Corners

It all starts with laying the corner blocks first.

The first course gets mortar underneath the block. This ends up being about 3/4". The shopvac was to clean any debris off the stemwall before applying the mortar. 

We use the level on top of every block. The tripod has a laser to make sure that every block is set at the same height. We can adjust the blocks on the first course due to the mortar joint underneath. After the first course, the blocks get a thinset which is a much thinner joint. This is why it is critical to get the first course right, any small error here gets magnified as we get higher.

Here are a couple of finished corners.