That old bricklayer's tip about soaking bricks still haunts me
I was about 22, working my first real masonry gig in Toledo. There was this old timer named Frank, must have been pushing 70, who told me to always soak my bricks before laying them in hot weather. He said if you don't, the mortar will suck dry too fast and you'll get weak joints. I figured he was just stuck in his ways, so I skipped it one July day when it was 95 degrees. Three months later, I had to tear out a whole garden wall I built because the mortar crumbled like sand. Frank just shook his head when he saw it. Never doubted him again after that. Anyone else have an old-school rule they learned the hard way?