Tried wetting my bricks before laying them on a hot day last July and the mortar held up way better.

I noticed my previous wall had these tiny cracks forming after two weeks, but since I started giving the bricks a quick spray with a hose before setting them, I haven't seen a single hairline crack in the three jobs I did last month. Has anyone else found a specific soaking time that works best for different brick types?

3 comments

3 Comments

dylan_brown301mo ago

Give clay bricks about 15 seconds of spray and let them sit for a couple minutes til the water soaks in, but @felix414 is right that ten seconds works for dense ones. With softer reds or used bricks you want a solid 20-30 seconds cause they suck up water fast like a sponge. I messed up a wall once with bone-dry reclaimed bricks and the mortar turned to powder in a week. Letting them drip dry for a minute after soaking keeps you from getting sloppy mud that slides out of the joints.

riverh491mo ago

Wait, does spraying them too long make the mortar runny though? I just give mine a quick splash and go.

felix4141mo ago

Yeah definitely, I give em a good ten second soak for dense clay bricks and it works like a charm every time.