Talking to a commercial guy made me rethink my whole approach

I was on a job last Thursday at a house in Fresno and met this old timer who does nothing but commercial brickwork. He pointed at my running bond and said I was wasting time staggering every single row like that for a residential wall. Said in commercial they just stack bond and use wire ties for support, which blew my mind. I mean, my work is solid but this guy did like 300 bricks in the time I did 100. Has anyone else switched up their pattern after talking to a commercial bricklayer?

3 comments

3 Comments

ruby_jones18d ago

That wire tie trick works fine until wind hits it or the ground shifts. My cousin's retaining wall in Bakersfield went crooked in 18 months with stack bond and wire ties.

finley_gonzalez4919d ago

You ever try stacking bond on a residential job? I gave it a shot after watching a commercial crew work a wall in about two hours. The wire ties really do hold everything together tight, and it saved me a ton of time on simple stretches. Just make sure your mortar mix is strong enough, especially if the wall is load bearing or gets a lot of wind. It felt wrong at first, but now I use it for any straight run that doesn't need fancy patterns.

rowan_thomas8418d agoProlific Poster

My uncle taught me the same trick with wire ties on his garage years ago. It's like how I've started meal prepping Sundays - once you accept that shortcuts are just smarter work, not cheating, everything gets easier. Funny how that pattern shows up everywhere, from bricklaying to budgeting.