Old head at a job in Cincinnati said my bed joints were too thick and I blew him off for a month
I was laying block on a retaining wall and running my bed joints about 3/4 inch because it felt faster to me and I could hide uneven block that way. He watched me for maybe 10 minutes and just said the mud was doing the work my level should be doing. I ignored it until the inspector flagged the wall for compression strength and made us tear out 40 feet of it in July heat. Now I keep my bed joints at 3/8 inch and my production actually went up because I stopped fighting the block every course. Anybody else get called out by someone older and take way too long to admit they were right?
Had a guy tell me my grout lines on a tile floor were too thin and I told him thin was the style now. Six months later half the tiles popped up because I didn't leave enough room for movement. Had to bust out a whole bathroom floor with a chipping hammer while the homeowner watched. That old guy saw me at the supply house and didn't even say a word, just gave me that look. Took me two more jobs before I started spacing things right.