Masonry Class!

What a weekend! On Saturday and Sunday I was part of a masonry class at CRAH. SO much fun, and we learned so much! We all had to bring our own trowels and jointers- more tools to add to my collection now:-) Mason Sabin was our instructor, with the help of Joe Hinks and Brother Davis. These guys are pros- they have been doing brick laying for years.
The first thing we did was walk around the residence building and try to point out any mistakes we could see. (of course, we had no idea what mistakes were at that point) so we tried. "Um... I think that that brick is crooked? Or that joint is too fat?" That was about the best I could do- haha! Then we had a safety meeting and he explained a bunch of new vocabulary to us. Then we broke into groups and practiced our trowel technique. We practiced getting the right amount of mortar on our trowels (its all in the wrist!) and laying it down for the bed joint. Then we practiced buttering our bricks for the head joints and bed joints. After lots of practicing, we started to get it- I never realized how much finesse it takes.
Then came the big one- we broke into groups of two and built our own brick walls. We had to make sure they were even with the string line, make sure we didn't roll our bricks. We left a space in the center where a control joint would go (that is a space they would fill with caulking). We also inserted weepies which would let water out. And we had to make sure there were no shiners- thats if you put a brick in backwards. Woohoo, I actually remember some of the vocabulary!
At the end of day two we walked around the residence building again and pointed out the mistakes. This time we knew what to look for. Our eyes had been opened! I will never look at a brick wall the same way again.
What a fun class- at the end, we kind of felt like pioneer school was over. We were sad to part- we were like a little brick laying family. Some funny sayings of the weekend: "I want to hear the sweet sound of scraping!" "Mortar and steel=no deal, mortar and wood=no good."
I am so ready to build this assembly hall. Thousands of bricks to be layed? Bring it on!