Vent: nobody wets the brick before laying it in July and it shows

I watched a crew lay a whole garage wall at a site in Tulsa last month and every single brick went down bone dry in 100 degree heat. The mortar sucked the water out of the brick in seconds, so by the time they struck the joints the bond was already dead. I've been laying for 19 years and I still dunk my brick in a trough or hit it with a hose before it goes on the line, it takes maybe 20 extra minutes on a 1,000 brick day. Dry brick pulls water from the mortar, and that means weak bond, cracked joints, and callbacks you don't want. Those guys will be back patching that wall within a couple winters, I'd bet money on it. Any of you still wet your units on hot days or has everyone switched to pre-mixed and just trusts it?

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tessa_hill861mo ago

Seen dry brick go down plenty of times and most of those walls are still standing fine years later. Mortar these days has way more lime and polymers in it than the old stuff, so it holds water better and doesn't flash set the second it touches a thirsty brick. Yeah, wetting helps on a nasty hot day, but calling it a guaranteed callback after two winters seems like a stretch. Half the crews around here never touch a hose and their walls pass inspection just fine. Dry brick does pull moisture out fast, no arguing that, but saying the bond is dead in seconds sounds more like old school gospel than what actually happens in the field. Plenty of things can crack a wall besides whether somebody dunked the units first.

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