Got schooled on a chimney rebuild in Boulder last month

I was repointing a 100-year-old chimney and using my usual 3/4 inch tuckpointing trowel. This old timer, who was just walking his dog, stopped and asked if I was planning to redo it next year. He showed me how the original mortar joints were a full inch wide, and my smaller trowel wasn't packing the mortar deep enough to last. I switched to a 1-inch trowel and the difference in how solid it feels is huge. Has anyone else had a simple tool change make that big a difference on old brickwork?

3 comments

3 Comments

ericnguyen1mo ago

But is a quarter inch really gonna make or break a chimney? Seems like the old mortar mix quality matters way more than trowel size.

cameron4161mo ago

Ever notice how many problems come from using the wrong size tool for the job? Like using a tiny screwdriver on a big screw, it just strips it. Or trying to spread cold butter with a thin knife, it tears the bread. That old guy knew the right tool wasn't about being fancy, it was about matching the scale of the original work. We default to what we have, not what the task actually needs.

evab5217d ago

That old timer saving you? Yeah that hit home for me. I did a fireplace mantle once and kept fighting with a tiny brush for the stain. Guy next to me handed me a wider one and it was like night and day. The coverage was even and it cut my time in half. You're right about matching the scale of the original work. Sometimes we get stuck on what's easy to grab instead of what makes sense. That quarter inch probably makes the mortar bite into the joints right instead of just sitting on top.