Just found out my trowel was the wrong size for the last 15 years

I was at a supply house up near Albany last Thursday just grabbing some lime and I got to talking with this old timer who was loading up his truck. He took one look at my trowel hanging out of my bag and asked me how long I had been using a 10 incher for face work. I told him since I started and he just laughed and said no wonder my joints looked a little sloppy when I had to stretch out. He explained that for standard modular brick you really want an 11 inch trowel so you can butter enough mud in one smooth swipe without dipping twice. I always thought a bigger trowel just meant more wrist strain but he showed me his setup and it made sense. I picked up an 11 inch Marshalltown on the spot and I swear my first row this morning went down cleaner than any wall I have built in years. Has anyone else been using the wrong tool for years without realizing it?

3 comments

3 Comments

henry_anderson5414d ago

I always thought a bigger trowel just meant more wrist strain" - yeah I thought the same thing for way too long. I used a 10 inch for about 8 years before a foreman on a hospital job set me straight. He basically told me I was working twice as hard as I needed to. The trick is the 11 inch lets you load up enough mud for one smooth pass across three bricks instead of stopping to dip again. Your wrist actually gets less tired because you arent jerking the trowel back and forth as much. Plus that extra inch gives you more control on the corner work, you can feather the mud out better. I also learned that a 12 inch is too big for most guys, it throws off your balance after a few hours. So yeah you were probably building in extra fatigue without even knowing it.

webb.hannah14d ago

Gotta agree with everything you said here. The 11 inch is the sweet spot for sure. I watched a guy on my last job struggle with a 12 for months and his hands were wrecked by lunchtime every day. Made me appreciate that extra inch really does make all the difference in how smooth your passes feel. Corner work is where it really shines too, like you said. Some things you just gotta learn the hard way I guess.

emma_lee2214d ago

Henry from the hospital job had the same wake-up call I did, and that 8 year run with a 10 incher must have been brutal on his wrist. The three brick pass is exactly the game changer, you stop fighting the trowel and start working with it. Once you feel that smooth delivery on a long wall there's no going back to the old way.

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