Spotted a huge difference in my mortar mix after switching sand suppliers

Used to get this super fine sand from a place in Waco, but switched to a coarser mix from over near Lorena last month and my joints are holding way better with less cracking. Anyone else notice that kind of change just from where the sand comes from?

3 comments

3 Comments

patricia6341mo ago

Lol who knew dirt could be such a diva. Guess your old sand was just too bougie to hold together.

oliver_anderson1mo ago

Well dang, I gotta push back a little on that @patricia634. I used to run a crew that did nothing but repointing old limestone walls, and sand was actually the biggest headache we had. We tried three different suppliers before settling on one near Moody because the grain shape was totally different - rounder grains packed tighter and actually reduced our crack rate by about half over a summer. The old sand had too many flat particles that just wanted to pop out under tension. It's not the sand being bougie, it's the geology - different river deposits have different mineral content and crushing methods, and that changes everything from workability to finished strength.

simon_sanchez5825d ago

Oh man, that's exactly what I saw when I helped my buddy with his old brick patio last year! @oliver_anderson is spot on about the grain shape thing - we had this batch of sand that looked fine but it was like trying to pack flour together. Total nightmare for the mortar to grab onto. Ended up driving an extra 20 miles for a supplier that had that rounder river sand instead of the crushed stuff, and the difference was night and day for how well everything held up over the winter freezes.