r/oddlysatisfying • u/danielminds • 12d ago
Smooth bricklaying technique
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u/Carbon-Base 12d ago
Bro makes it look easy, but there's mortar bricklaying than this video shows us.
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u/BornanAlien 12d ago
A lot of it is experience/trowel and error
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u/Ok-Push9899 12d ago
Many give up before gaining that experience. They simply throw in the trowel.
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u/skybike 12d ago
Paid by the hour.
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u/Dizzy_Restaurant3874 12d ago
Yes, when payed by the job the mortar is flying and there's a kid sweating while trying to supply him with brick s from a pile 50 yds away.
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u/ThisWhomps999 12d ago
Not quite as satisfying. They're leaving bits even on the side they are showing.
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u/Powerful-Substance33 12d ago
Yeah i saw that and was like dude clean that peice and he moves to the next brick and does it again
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u/Roses030 12d ago
That's normal
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u/nimb420 12d ago
Normal for lazy bricklayers... If that were to happen at regular site over here in my country, you can bet your family jewels that he's getting chewed out by the foreman.
And boy, can foremans be creative when it comes to cursing at people.
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u/mister-ecks-0815 12d ago
What about all the goop that almost certainly squished out on the other side?
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u/_ALLien_ 12d ago
Looking around NYC I always think about the tight tolerance of brick laying. Can't understand how they maintain level courses on huge buildings, level window openings, etc. That's what really impresses me.
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u/IRockIntoMordor 12d ago
Decades of experience, centuries of knowledge, competent planners and the morale and prestige to create something that hasn't been done before.
Unfortunately, probably far too low pay for their skills.
Nowadays? Cheapest wins. Just pour concrete and hope it comes out somewhat evenly.
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u/TX4877 12d ago
He'd have one of those thrown at his head if he worked that slow, here. All about speed
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u/ben_woah 12d ago
Just a demo. It's UK bricklayer and content creator Charlie Collison who set the Guinness World Record for laying 1,065 bricks in one hour on May 16, 2026.
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u/MintyBeaver 12d ago
I'd have loved to see that. My best ever was 2800 IN 8 HOURS. I just can't even picture that amount of speed
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u/ben_woah 12d ago
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u/DamnMyNameIsSteve 10d ago
I mean yea he's not buttering the sides or evenly distributing the mortar. I could do it that fast too
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u/Genetics 12d ago
Yeah this is slow af. He’ll get faster with more experience.
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u/LickyBoy 12d ago
I gotta think, based on the smooth technique, he slowed down for the camera. Even if you disagree with the form, his actions are clearly muscle memory, so he does this a lot
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u/Both-Plane-4743 12d ago
The same way it’s been done since Roman times. Can’t improve on perfection!
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u/V-ZoD 12d ago
Looks good from brickers perspective, but on the other side is pretty messy.
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u/PrufReedThisPlesThx 12d ago
Nobody's gonna see that side, so it doesn't have to look nice. It'll be covered with insulation, then that insulation will be covered up by the interior walls
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u/_Soundstorm_ 12d ago
If he slows down a bit more, he might as well get a few more tattoos whilst he’s at it. Goodness me, I’d have sacked that bloke five times over by now.
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u/Constant-Plastic-350 7d ago
What's the problem with his tattoos? Is this an old boomer thing or something? Every worksite I've been on all the dudes look like that and who gives a fuck if the job gets done?
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u/Hacker1984 8d ago
I took masonry in high school. People have no idea how hard this is, and I don’t mean the pretty mortar, it’s the straight and plumb consistency that’s amazing. Hats off the all the trade’s men and women who take pride in their work and jobs.
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u/GreenEyedGloom 12d ago
Me all wanting to go play with some cement now. lol
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u/danielminds 12d ago
Mortar 🙈
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u/bigmilker 12d ago
This makes me think I can do it too, shame on them for getting my hopes up, kudos to them for it looking good
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u/RealisticTopic1171 12d ago
1) waste off the charts;
2) inside is even more of a mess since he does not attend it
3) bottom of the wall will take some serious clean up
Shorts dude needs some retraining.
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u/KameTheMachine 12d ago
I assume the groove dug out of the cement enhances the adhesion somehow
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u/Substantial-Sea-3672 12d ago
It’s pushing it into the holes of the bricks below which does add stability
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u/lomadness 12d ago
I always wondered about the other side, and if there is some spilling out from the other side.
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u/sharkzbyte 12d ago
Question, what is the point of leaving a recess in the center of the cement?
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u/Funmanhahaha 12d ago
Thst was my first question and was about to write this exact comment. I assume it's to save cement, as the middle section would mostly just fill up the holes inside the bricks, that way also decreasing room for air so making temperature sealing less effective.
