind of blew my mind. Do you guys think we've lost something by switching almost entirely to mechanical frogging, or is it just progress plain and simple?

I think that old timer was wrong about using lime in the mortar

Way back when I first started out in Portland, this 50 year veteran named Hank told me I absolutely had to add lime to my mortar mix for any brick wall over 6 feet. Said it would stop cracking and make the wall last forever. I did it on a big retaining wall job and three months later the mortar was crumbling out in chunks. Turned out the lime was reacting with something in the local soil and breaking down the bond. I had to rip the whole thing down and redo it without lime. That cost me about $2,000 in materials and two weekends of work. Has anyone else had bad luck following old school advice like that?

TIL the hard way why you don't stack wet bricks on a slope

I was working a retaining wall job out in Bakersfield last summer and it had rained the night before. Stacked about 8 courses of wet block on a slight grade and the whole thing slid sideways like a domino chain. Had to tear it all down and start fresh with dry bricks and a level base. Any of you guys had a wall fail from moisture?

I thought those laser levels were just a gimmick for a while

For years, I just used my string line and level, thinking the laser was extra stuff you didn't need. Then I had to do a long, straight garden wall last spring, about 80 feet. My buddy lent me his DeWalt laser level to set the line. Laying out that whole run took maybe 10 minutes instead of half an hour of fussing. The line was dead straight the whole way, no sag. I'm not saying you need one for every little job, but for long runs, it's a real time saver. Has anyone else found a specific job where a laser level just made things click?

Shoutout to the old timer who told me to wet my bricks in the morning sun

I was laying a garden wall in this crazy Texas heat and the mortar was setting way too fast, so I dunked my bricks in a bucket for a few minutes before starting. The whole thing went up smoother and the joints look way cleaner than my usual rush job. Anyone else have a simple trick that saved your butt on a hot day?

I bought a cheap brick saw blade and it cost me a whole afternoon

I was working on a garden wall project in Springfield and grabbed a $15 diamond blade from a discount tool store, thinking I'd save a few bucks. Big mistake. It cut maybe ten bricks before it started to slow way down and get super hot. By brick twenty, it was basically just grinding and smoking, and I had to stop completely. I ended up having to drive back into town, buy a proper $60 blade from the supply house, and then recut everything I'd already messed up. All told, I lost about four hours of work and the fifteen bucks I wasted on the junk blade. That cheap price tag really isn't worth the headache. Has anyone found a good mid-range blade brand that holds up for smaller jobs?

Warning: that 'perfectly level' foundation on the old church job in Springfield was anything but.

We were laying the first course for a new brick facade, and my line kept dipping in the same spot. The concrete guys swore they poured it level, but my 4-foot level showed a half-inch drop over 8 feet. I had to stop the whole crew, mix a thick bed of mortar to build it up, and check every brick with a story pole for the next three courses. Anyone else had to fix a foundation issue that someone else signed off on?

Am I the only one who thinks the new 'fast set' mortar is more trouble than it's worth on a chimney rebuild?

I used it on a job in Springfield last Tuesday and the stuff went off in the bucket before I could even finish the second course, so now I'm debating if the speed is worth the waste versus just mixing smaller batches of the standard stuff.

Spent half a day trying to get a single brick to sit right on a garden wall

It was this one stubborn brick on a curved section in a backyard in Tempe... I must have pulled it out and re-set it eight times. The homeowner came out with lemonade after three hours and just watched me, which made it worse. I finally realized the brick itself had a slight bow I hadn't noticed. Anyone else ever get tricked by a single wonky brick like that?

Remembering that week we laid 12,000 bricks for a church in Tulsa

It was 2008, and the crew was just me, my cousin, and an old guy named Frank who taught us everything. We mixed mortar by hand for the first two days because the machine broke, and Frank just kept saying 'builds character' every time we groaned. The weather was perfect, cool mornings and no rain, and by Friday we stood back and it just looked right, every line straight as an arrow. Anyone else have a job from years back that just felt smooth start to finish?

I was laying a herringbone walkway in Portland and my apprentice asked why we always start from the center line.

I explained the old way, but then he just laid a full brick at the corner as a guide and we worked outward, which saved us an hour of string line setup and made the cuts way simpler at the edges.

Bought a cheap mortar mixer from a yard sale and it cost me a whole day's work

Saw a used mixer for $80 last month, thought I got a great deal. The motor gave out after mixing just two batches for a small patio job. Had to stop everything, drive an hour to rent a proper one, and lost about $300 in labor time because of the delay. The guy who sold it to me was long gone, of course. I should have just rented one from the start or bought new. Anyone know a good brand for a small mixer that can actually handle a full day?

Appreciation post: The week I finally gave up on that fancy new pointing tool

Last Tuesday, I was working on a chimney rebuild in Cedar Rapids and decided to try the ProPoint 5000 everyone raves about. By Thursday, I had gone back to my old trowel and hawk. The new tool felt slow, it kept clogging, and I swear it added an extra hour to the job. My apprentice said I was just being stubborn, but finishing that chimney with my regular gear felt right. Has anyone else tried a 'better' tool and found it just got in the way?