Six months in and I finally stopped overthinking my corners

Kept getting gaps on the perp joints until an old mason told me to butter both ends of the brick instead of just one side, and now my lines come out tight every time - anyone else learn one simple fix that took way too long to find?

2 comments

2 Comments

caseyw1216d ago

Wait, isn't buttering both ends just asking for a bigger mess and more squeeze out? I tried that for like two weeks and ended up spending extra time cleaning the faces because the mortar oozed everywhere. Honestly, I think the whole trick is way simpler than people make it. You just need to load the one end heavy and push the brick in at an angle so it squishes the mortar into the perp joint naturally. That old school method of buttering both sides works fine if you're using real stiff mud, but if your mix is even a little wet you're gonna hate your life cleaning it up later.

ellis.charles16d ago

Yeah you're right about the wet mix thing for sure. That "real stiff mud" part is key, a lot of guys don't realize how dry it should be for buttering both ends - if it's too loose you're basically just smearing soup everywhere. I came to the same conclusion though, I just butter one face heavy and let the angle do the work, way less cleanup and you don't have to fight the brick as much.

-1