Noticed a huge difference in my mortar mix after a 20 year guy watched me work

I was mixing by eye for years, getting by. He walked over, handed me a scoop, and said 'too much sand, see how it crumbles?' I measured it out after he left and I was off by almost 2 shovelfuls. Has anyone else had an old hand tweak your mix and totally change your results?

3 comments

3 Comments

ray_martinez821mo ago

...and you know what's funny is that old timer probably wasn't even trying to be a jerk about it, he just saw you struggling and figured he'd save you some grief. But here's the thing I gotta gently push back on - you said you were off by almost 2 shovelfuls, but that's not really how it works. The amount of sand you need changes depending on what brand of Portland cement you're using and even the type of sand. I've had loads where the sand was real fine and other times it was coarse as hell, and you gotta adjust every time. Mixing by eye ain't always bad if you know what you're looking for, like watching how it holds together when you squeeze a handful.

victorh811mo ago

That actually makes sense @ray_martinez82, never thought about the sand being a variable like that.

betty_wells1mo ago

Ha! @victorh81, I've definitely made my share of "mud pies" that looked more like soup.