My uncle's 'one brick at a time' advice wrecked my crew's pace

Uncle Ron, who laid brick in Detroit for 30 years, swore I should stop using a laser level and trust the line every single course. I tried it on a 40-foot retaining wall last Tuesday, and by course six the whole thing looked like a roller coaster. Took me two hours with a chipping hammer to fix my own sloppy work. Has anyone else had a relative give them advice that sounded good but just slowed everything down?

2 comments

2 Comments

phoenix2924d ago

The line's been the standard for longer than lasers have existed, and Uncle Ron laid brick for three decades without a single bubble in his life. You pulled that wall on a Tuesday, which means the mortar was probably setting up hot in the sun, and the line sags when you're working a 40-foot span unless you've got it snapped tight every course. A laser gives you a false sense of security, so you stop checking your own level, and that's how you end up with a wall that's straight but plumb as a drunk. Your two hours of chipping was you learning the hard way that your crew's pace was already broken, not the advice. Maybe rent the laser out on weekends, but trust the line when the stakes are low, and save the fancy gear for when you're actually being paid by the hour.

the_lucas23d ago

Trust the line when the stakes are low" is exactly the kind of thinking that gets people stuck in 1985. Low stakes are when you should be practicing with the laser, not saving it for the fancy jobs. I tried that Tuesday wall approach too, snapped my line tight every course, still ended up with a slight bow in the middle because the wind picked up and I didn't notice until the next morning. My uncle said the same thing about his bubble level, but he also wore the same boots for a decade and complained about his knees. The laser doesn't replace your level, it just shows you where you actually are instead of where you think you are. You chipped for two hours because you trusted a sagging string over a tool that measures straight, and that's not about pace, that's about pride.