Can we talk about the guy who told me my mortar was too wet at the Maple Street job?

Richard Burns · 2026-10-08T11:50:03.741484+00:00

So last Tuesday I'm laying block on the Maple Street wall in Cedar Falls, and this older guy from the crew next door walks over and sticks his trowel in my mud board without even asking. He pulls it out and says, "You're gonna lose that course by lunch, that mix is soup." I'd been running the same 5-gallon bucket ratio all morning and hadn't dropped a block yet, so I told him thanks and kept going. By 1pm the third course was sliding about a quarter inch and I had to tear out eight blocks and remix the whole batch. Turns out he was right, and I've been thinking about that dang trowel stick ever since. Anyone else got a method for checking mortar wetness before it bites you?

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Can we talk about the guy who told me my mortar was too wet at the Maple Street job? | Bricklayers - Opinions Matter