Old school pointing vs. using a mortar gun now

I learned bricklaying from my uncle back in the 80s and he swore by hand pointing with a slicker. Took forever but he said it was the only way to get a clean finish. Last year I finally tried a mortar gun on a retaining wall job in Akron and finished the pointing in half the time. The joints came out fine, but something feels off about it. Any of you old timers made the switch, or do you still do it by hand?

3 comments

3 Comments

lee6895d ago

morgan.jason mentioned his back giving him trouble and that's exactly what started pushing me to look into mortar guns. I read a trade magazine article a couple years back that said hand pointing can put up to 200 pounds of pressure on your lower spine over a full day's work. That got my attention. I bought a good quality gun for a big chimney job in Canton and honestly the joints looked just as good as anything I ever did by hand. The trick I found is you still got to tool the joints after the gun lays the mortar, so it's not like you're skipping the finish work. But it does save your body on the long hauls.

charles_coleman5d ago

I see what you're saying about saving your back, but I've been doing this trade for over 20 years and I've never had the same luck with a mortar gun. The joints I've seen come out of those things always end up looking a little off compared to hand work, no matter how much you tool them after. Plus I've watched guys spend half their day cleaning up the mess a gun makes with all the extra mortar that squeezes out. For me, taking my time and using a good pointing trowel gives me way more control and I don't feel like I'm sacrificing quality for speed. Your back pain is real though, I can't argue with that one bit, just different strokes for different folks.

morgan.jason5d ago

Stuck with the hand method for years until my back started giving me grief on long runs. Mortar gun saved my sanity on a big wall project out in Stow, got the job done quick and my joints held up fine over the winter.