Brick line vs. story pole on a curved wall - not even close

I see guys swearing by story poles for curved work but a brick line with a jig cut the time in half on a circular patio last spring. You get constant gauge without stopping to measure every third course. Anyone else ditch the pole for tight radius jobs?

2 comments

2 Comments

jennifer_west11d ago

Story pole on curved work is just asking for trouble. You're constantly resetting it and second guessing your plumb. Brick line with a tight jig gives you a solid reference that follows the curve without fighting you. Plus you can keep your gauge consistent across the whole radius without stopping every few feet. Saves a ton of time and way less headache. Once you go line and jig on a curve, you never go back.

ivan_hayes2911d ago

Respectfully I gotta disagree with you on this one. I've been running story poles on curves for years and they work fine if you set them right. The trick is you don't keep moving the pole - you set multiple reference points along the curve and check each one as you go. That way you're not resetting anything and you catch any drift early before it becomes a problem. Line and jig sounds good in theory but on a tight radius that line wants to pull straight and your joints can open up on you. With a pole you're working off fixed verticals that actually follow the shape. Yeah it takes a little more setup upfront but less fixing mistakes later in my experience.