Tried laying a herringbone pattern on a retaining wall last week and it threw my whole rhythm off

I've been laying brick for about 15 years now and I thought I could handle a simple herringbone on a 4 foot tall retaining wall. Man was I wrong. The cuts alone took me twice as long as I figured and I ended up wasting almost 40 bricks cause my measurements were off. Learned that pattern work needs way more dry laying before you even mix mortar. Has anyone else jumped into a pattern they thought was easy but it kicked their butt?

2 comments

2 Comments

ellis.rose7d ago

Ugh, I feel your pain SO much. I tried a chevron pattern on a little garden wall last summer and it was a NIGHTMARE. I got halfway through and realized I'd cut all my return corners wrong and had to pull up like 2 full courses of brick. The dry lay tip is KEY, I actually lay my whole pattern out on a sheet of plywood now so I can see where each brick is going before I even touch the wall.

diana15510d ago

Yeah the dry lay is a must. I learned that the hard way on a patio once. Now I always lay out the whole pattern on the ground first, snap a bunch of photos, and mark my cuts before I touch any mortar. Saves a ton of brick.