Swapped from a 10-inch trowel to a 12-inch one about 6 months back

Used to always run a 10-inch Marshalltown for face brick, figured it was fine. Got a 12-inch after a job at a school in Portland, now I lay about 30 more bricks a day without any extra effort. Anyone else find a bigger trowel slows them down or speeds them up?

2 comments

2 Comments

parker_bailey7d agoTop Commenter

Don't think it's just you, I know a few guys who swear by the 11-inch for the same reason. That extra inch really does let you pick up more mud without having to reach back for another dab, speeds up the whole rhythm. But I've seen some fellas switch back because the 12-inch wore their wrist out faster on really long runs.

-1

clairepark7d ago

@parker_bailey has a good point about the wrist thing. My buddy Tom switched back to the 11-inch after a long weekend job because his forearm felt like it was going to fall off by noon. You'd think that extra inch would be a no-brainer for mud pickup, but it's like driving a big truck through a tight alley - more reach isn't always better if you're fighting the tool all day. Some folks just like the feeling of a bigger handle even if it slows them down later.