TIL that wet mortar can shrink just enough to crack a whole wall if the sand mix is wrong

I was on a job in Des Moines last fall and we laid a whole garden wall in the rain. Two days later there were hairline cracks running through every third brick, had to tear it down and start over with a drier mix.

2 comments

2 Comments

wendy6287d ago

What was the sand-to-cement ratio on that mix?

clairen857d ago

Did you end up using a standard 3:1 mix or did you bump up the cement for more slump? I've been playing around with 2.5 parts sand to 1 part cement on my last few jobs and the finish is way smoother, but it's more prone to cracking if you don't cure it right.