ben436•22d ago

The day 90% of my mortar mix was wrong and I almost quit

Last Tuesday I prepped 10 buckets of mortar for a big retaining wall job outside Pittsburgh. Three hours in I realized my sand was way too wet and the mix was crumbling before I could even lay a brick. Had to toss the whole batch, re-mix everything with dry sand from the supplier, and lost half a day. By 4 PM my back was shot and I wanted to just walk off site. Has anyone else had a material batch go bad on them like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

evan15122d ago

Man, did you check the moisture content on that sand before mixing, @sage_perry?

sage_perry22d ago

Knew it the second you said wet sand. That stuff is a nightmare. I've had whole pallets of block just crumble in my hands, made me want to throw my trowel in the creek. You gotta keep your aggregates covered, even if you think the forecast is clear. One surprise rain shower and your whole day is shot. It's why I always have a spare tarp in the truck, learned that lesson the hard way too.