revtothelimit - motorbike forum

Decided to brick up a window in my garage , so on to Youtube and watched various videos
of ' How to lay bricks' . It looked so easy watching these guys manoeuvre the trowel and place
the mortar perfectly along the brick line. I do model engineering , surely i can lay a few bricks.
So 60 bricks , sand , cement and off i go .
I would show you the pictures but i am too embarrassed, it took me hours , mess everywhere and
it looks terrible.
I new brick laying was a skill so not really shocked but i have much more admiration for the people
who do this for a living

Same with plastering,a good man makes it look easy.

kendo57 wrote: Tue May 20, 2025 10:11 am Decided to brick up a window in my garage , so on to Youtube and watched various videos
of ' How to lay bricks' . It looked so easy watching these guys manoeuvre the trowel and place
the mortar perfectly along the brick line. I do model engineering , surely i can lay a few bricks.
So 60 bricks , sand , cement and off i go .
I would show you the pictures but i am too embarrassed, it took me hours , mess everywhere and
it looks terrible.
I new brick laying was a skill so not really shocked but i have much more admiration for the people
who do this for a living

I built a garden wall 40+ years ago. It is still standing. I have also infilled a hole in a wall. It did not look pretty. Building from scratch is MUCH easier.

I did a reasonable amount of bricklaying in my back garden n Sheffield, initially bricking up a couple of doorways in outside toilets. The bricks and mortar held together but the end result looked bloody awful. Then I moved onto stabilising and raising a garden wall as part of building a raised bed. This didn't look quite so awful and could most charitably be described as 'characterful'. Then I set about replacing the boundary wall with a brick wall, also incorporating a raised bed. I'd say that this could genuinely be described as 'OK'. Certainly not to the standard of a brickie, but not offensive.

So if you practice and practice you might reach an OK standard...

Built a brick BBQ about 20 years ago, when the brick laying gene was being handed out I was obviously nicking a few more MTB riding genes. The best I can say is it is still standing.

Got to be fairly decent at it when I was 14-20 helping step dad flip houses. Did a bit last year & while it doesn't look like a complete idiot did it, I can see I lost some of the skill over the past 40+ years

For some unknown reason I could plaster the first time I tried to, and then couldn't, the biggest thing is knowing when you've got it as good as you're going to and then leaving it alone.
Never tried laying bricks, I think I could do it, but I'd be very slow.

Le_Fromage_Grande wrote: Tue May 20, 2025 9:50 pm
Never tried laying bricks, I think I could do it, but I'd be very slow.

That's the biggest difference between a pro and an amateur. I'd lay half a dozen bricks in an hour or so, a tradesman would probably lay 50 or more. And they'd look perfect.

mangocrazy wrote: Tue May 20, 2025 10:04 pm

Le_Fromage_Grande wrote: Tue May 20, 2025 9:50 pm
Never tried laying bricks, I think I could do it, but I'd be very slow.

That's the biggest difference between a pro and an amateur. I'd lay half a dozen bricks in an hour or so, a tradesman would probably lay 50 or more. And they'd look perfect.

That’s only on the days they turn up

I was chatting to a bricklayer with over 30 years experience recently. He talked about the lads he has worked with who are fresh out of college with qualifications and said half the time they wait until they have finished for the day, tear it down and do it again properly.

I have more admiration for people with a trade skill than I do for anyone in an expensive suit.

Trinity765 wrote: Wed May 21, 2025 5:23 am
I have more admiration for people with a trade skill than I do for anyone in an expensive suit.

At a previous home we employed the service of a couple of older chaps to do some plastering. One mixing, the other troweling. The plasterer chap had a right arm like Popeye and the other, err, like mine.

It was worth paying to watch them, particularly when the ceiling was being done. On the final stage he got a real shine on the surface because of the pressure he got from that arm .

The mixer had a constant supply of just the right amount and right consistency material AND didn't cover the place in plaster dust.

They completed a huge amount in under a day. (I'd done the prep).

Money well spent.

Trinity765 wrote: Wed May 21, 2025 5:23 am He talked about the lads he has worked with who are fresh out of college with qualifications and said half the time they wait until they have finished for the day, tear it down and do it again properly.

I'm sure said bricklayer was just born knowing how to do it of course and didn't need to learn+practice Why don't they tell the young people how to do it properly rather than waiting for them to finish doing it wrong?

Turns out right, that people who've been trained to do something and have done it many times are much better at it than people who haven't.

When some guys built a small retaining wall in my garden I was actually way more impressed with how quick they dug and laid the footings. It'd have taken me a week with 3 slipped discs and a twisted ankle, they did it in a morning

Learning how to lay bricks obviously also makes you forget how to answer the phone. Weird that.

Mr. Dazzle wrote: Wed May 21, 2025 9:30 am

Trinity765 wrote: Wed May 21, 2025 5:23 am He talked about the lads he has worked with who are fresh out of college with qualifications and said half the time they wait until they have finished for the day, tear it down and do it again properly.

I'm sure said bricklayer was just born knowing how to do it of course and didn't need to learn+practice Why don't they tell the young people how to do it properly rather than waiting for them to finish doing it wrong?

The problem was that they couldn't be told as they had qualifications.

Ah that old chestnut.

It's mostly old git bollox IME, having worked with plenty of apprentices.

Mr. Dazzle wrote: Wed May 21, 2025 9:50 am Ah that old chestnut.

It's mostly old git bollox IME, having worked with plenty of apprentices.

Bricklaying apprentices?

A bricklaying ones particularly dim or something? More chance of getting hit on the head I guess

mangocrazy wrote: Tue May 20, 2025 10:04 pm That's the biggest difference between a pro and an amateur. I'd lay half a dozen bricks in an hour or so, a tradesman would probably lay 50 or more. And they'd look perfect.

The world record is 1496 in one hour. 500+ is common in competitions.

Trinity765 wrote: Wed May 21, 2025 9:42 am The problem was that they couldn't be told as they had qualifications.

It's the same is most trades. It's why newly minted A&P's are supervised for about three years after they get their ticket from the FAA.

There's also the "I've been doing it this way for 30 years" blokes who can't comprehend they've been doing it wrong for 30 years. Just came across this with some miserable old duffer who claims to have been detailing cars for 35 years.. by hosing everything down with WD40 because "it doesn't have any of that silicone crap in it". He seemed to be completely unaware of any advances or improvements since he left school. Even swore by Dawn dish soap which is full of salt & removes any trace of wax from the bodywork.

ZRX61 wrote: Wed May 21, 2025 4:18 pm It's the same is most trades. It's why newly minted A&P's are supervised for about three years after they get their ticket from the FAA.

It's the same in any job, which is why more experienced people get given more difficult jobs and get paid more

I've supervised loads of young people trainees, I don't think I've ever come across this fabled "can't teach me anything" attitude so many people love to complain about. IMO it's mostly a reflection on the experienced person's poor attitude.

Mr. Dazzle wrote: Wed May 21, 2025 4:32 pm

ZRX61 wrote: Wed May 21, 2025 4:18 pm It's the same is most trades. It's why newly minted A&P's are supervised for about three years after they get their ticket from the FAA.

It's the same in any job, which is why more experienced people get given more difficult jobs and get paid more

I've supervised loads of young people trainees, I don't think I've ever come across this fabled "can't teach me anything" attitude so many people love to complain about. IMO it's mostly a reflection on the experienced person's poor attitude.

I’m guessing the young people in your industry may be different to the young people on a building site……it’s 50/50 from my experience and it stems from people being pushed towards trades as a last resort