Tried wetting the bricks before laying in this heat, huge difference

We had a stretch of 95 degree days on a patio job outside Austin last month and the mortar was drying way too fast before I could get the joints tooled. My partner suggested dunking each brick in a bucket of water before setting it. It slowed the suction way down and gave me almost double the working time on each course, plus the joints came out way cleaner. Anyone else do this on hot jobs or do you just mix smaller batches and rush?

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ninas671mo ago

My uncle used to do masonry work in Phoenix and he'd soak bricks overnight in a kiddie pool, then throw a wet tarp over the stack the next morning too. The trick worked okay but he said the real enemy was the wind, it dried everything out faster than the heat ever did. Soaking definitely buys you time, but if it's breezy you might want to rig up a sunshade or just mix real small batches and have a buddy tool behind you.

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