A job in Charleston made me rethink my whole mortar mix

We were repointing an old brick wall down by the waterfront last spring, and the humidity was just brutal. My usual mix was setting up way too fast, making the joints look rushed and sloppy. The foreman, a guy named Earl who's been laying brick since the 70s, saw me struggling and said, 'Son, the weather writes the recipe, not the bag.' He had me add a bit more lime and cut the sand with some extra fine aggregate. The workability was a total game changer. Has anyone else had to adjust their mix for a specific climate like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

drew_reed6214d ago

Earl's just making it up. The bag mix is tested and proven for a reason.

matthewmartin13d ago

Exactly, and @ericj45 has a point. It's the same old story where "tested and proven" just means tested by the people who want your money. You see it with everything from food to tools now.

ericj4514d ago

Tested by who, the company that sells it?