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Spent a lunch break picking an old mason's brain about buttering joints
I ran into Frank (60 years in the trade) at the supply yard last Wednesday. He said I was wasting time buttering every brick head joint before laying it. Told me to just butter the back of the lead brick and let the mortar squeeze do the work. I tried it on a 40-foot garden wall job in Austin this week and saved about 20 minutes per course. Felt wrong at first but the joints came out cleaner somehow. Anyone else pick up weird habits from old timers that actually worked?
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alice_barnes352d ago
Whoa hold up! I gotta say I think that old timer is giving you bad advice. Buttering every head joint is not a waste of time, it's about control. If you just let the mortar squeeze do the work you're gambling on how much fills up each joint. Some will be too thin, some too fat, and you'll be chasing your tail trying to fix it later. I've seen guys try that shortcut and end up with walls that look like crap from ten feet away because the joints don't match. Plus in Texas heat that mortar dries fast and you'll be fighting to get it right. Why would you trust a random 60-year-old's trick over what everyone knows works?
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