Mortar mix went wrong on a hot day in Austin

I was working a wall out in Austin last August, temp hit 102, and my mortar started drying out before I could even butter the bricks. I thought I mixed it wet enough, but by the time I laid the third course, the joints were crumbling and I had to pull half the row back down. Ended up wasting about 45 minutes re-mixing with ice water from my cooler and adding a little more lime to slow the set. The next day I brought a spray bottle and kept the mud pan covered with a damp towel, which helped a ton. Has anyone else dealt with mortar going bad in extreme heat, or found a trick to keep it workable longer?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_julia7d agoProlific Poster

Did you try yelling at the mortar? Honestly that's my go-to when things go wrong, but it never really fixes anything. I've definitely had a few walls that looked like abstract art after a hot day. I heard a trick once about adding a little dish soap to your mix to keep it from drying out, but I just pictured my wall smelling like lemon fresh and sponging off in the rain so I never tried it. Spray bottle and a wet towel is genius though, I'm stealing that for next summer.

cole_patel417d ago

Wait, have you ever seen what happens when you actually try the dish soap thing? My buddy Tom tried it last summer on his retaining wall and man, it was a mess. He said the mix got all sudsy and weird, like it was trying to turn into a bubble bath instead of mortar. The wall looked fine for about two days, then the rain hit and it started sweating this cloudy, soapy residue all over the bricks. He spent the rest of the weekend scrubbing it off with a hose and a stiff brush. I just laughed and handed him a beer, told him to stick with the spray bottle next time. So yeah, I'd say you made the right call skipping that trick, it's more trouble than it's worth.