Got called out on a job in Charlotte for my mortar mix being too wet

We were laying brick for a garden wall and my foreman saw me adding extra water to keep it workable in the heat. He said, 'That's gonna shrink and crack like crazy, you're making soup,' and made me start the whole batch over with less water. How do you guys adjust your mix for hot weather without messing up the cure?

4 comments

4 Comments

shane_park921mo ago

Your foreman was right about the cracking, but just using less water isn't the full fix. You gotta keep the sand and blocks out of the sun if you can, maybe even cool your mixing water with some ice. A retarder can help a ton in that heat, it keeps the mix workable longer without needing extra water.

park.miles1mo ago

What about the timing of your pours? I mean, if you're starting in the late morning, the mix is already fighting the day's heat. Maybe try a super early morning start when the ground and air are coolest, idk, it just seems to help set things slower.

hannah3201mo ago

Oh man, @park.miles is totally onto something with the early start. But what REALLY gets missed is the wind! A hot, dry wind will suck the moisture right out of a fresh pour faster than the sun will. I've seen guys put up simple tarp walls on the windy side, it makes a huge difference.

pat_moore9d agoMost Upvoted

Let me tell you what I did on a job last summer when the heat was brutal. I started shade-clothing my aggregate piles and kept them damp to stop the sun from baking them. Threw a couple bags of ice in the mixing water too, not a ton, just enough to drop the temp a few degrees. That mix stayed workable for way longer than I expected, no cracks from it setting up too fast. Also grabbed a cheap sprayer to mist the forms and rebar before the pour, helped keep the surrounding air damp. Ended up with a smooth finish and none of that crusting on top.