I compared a Marshalltown to a cheap trowel and lost 2 hours

Last week I grabbed a $10 trowel from the hardware store instead of my usual Marshalltown because I was in a hurry. By lunch I had already re-laid a whole corner section because the cheap blade flexed wrong and left uneven lines. Took me 2 extra hours to fix the mess I made with that flimsy thing. Anyone else ever get burned by trying to save a few bucks on a basic tool?

3 comments

3 Comments

grant.felix2d ago

My buddy Tom had this exact thing happen on a job site last spring. He grabbed one of those no-name trowels from a big box store 'cause his was in the truck and he was too lazy to walk back. By the end of the day he'd had to scrape off a whole section of fresh mortar 'cause the blade was so uneven it left these wavy lines you could see from across the room. The handle actually started to wobble after a couple hours too, which is something you'd never see with a Marshalltown. He still talks about it every time someone mentions cheap tools.

wendyg431d ago

My dad always swore by cheap tools so I grew up thinking a trowel is a trowel, you know? But @grant.felix your buddy Tom's story really opened my eyes. I've never had to scrape off a whole section of mortar before but I can imagine how maddening that would be watching your work go to waste because the tool itself couldn't keep up. And a wobbly handle after just a few hours? That's the kind of thing that would drive me absolutely nuts on a long day. I guess some lessons you just have to learn the hard way, or in Tom's case watch someone else learn it for you.

theagibson1d ago

Right? At LEAST with a Marshalltown, if you mess up you know it's YOUR fault, not the tool falling apart on you. @grant.felix your buddy Tom learned that lesson the HARD way, ha. Never cheap out on the thing you're literally trusting to make your work look good.