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Tried wetting my bricks before laying and it totally changed my mortar work

I was on a job in Austin last month and an old timer I was working with kept telling me to wet my bricks first. I always thought it was a waste of time but I tried it on half a wall just to see. The difference was night and day. The mortar actually stuck better and I didn't have to fight with it drying out too fast in the heat. Has anyone else found this makes a big difference or am I just late to the party?
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3 Comments
patricia558
Oh man, it is wild how the little things can make or break you in this work. It reminds me of cooking, honestly, some days you have to adjust for humidity or high altitude and it just changes everything. Your mileage may vary for sure, but wetting bricks is one of those tricks that seems like common sense once you see it work.
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the_amy
the_amy24d ago
Yeah I'm always the last one to figure out stuff that's been around since like forever lol
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jamesf41
jamesf4124d agoTop Commenter
My buddy tried it on a garage wall and the mortar cracked like crazy three days later.
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