Am I the only one who had a mortar mix go weird in the cold?

I was laying a garden wall last month and my usual 3:1 sand-to-cement mix just wouldn't set right, it stayed crumbly for hours. The overnight temp dropped to 35 degrees and I didn't use any accelerant. Anyone have a go-to cold weather mix they swear by?

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4 Comments

alicer537mo ago

Yeah, that crumbly mix is the worst. I started using warm water to mix with and keeping the bags inside until the last minute, it made a huge difference.

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emma_rodriguez307mo ago

Oh man, warm water is a game changer. Samrodriguez is right about the cold messing with things, so that extra heat helps a ton. Saves so much headache.

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garcia.jake6mo ago

Dude yes, warm water is the way to go. I started doing that last spring and it made the mix way easier to work with, like night and day difference. I also keep the bags in my garage overnight instead of leaving them outside, which I think helps a ton too.

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samrodriguez7mo ago

Cold weather will mess with the cure time for sure. My uncle lost a whole patio slab that way.

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