the_fiona•1mo agoProlific Poster

Just found out the average brickie loses 3 days a year just to bad mortar mixes

I was reading through some old trade magazine from last month my foreman left in the truck... turns out there's actual data on this. Three full days a year fighting with mortar that's too stiff, too wet, or just plain wrong. That's almost a full work week in labor down the drain. Made me rethink how I mix my batches on site. Anyone else track how much time they waste on bad batches?

3 comments

3 Comments

tessa_clark741mo ago

That 3 days number really makes me wonder though - is it the mixing method that's the problem or the materials? Like, I've had days where the sand was way too wet from sitting out overnight and no amount of adjusting the mix would fix it. Do you think bad aggregate storage (on site or at the yard) causes most of those wasted batches, or is it more about guys not checking the slump properly before they start laying?

graygonzalez1mo ago

Yeah, bad aggregate storage always messes me up worse than anything else.

olivia_allen18d ago

Used to blame the mix, but @tessa_clark74 you made me realize it's usually the wet sand.