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Wasted $400 on a bad mortar mix batch last month
Ngl I thought I was saving a few bucks buying bulk mortar from a random supplier instead of my usual place. Mixed up a whole pallet worth for a retaining wall job in Portland and it started cracking within two days. Turns out the sand they used had too much clay in it and nobody warned me. Has anyone else run into bad mortar batches from smaller yards?
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milarodriguez1mo agoMost Upvoted
Oh man I used to think all mortar was basically the same but that clay in the sand thing sounds like a nightmare. I mean that totally changed my mind about going with the cheaper yards honestly.
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ngl this sounds like user error as much as bad mortar. did you test the batch on a small spot first? i've used cheap bulk stuff from random places plenty of times and never had a wall crack that fast unless i mixed it wrong or the weather was trash. like maybe the clay content wasn't even that high and you just got a humid week in portland? i'm not saying that supplier is great but $400 is a lot to blame on one thing without checking the mix ratios or the ground prep first.
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