richard_bell30•1mo ago

Most guys on site wet their trowels, but I quit that habit and my mortar holds up better in the heat.

4 comments

4 Comments

amycraig1mo ago

Switched to a dry trowel, mortar held up all summer.

smith.elliot1mo ago

Hold up, you might be onto something bigger than just the water. A wet trowel can actually pull the lime or cement right out of the surface layer of your mortar. That weakens the very first bond it makes. So if your brick is sucking up moisture, it's grabbing weakened stuff. In the heat, that just cooks a bad bond into a failed one.

paul_ramirez1mo ago

I mean it's more the water itself weakening the bond, not pulling stuff out.

carter.mila28d agoMost Upvoted

Oh wow, that's such a good point. It's like when you water a plant too much from the top and it just washes all the good soil away before the roots can even get to it. You see this same idea everywhere, where adding the right thing at the wrong time just ruins the foundation. Makes a weak spot that everything else builds on.