Shoutout to the guy who told me to wet my bricks before a big wall

I tried laying a long garden wall last summer in Nashville and kept having mortar dry out way too fast in the heat. An old timer walked by and said dunk my bricks in a bucket of water first. I thought he was nuts but gave it a shot on the next section. Turns out dry brick sucks the moisture right out of the mud and makes it crumble. After that my joints stayed workable for twice as long and I didn't have to remix every fifteen minutes. Has anyone else had a simple trick like that totally save a job on a hot day?

2 comments

2 Comments

blairsanchez4d ago

Nashville heat is brutal for masonry work. Soaking bricks is straight up essential down here.

grayw324d ago

Dunk my bricks in a bucket of water" - haha that old timer sounds like a legend. I had a similar thing happen painting a fence in the sun once where the paint was drying before I could even brush it out. Some guy told me to mix in a little water with the paint and it worked perfect, made the whole job way less stressful lol