Got called out by a 30 year mason for slapping mud on the block face, and it fixed my wall in a week

Ryan Carr · 2026-09-16T23:00:05.179581+00:00

I was laying a 20 foot garden wall in Sacramento last spring and a guy named Ray with 30 years in the trade stopped by and watched me for a minute. He said 'you're buttering the face, not the bed, that's why your joints keep squirting out.' I was embarrassed but he was right, I was loading mud like I was frosting a cake instead of building a proper bed. Switched to a tighter bed with the trowel angled back and my block started sitting true without me fighting every course. Anyone else get corrected early on and have it stick with them for good?

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Got called out by a 30 year mason for slapping mud on the block face, and it fixed my wall in a week | Bricklayers - HW Forums