I was laying a herringbone walkway in Portland and my apprentice asked why we always start from the center line.

I explained the old way, but then he just laid a full brick at the corner as a guide and we worked outward, which saved us an hour of string line setup and made the cuts way simpler at the edges.

3 comments

3 Comments

tarar271mo ago

Smart kid. Starting from a full brick at the corner is a solid trick. Lets you avoid all that centerline math and the string gets in the way anyway. You just keep your pattern tight off that starter brick and the edge cuts work themselves out.

the_xena1mo ago

So does that mean you just eyeball the line from the starter brick, or do you still snap a quick chalk line off it?

phoenix33120d ago

Hold on, wait. That "seven courses" part - are you saying I could have skipped all the measuring and just counted bricks as I went? I've been out here snapping lines and checking them twice for years like a fool.