An old mason in St. Louis told me to always lay my first brick dry

I was setting up for a small patio job a couple summers ago, and this retired guy from down the street came over to watch. He pointed at my pile and said, 'Son, you'll save yourself a headache if you dry-lay that first course. The ground never tells the truth.' I did it, and sure enough, my planned layout was off by almost two inches. Has anyone else had a simple tip from a stranger save a project like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

hollyl2521d ago

The ground never tells the truth" is such a shady thing to say about dirt.

rose_reed21d ago

Oh man, that is such solid advice. I had a similar thing happen when I was building a planter box. A neighbor saw me measuring and told me to cut all my boards first, then stain and seal the ends before I even thought about assembling it. I almost didn't listen, but I did it. It kept the wood from soaking up water and warping later. That little step made the whole thing last years longer. Sometimes you just gotta take the free wisdom when it's offered.

hannah40021d ago

My dad taught me that trick with deck boards, and it saved me so much headache later on.