Old timer told me to soak my bricks overnight before laying them

Figured he was just stuck in his ways but tried it on a patio job in Tucson last summer and had zero cracking in 95 degree heat. Anyone else do this or is it just for desert climates?

3 comments

3 Comments

quinncarr3d ago

Breaks my heart seeing folks ignore old school tricks that actually work.

miles_hall3d ago

and honestly I think a lot of people just don't even know what they're missing these days. I see folks posting about some new hack or trick and it's like they never heard of using a little patience or elbow grease. Old school methods stuck around for a reason, they were tested by people who couldn't just look up a video on their phone. But you gotta admit, some of those "tricks" were just the way things were done, not necessarily better. Like, I remember my grandpa swearing by putting a penny in a fuse box - that's not a trick, that's dangerous. What old school thing do you think is genuinely still worth using over the modern version?

miles_burns3d ago

Oh man, I actually just read something about this the other day. There was this article talking about how a lot of old school woodworking joints are way stronger than just using screws and glue all the time. Like dovetails and mortise and tenon joints - those things held furniture together for centuries without a drop of glue. I mean yeah, it takes way longer and you gotta be patient, but that stuff lasts generations. But at the same time, I've seen people swear by cast iron pans and honestly I get it. My buddy got one last year and he says eggs just slide right off now, no nonstick coating wearing off or anything. Idk, maybe it's just me but some of that old school stuff really does hold up when you give it a chance.