Finally admitted I was butterflying my brick ties wrong after 12 years

Saw this old mason from Kentucky do a demo at a supplier open house. He clipped his ties in like 3 seconds each and they were rock solid. I been bending them back and forth like a dummy. The way he showed it with the wire tension made it click for me. Took maybe 20 minutes watching him to realize I been wasting time and making weaker walls. Anyone else had that moment where you see a basic thing done right and feel dumb?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_felix16d ago

Nah, I gotta push back on this a little. I've been doing it the "slow" way for 15 years and never had a tie fail or a wall bow out. Bending them back and forth gives you a chance to really seat the wire into the mortar joint, not just clip it and hope. That demo guy probably had his own way that works for him, but there's more than one right method. I'd rather take an extra two seconds per tie than trust a quick clip on a windy day.

blair_torres7016d ago

Hear you loud and clear... time-tested methods just hit different.

jessica33116d ago

The extra two seconds is exactly the point. I've had to go back and redo too many "quick clip" jobs after a bad storm, so I'm team slow and steady now.