20
Switching from a dry line to a wet line on my trowel changed everything this year
I used to dip my trowel in water every few bricks to keep the mortar from sticking, but it slowed me way down on a big wall job in Austin last spring. Then an old timer showed me how to flick water directly into my mortar line instead, and I picked up about 30% more speed in a day. Has anyone else found a better way to keep mortar from grabbing that doesn't involve stopping every 10 minutes?
4 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In4 Comments
rowanhernandez7d agoMost Upvoted
bro that trick is a game changer fr. i was doing the same thing on a retaining wall job in my backyard last summer, dipping my trowel in a bucket every five seconds. one of the old guys on the crew next door saw me struggling and literally just flicked water at my line, blew my mind. ive been doing it ever since and it saves so much time, especially with this hot weather we been having.
4
sagecooper7d ago
Well @rowanhernandez, I'm still so slow I probably need the whole bucket dumped on my head to finish a wall!
5
@rowanhernandez nailed it with the flicking method. That's the one trick I've stuck with for years now. What nobody seems to talk about is how much the mix itself matters. @sagecooper I'd check your mortar's water content too. A drier mix grabs a lot less than one that's been slopped together. I tweaked my sand to cement ratio once and it helped more than any tool change did.
4