Got called out for my sloppy pointing on a chimney job in Denver

The foreman said my joints looked 'like a kid with a frosting bag' and made me redo the whole south face. I started using a hawk and trowel to pack the mortar in tighter instead of just slapping it on. Anyone got a better trick for keeping your lines sharp on a tall stack?

3 comments

3 Comments

wesley1816d agoMost Upvoted

Remember seeing a guy use a bent piece of sheet metal as a guide on a long vertical joint. Looked janky but his lines were straight as a ruler.

jamesf416d agoMost Upvoted

That's actually a pretty common trick for long runs. It's not janky if it works.

the_tessa6d ago

Yeah, the hawk and trowel move is solid for control. I got chewed out for the same thing on a church steeple years back. What saved my bacon was using a longer pointing trowel than I normally would, and I kept a bucket of water and a big brush with me. After I tooled the joint, I'd hit it with a quick, light brush to clean off any crumbs before they could set. Made a huge difference in keeping that sharp look all the way down.