Tried soaking my bricks in water overnight before laying them, ended up with a soggy mess that crumbled apart after 2 days of dry weather.

I thought more moisture would help the mortar bond better, but I guess I went overboard because now I have to redo that whole garden wall before my wife notices. Has anyone else had a similar disaster with over-soaking clay bricks?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_richard17h ago

...and that's exactly what happened to me with a batch of old bricks I pulled from a demo job last summer. I thought I'd be clever and soak 'em for 48 hours to get all the dust off, but they turned into sponges. Laid the wall on a Saturday, by Monday morning the whole thing was leaning like a drunk uncle at Thanksgiving. The mortar just turned to mush where it met the brick face. I ended up chiseling the whole mess apart and starting fresh with dry bricks and a wetter mortar mix. Now I just give 'em a quick spray with the hose right before I lay them, nothing more. Live and learn I guess.

casey68216h ago

Your local water chemistry might be the missing piece here. Hard water with high mineral content can actually react with the clay in bricks and make them turn into a crumbly mess when they soak too long. Soft water with low mineral content does the opposite it washes out the natural binders in the brick. Nobody else mentioned checking their water source but that could explain why some folks have no trouble soaking bricks and others end up with a pile of dust. Next time try using distilled water or just give them a light spray like you said. It saved me a lot of headache after I figured that out the hard way.