Debate: Should we butter joints or tool them wet? I got blasted by a foreman in Austin

I was working on a retaining wall outside Austin last month and this old foreman named Rick saw me buttering all my head joints before laying. He ripped into me saying I was wasting time and should just tool them wet after. I get his point about speed but I feel like buttering gives me better control and less voids later. What do you guys do on walls that need to look clean on both sides?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_jana1mo agoMost Upvoted

Honestly, I can barely butter toast without making a mess, so I think I'd just stick to tooling wet and hope nobody looks too close. Ngl, that foreman sounds like he's seen some truly tragic joints in his day.

avery_jackson1mo ago

Oh man, I feel that in my soul. But here's the thing about tooling wet (and I've done my fair share of messy attempts), it's actually the secret weapon of people who know their limits. That foreman probably has a whole mental gallery of nightmare joints, like the one where someone tried to use a trowel as a butter knife. I'm convinced half the "pro" tricks are just clever ways to hide mistakes from the boss, anyway. So keep on tooling wet and just pretend you meant for it to look like that, you know?

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blair_taylor321mo ago

My buddy Tim once tooled a joint so wet it looked like a melted popsicle.