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Old timer at the job site told me to soak my bricks before laying them, I thought he was full of it
About 2 years ago I was working a patio job in Austin and this old guy, must have been 60 plus, kept yelling at me to dunk every brick in a water bucket before putting it down. I figured he was just stuck in his ways and wasting time. So I ignored him for the first 3 rows and just laid them dry. By the end of the day the mortar was cracking and pulling away from the bricks like crazy. He walked over, pointed at my work, and said "told you so." Turns out in that Texas heat the dry bricks suck all the moisture out of the mortar before it can set right. I spent the next day pulling up half that first section and redoing it. Has anyone else run into old school tricks that actually make a difference or do you just go with whatever the bag says?
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julia_anderson16d agoTop Commenter
Oh man that's rough! But yeah soaking bricks is totally legit in hot weather, it's one of those things you learn the hard way.
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