That time I found out my mortar mix was WAY too wet for weeks

I was wondering why my bricks kept sliding around and I finally googled it. Turns out the proper slump for brick mortar is like a thick peanut butter, not soup. My work looked terrible for a solid month before I figured that out. Anybody else ever make that mistake when starting out?

3 comments

3 Comments

cora5181mo ago

Honestly, I've been there too and it's such a sinking feeling when you finally figure out what you've been doing wrong. For me it was about four years ago when I was building a small retaining wall in my backyard. I kept thinking my bricks were just cheap or something because they wouldn't stay put. Then my buddy came over and took one look at my mix and just laughed. He said it looked like chocolate pudding instead of peanut butter. I ended up having to pull the whole thing apart and start over, which was a real pain. But hey, at least now I know and my walls actually stay standing.

quinna891mo ago

@cora518 keeping the mix thick is honestly like half the battle for any brick or block job.

angela5871mo ago

@quinna89 nailed it with the thick mix tip. I remember doing a small garden wall and my mortar was so soupy the bricks would just swim around when I tried to level them. Had to scrape it all out and remix with way less water, like actually stiff peanut butter consistency where it holds its shape when you scoop it with the trowel. The mix should almost feel too dry at first, it gets workable quick enough once you start slapping it on.@quinna89 is right that getting that right solves more problems than people think.