My uncle in Philly said my brick spacing was too tight on a restoring job

He's been laying brick since 1978 and I've always done it my way, you know? Last month he came by to check the old row house we were patching up. He just stood there for a minute, pointed at my work, and said 'you're trying to match the original joints but you're squeezing them too close.' I was real careful with the ruler and everything. But he showed me that the old brick had settled and shifted over 90 years, so the joints were naturally wider in spots. I went back and used a wider trowel angle for the next section, and honestly it blended way better with the existing wall. I still think my spacing is fine for new builds, but for repair work I get what he meant. Anyone else have a family member call them out on something like this, and it actually stuck with you?

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karenwest1d ago

Oh man, this hits home! My dad does the same thing with drywall mud, he'll eyeball it for two seconds and tell me I'm sanding too smooth while I'm standing there with a level and everything. But yeah, he was right about matching old textures, the settling and layers just change everything after a few decades. I still do it my way on fresh work, but when it's a repair or a redo, I always ask him to look first now.