Tried a 10mm joint on a garden wall and the whole thing leaned like the Tower of Pisa

I was rushing a job in Springfield and didn't let the first course set properly before stacking the next. What's your go-to method for keeping a tall, single-brick wall straight?

2 comments

2 Comments

finleyfox1mo ago

You know what else pulls a wall out of line fast? A bad foundation. Patricianguyen is right about the string line, but I had a wall start to lean because the ground underneath one end was soft from an old downspout. Now I always tamp the heck out of the base and check it with a level before a single brick goes down. A string keeps the bricks straight, but it can't fix a base that's already sinking.

patricianguyen1mo ago

Yeah, rushing that first course is a classic mistake. I used to just eyeball it, but now I run a tight string line for every single course. It takes a minute to set up but saves so much headache later.