Why do so many guys still butter the head joint on a soldier course?

Watched a crew in Tulsa last month lay a 6 course soldier arch with dry head joints and it hasn't hairline cracked once in 14 months, while mine from 2 summers back already shows a crack over the keystone. Anyone else find that skipping the butter on thin joints actually holds up better on arches, or am I just getting lucky with the mix?

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lunaf678d ago

Feel for you on that keystone crack, been there and it stings after all that work. My last arch did the same thing, cracked right over the top within a year, and I buttered every joint like my old boss taught me. The dry joint thing makes sense to me now, less mud means less shrink and the units can lock in tight instead of sliding around. Curious what mix you ran on that Tulsa job, was it a straight type S or something with a little lime in it?

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