Thought I could patch a corner in 20 minutes, took 3 hours

I had a little chip in a brick corner near a window on a house I was working on last Tuesday. Figured I'd just mix up some mortar, slap it on, and be done quick. But the old mortar was way harder than I expected, and matching the color took forever because the sun had faded the original. By the time I got it looking right and let it set, I'd blown half the day. Any of you guys got a go-to trick for matching faded mortar fast?

3 comments

3 Comments

uma_ellis1d ago

Yeah matching faded mortar is a real pain. The whole "20 minute job" lie is the oldest trick in the book, I've fallen for it a dozen times. What I've started doing is keeping a little notebook with the exact mix proportions for any repair I do, including how much pigment I used. Then I tape a sample chip of the dried mortar right next to it so next time I can just follow my own recipe instead of guessing all over again.

lee_reed17m ago

Notebooks are fine but they don't solve the real problem. Mortar fades at different rates depending on sun exposure and weather, so your "perfect match" from last year won't match a spot that's been baking in direct sun for three years. I've watched guys mix up what they thought was the exact same batch and it still looked off because the old mortar had way more UV damage. The only way to truly match is to take a damp sample of the old stuff to the store and let them do a custom blend right there. That notebook recipe will get you close, but close isn't good enough when you're staring at a patch job.

dianaanderson1d ago

Buddy of mine tried that and still ended up redoing it twice.