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My wife's dad told me I was too slow on a simple garden wall job
We were at a barbecue last weekend and he asked about my recent work. I mentioned a small garden wall I built for a neighbor, taking two full days. He just shook his head and said, 'A real bricklayer would have had that done before lunch.' It hit different coming from a retired guy who laid brick for 40 years. Now I'm thinking maybe I focus too much on perfect lines and not enough on speed. Do you think quality always has to suffer to get faster, or is there a middle ground?
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ericw935mo ago
Wait, two days for a whole wall?
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jake_patel5mo ago
Honestly, @ericw93, my first brick wall took a full weekend. The trick was getting the mortar mix just wet enough so it didn't set up too fast. I laid out all my bricks first and just focused on keeping my lines straight, which saved a ton of time fixing mistakes later.
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kimw574mo ago
Oh man, I totally feel you on this. My father-in-law is a retired carpenter and he once watched me build a simple birdhouse and told me I'd starve if I had to do it for a living. I spent an hour just sanding the edges smooth and he was like, "Birds don't care about smooth edges, they just want a hole to live in." It stings because you know they're coming from a place of experience. For my first real landscaping project I laid out every single stone on the ground before even touching the mortar, just lining them up perfect. Took me three days to finish what should have been a one day job but the homeowner still talks about how straight it looks. I think there's a middle ground where you get faster by just doing it more, not by rushing.
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