TIL that old timer at the hardware store about buttering your bricks

I was grabbing some mortar mix at the yard in Dayton last Tuesday and this old guy, probably 70 plus, asked me how I butter my bricks. I said I just slap it on the frog mostly. He laughed and showed me how he does a full bed on each brick before laying it. Took me an extra 10 seconds per brick but man the joints came out way tighter on this little retaining wall I did for my cousin. Anyone else got any weird tricks from old timers that actually work?

2 comments

2 Comments

logan5618d ago

Did he show you how he handles the corners with that method? I'm curious if it works as well on the turns.

lily_torres318d ago

Exactly what @logan561 said about corners is what made me skeptical at first too. I used to think that method would just slow things down and not really help. But I tried it on a corner last weekend and it actually worked better than I expected, tighter fit all around. The extra ten seconds per brick really adds up but the finish is way cleaner than my old slap and go approach. Guy knew what he was talking about, I guess old timers earn their tricks through trial and error.