Translations:Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Vocational/Masonry/58/en

Snap a chalk line to mark the footing and align the blocks accurately. Then, use a piece of material 3/8 inch thick to properly space the blocks. This helps you get an accurate measurement.

Lay the Mortar Bed

The third step is to replace the loose blocks with a full mortar bed, spreading and furrowing it with a trowel to ensure plenty of mortar under the bottom edges of the first course (figure 13, view 2). Carefully position and align the corner block first (view 3 of figure 14). Lay the remaining first-course blocks with the thicker end up to provide a larger mortar-bedding area. For the vertical joints, apply mortar only to the block ends by placing several blocks on end and buttering them all in one operation (view 4). Make the joints 3/8 inch thick. Then, place each block in its final position, and push the block down vertically into the mortar bed and against the previously laid block. This ensures a well-tilled vertical mortar joint (view 5). After laying three or four blocks, use a mason’s level as a straightedge to check correct block alignment (figure 14, view 1). Then, use the level to bring the blocks to proper grade and plumb by tapping with a trowel handle as shown in view 2. Always lay out the first course of concrete masonry carefully and make sure that you properly align, level, and plumb it. This assures that succeeding courses and the final wall are both straight and true.