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Overheard a foreman in Denver say 3/8 inch joints are for amateurs
He was talking to some kid on his crew, saying anything over 3/8 means you cant cut a brick straight and youre hiding bad work. Ive been running 1/2 inch on most of my jobs for years. Never had a complaint. Made me wonder if Im taking the easy way out or if hes just a perfectionist. Anyone run into a foreman like that?
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kai9143d agoRising Star
Ran into a foreman once who swore by 3/8 joints but then I watched him spend twenty minutes trying to get a tiny sliver of brick to fit because his cut was off. Guy wouldn't admit it though, just kept grinding the edge down until the joint looked like a mess anyway. Real funny part was his crew had to redo half the wall the next day because he was so focused on the joint size he forgot to check if the corners were plumb. Tighter joints are great if you can pull it off, but some people act like a little extra mortar is a crime when the real issue is they can't read a level.
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Have you tried running a test wall with 3/8 joints to see if your cuts actually hold up? I switched to tighter joints a few years back after a similar conversation and it forced me to clean up my cutting game for real.
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