Appreciation post: The old guys who taught me to always wet my bricks

I keep seeing new crews on sites around Phoenix just dry laying bricks, especially in this summer heat. They think it's faster, but the mortar dries way too quick and the bond is garbage. My first foreman, a guy named Sal, would lose his mind if he saw it. He'd make us soak every brick for a full minute before we even touched the trowel. Anyone else still stick to that rule, or am I just being old school?

3 comments

3 Comments

miles_fisher2mo ago

Wasn't there a study about wet bricks making walls way stronger?

bettyroberts2mo ago

That study gets misquoted a lot. Wet bricks actually make a weaker wall because the mortar doesn't set right.

webb.daniel2mo ago

Remember the water isn't just for the brick, it's for the mortar's working time too. A soaked brick stops the dry material from sucking all the moisture out of your mix before it can even cure, which is a disaster in low humidity. @bettyroberts has a point about the study, but that's usually talking about a brick being so wet it's dripping, which leaves a water layer that messes with the bond. The real trick Sal taught me was to get them damp all the way through, not just wet on the surface, and to adjust for the actual weather that day.