Oval Bricklaying trowel (6")

A trowel is a balance between how much mortar you can carry and place per stroke and how accurately you can place it. A long blade moves more mortar and suits a bricklayer running a straight wall all day. A 6" blade suits everything else: pointing and repointing, small repairs, patching, working in a confined space, blockwork around openings, tiling and rendering repairs, and the fiddly work at corners and reveals where a long trowel simply gets in the way.

It is also the size to learn on. A short trowel is lighter and far less tiring for anyone not laying brick professionally, and it is much easier to control the amount of mortar you pick up.

The oval pattern refers to the blade shape — rounded at the heel rather than square — which makes it easier to work mortar off the blade in a smooth sweep and easier to get into a corner.

The blade is high carbon steel. That is the correct specification for a trowel: carbon steel takes a temper so the blade keeps its shape and its spring, and a trowel with the right amount of spring in it is what lets you flick and spread mortar rather than merely push it about. It will rust if left wet, which is why every bricklayer cleans a trowel before putting it away — mortar left to harden on a blade also ruins the flat face.

The TPR handle grips when your hands are wet with mortar and cushions the jarring of tapping bricks down, which over a day matters to your wrist.

A new trowel is slightly stiff and its face is not yet polished; it works better after a week of use as the blade wears bright and smooth. Do not be tempted to grind it.

The buyers are masons and bricklayers, tilers and renderers, building maintenance and repair crews, and householders doing their own patching.

We stock the 8" trowel and plastering trowels. Message us on WhatsApp and we will price a set, delivered island-wide.