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I finally tried wetting the bricks before laying in July, changed my mind completely
For years I never bothered soaking bricks before laying them, figured the mortar would just pull the moisture out and I'd deal with it. Then a 90 degree stretch in Austin last July had my mortar setting up way too fast, probably 20 minutes on some courses, and I was getting hairline cracks by the end of that week. A guy on another crew told me to dunk the face bricks in a water trough before buttering them, so I tried it on a 40 foot garden wall job. The difference was night and day, the mortar stayed workable longer and I didn't have to fight the suction every single time. But now I'm second guessing because I've seen some old timers say wetting bricks makes them slide around and messes with your joint consistency, especially with harder clay units. I've only done it on that one job so far, and I'm wondering if I got lucky or if this is actually a solid habit. Anyone else found a good middle ground for keeping mortar alive in heat without turning your bricks into slippery messes?
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nathan1001mo ago
Soaking aint gonna turn bricks into fish, you just gotta find the sweet spot. I do a quick dip, like 10-15 seconds in the trough, not leave em soaking overnight or anything. That gets the surface damp without making em bleed water, and mortar stays workable way longer. Also helps to mix your mud a bit wetter than normal and keep the board shaded, plus only lay what you can cover in 15-20 min. Tougher clay units I actually skip the soak sometimes and just mist em with a hose sprayer before buttering, works good without the sliding issue.
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