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Old-timer told me to dampen my bricks and I brushed him off for months
There's this guy named Frank who's been laying brick since the 70s, works out of a van near my job site in Phoenix. He kept telling me to wet my bricks before laying them, especially in the summer heat. I figured it was ancient advice that didn't matter with modern mortar mixes, so I ignored him. Then last week I had a wall I did in late June start cracking along the joints, maybe 12 feet of it, and the mortar looked crumbly. Frank walked by, laughed, and said "told you so" before handing me a hose. I wet down a fresh batch of bricks for a small repair and the mortar grabbed way better, no cracking at all. Now I'm kicking myself for wasting 3 bags of Type S mortar on that first job. Anyone else here religious about dampening bricks or do you go dry and hope for the best?
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finleyw9924d ago
Hold up, 3 entire bags of Type S just from one wall? That's brutal, I'd be sick seeing that much money turn into dust literally.
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blake_bell2924d ago
Laughing at myself hard rn, @finleyw99, because I literally watched my money turn into dust AND got roasted by a 70-year-old with a hose. Guess old Frank knew what he was talking about.
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