A guy in my crew said you should always wet your bricks, but the foreman on a job in Austin swore it weakens the mortar bond.

We were laying a garden wall in 95 degree heat, and the foreman made us stop wetting them, saying it was an old habit that causes problems later. I've seen both ways work, but that argument stuck with me. Which method do you all actually use on site?

4 comments

4 Comments

bettyh3523h ago

Totally feel that Austin foreman's pain. Working in that kind of heat is a whole different game. Seen good brick turn to trash because the mortar dried before it could even grab hold. Sometimes the old school way just doesn't cut it when the sun is trying to cook you alive.

the_claire23h ago

My uncle's crew in Phoenix started using chilled mixing water on their really bad summer jobs, like they do with big concrete pours. It sounds extra but they say it buys them maybe 20 crucial minutes before the mortar turns to dust. Grant347 is right about concrete going fast too, it's the same fight against evaporation. Honestly the real cost isn't just the wasted material, it's the labor hours lost tearing out and redoing a wall that failed its first year... makes that ice water look pretty cheap.

troychen1d ago

That Austin foreman is right in that heat. Dry bricks suck the moisture out of the mortar too fast and ruin the cure.

grant3471d ago

Man, that reminds me of the time we tried to pour a small patio slab in July. We soaked the ground and the base gravel the night before, thought we were so smart. Next day, that concrete set up so fast it was practically smoking. The finish was a total loss, all crusty and weak. You just can't fight that kind of heat without a ton of extra work. Makes you respect the guys who do it right in the middle of summer.