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Took me 15 years to figure out my mortar was too wet
I was on a job last month laying brick for a retaining wall out in the suburbs. Mix felt fine, looked fine. Then this old timer walks by, just watching, doesn't say a word for 10 minutes. Finally he goes "son, your mud's sweating." I thought he was joking. But he showed me how the brick was sliding just a hair when I tapped it on. I had been making my mix like soup since day one because I thought wetter meant easier to work. Anyone else realize they've been doing some basic thing wrong for way too long?
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angela_harris1mo agoOG Member
That old timer walking by and calling out the "sweating" mud is exactly the kind of wake up call I needed back when I started. For years I thought wetter was better too, made everything flow nice and smooth. But then I saw a video online where a mason showed how the bricks stay put and bond right when the mix is stiffer. Now I aim for that perfect clay-like consistency where it holds its shape but still spreads easy. It feels weird at first because you think it's too dry, but the work actually comes out cleaner. Funny how something that seems like a small detail can change your whole process.
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spencer9811mo ago
Is it just me or does this apply to half the stuff we learn on our own? @angela_harris had that same eye opening moment with mortar, but I see it all the time at work and around the house where people pick up bad habits early and stick with them for years because nobody ever corrects them. Sometimes you just need one person to point out the obvious before everything clicks.
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wood.faith27d ago
Man, that story hits close to home! I remember when I first tried to grill a steak and I thought the more oil in the pan the better. I was basically deep frying the thing instead of searing it. My buddy watched me do it for like a year before he finally laughed and showed me how a thin layer of oil works way better. It's wild how we convince ourselves that more of something must be better when the opposite is true. Your mud story makes me think about all the other little tricks we pick up wrong and just keep doing forever. Sometimes it takes someone walking by to break us out of that bad habit loop.
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