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I finally realized my mortar was way too wet after a whole wall slumped in Houston
The inspector pointed at the weep holes and said 'that's not water, that's pure paste,' which meant I was washing out the cement. Anyone else have a simple trick for checking the right stiffness before you start laying?
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anderson.piper3mo ago
That trowel mark check is key... you want it to hold a sharp edge for a few seconds before it slowly settles. If it just fills right back in, it's way too wet. I ruined a whole bag learning that the hard way. My grandpa always said mix it stiff enough that a shovel stuck in it stands up on its own for a minute. Takes more elbow grease to spread, but it won't bleed out your wall.
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avery_jackson1mo agoTop Commenter
Yeah I tried that wet mix thing once too and it was a total mess. Ended up with mud oozing out between the bricks and this huge clean up job. I found the shovel test works but I also started checking my mix with the heel of my boot. If you stomp a boot print in it and the edges stay clean for a second before the mud fills back in you are in the sweet spot. That little bit of stiffness made all the difference for me on a retaining wall I built last summer. No more bleeding and the joints came out WAY cleaner.
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