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Tried a raked joint for the first time on a retaining wall, now second guessing myself
Built a 40 foot retaining wall last week in Akron and used a raked joint instead of my usual concave. Looked real sharp for about 2 days, then the rain hit and some of the mortar started washing out of the deeper grooves. I thought raked joints were supposed to shed water better but maybe I left them too deep, like a half inch. Should I go back and tool them over with a jointer or just patch the bad spots? Has anyone else had this issue with exposed walls?
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jesse8417d ago
Wait, did you backfill behind that wall before the rain hit? Half inch is way too deep for a raked joint on something exposed like that, you basically carved gutters for the water to run down. Raked joints work fine on vertical stuff that doesnt get hammered, but a retaining wall takes all that splash and runoff. I wouldnt bother trying to tool over the top of what's there now, that mortar is already compromised and youll just end up with a weak bond that flakes off next winter. Best move is to grind out the bad spots, repoint with something a little stickier, and keep the depth around a quarter inch max. Patch the obvious washouts first and see how it holds after the next storm, but honestly you might be looking at redoing the whole face if it keeps failing.
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