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Are you a Bricklaying Apprentice or DIYer and wanting to improve your technique?
Want to improve your quality?
Want to lay bricks faster?
Try these 8 simple tips:
1) Setup your Brick Stacks and Mortar Boards in an Efficient Place
Don't try and make super long brick stacks. Try to pile them about 3ft (1m) long, and then place a mortar board in between each stack.
Keep a 3ft (1m) lane between your brick stacks and the wall you are building. This allows enough room for working comfortably but also means everything, ie bricks and mortar, are within a step or two. Time is saved not walking twice as far.
2) Position yourself for Brick Laying
It's amazing how many new apprentices try to lay their bricks as they stand facing the wall. Stand parallel with it, keeping your trowel hand on the outward side.
This allows you to sight your brick placement along the string line and also means you don't need to turn 180 degrees to pick up a new brick.
3) Furrow your Mortar Bed Correctly
Furrowing is running your trowel through your bed creating a cavity in the middle.
There are two common ways to do this. First keeping your trowel inline with the bricks, lifting it over the line and then pressing down into it.
The second is holding your trowel perpendicular to the bricks, coming underneath the string line and using the tip of the trowel to Furrow from the side.
I prefer the later. Not only is it the fastest way to do it, but it also makes it easier to keep your trowel off the string line.
4) Picking-up Bricks and Loading your Trowel
Make an effort to pick up the brick the way that it is layed in the wall. This saves you spinning it which costs time.
Now some bricklayers will tell you to load your trowel with the excess mortar cut off from the last brick layed. This tends to work well with wider bricks but not so with thinner ones, at best only leaving enough mortar for one edge of the brick (a speed joint).
Some times the Pick and Dip Method can work well, it involves pressing a brick into an unfarrowed bed, squeezing the mortar up into the perp joint. So no need to butter the brick. However you do create large snots on the backside of the wall, and can fill up the cavity with wasted mortar. Inspectors might hit you up regarding this.
Another good technique to learn is called the "no look grab". You pick up a brick with one hand and at the same time load your trowel from your mortar board. You use your peripheral vision to line up both. It is only slightly slower than using excess mortar from the last brick and means you will always have enough mud to butter with a full joint.
5) Buttering with a Full Joint
Many bricklayers use a speed joint or in other words they just butter one edge of the brick and place it in the wall. However buttering like this is more likely to leave holes when it's pointed and it also weakens the moisture barrier.
Learn to butter with a full joint. It's done in three swipes, the whole face then the two edges. If you find yourself with not enough mud from the last bricks excess try learning the technique in tip four.
6) Laying the Brick to the Line
As you position the brick into place use your palm and fingers and with even pressure rub the brick down to the line.
Try to avoid using your trowel or handle to tap the brick into position. This will just wear out your trowel faster but more importantly it's slower than using pressure from your hand.
7) Cutting off the Excess Mortar
As you are laying the brick down to the line, keep your trowel in the position to cut off excess mortar but just hold it there. This gives an edge for the bottom of the brick to be laid against.
When the brick is in position cut the excess mortar off. Doing this only once helps to avoid smearing on the face of the brick.
8) Keep the Proper Mind Set
When you watch a good bricklayer you'll notice that they don't look like they're moving super quick. It's not about trying to be fast, rather real speed comes from focusing on efficiency of movement and rhythm.
Try to get into a pattern of movement and then slowly refine those movements to build speed. Keep your mind focused on this and in time you will be laying bricks like a pro.