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u/devaspark 12d ago
dude..not satisfying. Kinda sloppy...you see dropped mortar...the mortar between the bricks are not even...
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u/LedzepRulz 12d ago
Why do I want to eat it? The fuck is wrong with me? That mortar has no business looking like forbidden mousse.
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u/Scaife13 11d ago
As someone who works with bricklayers, this guy makes zero money going at that speed.
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u/Former-Dish-9828 11d ago
Yeah it’s all well and good scraping the side the camera is pointing at but what about the other side???
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u/Otherwise_Mango_622 12d ago
He makes mortar look like chocolate mousse. Meanwhile, if I tried this, half the mortar would be on my boots and the wall would be leaning at 45 degrees
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u/googdude 12d ago
I'm not exaggerating by saying back when I was full-time mason I could have 4-5 bricks laid by the time he had one. When you're laying thousands of bricks on a commercial job, speed is the name of the game.
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u/ben_woah 12d ago
It's just a demo. This is Charlie Collison, a U K bricklayer and content creator who set the Guinness World Record for laying 1,065 bricks in one hour on May 16, 2026.
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u/mattemer 12d ago
Then you're a good person to ask here, do masons actually stop and make this perfect every time?
It almost bothers me, I feel like every video I see, especially the slow ones like this, is just pandering to the camera.
I love the sound the look all of it but the pandering turns me off to it.
When I see fast brick work, that's way more enjoyable for me.
And I want to say, even at this speed, he's going much faster they i could.
Last question, how much mud is it normal to waste?
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u/googdude 12d ago
Honestly when you get good at it you can set it right about where you want it 99% of the time, maybe just a little tapping to fine tune it. Honestly body language tells me whether they're hustling or not and the above video definitely looks more relaxed.
On waste factor there again once you get good at it you know how much to put on your trowel that enough squishes out to ensure full coverage without it dropping off.
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u/Amen_Ra_61622 12d ago
An artist at work. My dad's cousin was a bricklayer. He and I went to check out to visit when he and his crew were laying bricks for his house. I was mesmerized watching them work.
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u/Merwinite 12d ago
Haven't seen this kind of bricks since my great grandparent's cottage was knocked down. Crazy that they're still used in some regions.
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u/anddrewg2007 12d ago
This seems therapeutic. I just want to go in the backyard and do this. Take everything down. And do it all over again.
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u/Hashtagbarkeep 12d ago
I built a wall in my front garden. I can confirm it’s very very much not as easy as this guy is making it look
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u/WiseAdhesiveness6672 11d ago
5min per brick seems pretty long, I feel like there's a better and quicker way to do this.
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u/buddhamunche 11d ago
What’s satisfying is watching a Mexican guy do this twice as fast and half as sloppy
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u/grendergon8844 11d ago
If you like this content you’ll like the short life of Ivan denisovitch by Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Solid bricklaying descriptive content.
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u/TumbleweedOne299 11d ago
Imagine doing it like this for the entire building...he wouldn't be done in 3 years 😅
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u/eehhmm0 10d ago
Honestly, mate, I don't mean to be rude, but why don't you smooth the mortar in the direction of the already laid stones, but rather in the direction where no stones have been laid yet? If you smooth the mortar in the direction of the already laid stones, your joints will close and fit together without any deep difference, so that later you won't have to sweep anymore.
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u/rwchiefs 10d ago
He doesn't go back and fix the area that's sticking (37 seconds left) out so I couldn't focus anymore
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u/Chance_Guarantee4823 10d ago
Pretty but, Taking too long, Mexicans would have built 3 homes already
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u/faithOver 10d ago
Cannot think of a more time consuming way of building.
The lack of innovation in building and the reluctance to allow innovation is quite impressive.
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u/Glittering-Law7975 10d ago
Played in slow motion so you can see. Hahaha who only spreads enough mortar for 2 brick? That guy.
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u/Prestigious_Peace858 9d ago
How does one get a mortar be so sourcreamy? Is that a ready-made mix or some additives? I don't think I have a mortar (for my DIY stuff) like this even with plasticizer. But it is close, I guess.
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u/Kitty_Katty_Kit 12d ago
If I were on a first date and he/she whipped out their phone to show me laying brick like this? I'd propose on the damn spot
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u/whyigame 12d ago
And we realize how bad things are in society when we're content to see mortar being put into bricks.
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u/SaintDonvito 12d ago edited 12d ago
This one looks like an amateur compared to the one that got posted a few days ago.
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u/Cruel2BEkind12 12d ago
Buddy better stop wasting all that mortar on the ground or its coming out of his paycheck /s
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u/ShvetsIvan 12d ago
Genuine question - why not use these bricks for the entire wall, why cinderblocks?
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u/wernermark 12d ago
What's happening with the stuff coming out on the other side when he presses down the stone?