Story Pole

Because brick and block sizes vary by manufacturer, age, and even the specific batch, a story pole gets made fresh for each job rather than reused from the last one. The mason marks it against the actual units being laid, then checks it at corners, window and door openings, and anywhere courses need to land at a specific height, like under a sill or at the top of a wall. It keeps every corner and lead in sync without stretching a line across the whole job just to check elevation.

Matching old brick is where a story pole earns its keep. Historic and salvage brick often runs a slightly different height than modern brick, so a pole built off the actual replacement units, not a generic chart, is what keeps a patched-in section reading level with the original wall instead of drifting out of alignment by the time it reaches the roofline or a window header.