Mortar mix felt wrong on a chimney rebuild in Duluth, turned out the sand was too fine.

The whole stack started weeping moisture after the first hard freeze. Anyone know a good source for coarse sand up here?

3 comments

3 Comments

gavinwells1mo ago

My cousin's patio did the same thing last year.

terrycraig1mo ago

Patios settle all the time though, right? It might just be a small crack that needs some filler. Did your cousin have to do a full tear-out or was it a simple fix? Sometimes these things look worse than they really are.

harpery471mo ago

Remember my neighbor had a slab that looked fine except for one corner dipping a bit. They just filled the crack and called it good. Next spring, the whole section by the house had sunk three inches and water was getting in. The fix ended up being way bigger because they didn't check what was under it. Turned out the ground washout was bad. Sometimes that small crack is the only sign of a much bigger problem.