PSA: I was laying bricks with the wrong trowel angle for years

Honestly, I was on a job in Phoenix last summer and this old timer watched me for about five minutes. He just said, 'Kid, you're fighting the mud, not moving it.' He showed me how to hold my trowel at a flatter angle, almost parallel to the brick, when buttering the end. Ngl, it cut my effort in half and my joints are way tighter now. Anyone else have a simple trick that made a huge difference?

3 comments

3 Comments

thea2711mo ago

Classic. Only took years of backbreaking work for someone to point out the obvious.

bailey.sam1mo ago

Been there. I finally started showing my boss early drafts instead of only the finished product. It saved me a ton of wasted effort. Getting that quick check-in made all the difference. Now we're on the same page from the start. It's frustrating to learn that lesson the hard way.

the_nina12d ago

But how do you know when an idea is ready to show? I'd worry about looking unprepared if I bring something too rough to the table.