Found a stat that made me rethink my mortar mix

I was reading through the Masonry Magazine from last month and saw a study that said 30% of brick failures come from the mortar being too strong, not too weak. Everyone at my local union hall in Philly always goes on about using the hardest mix possible. Now I'm questioning my whole approach after that number stuck in my head. Anyone else see those findings and change how they mix?

3 comments

3 Comments

kai83915h ago

Wait, 30 percent? I thought hard was always better, that's wild.

cora_west514h ago

HAH, RIGHT? It really makes you stop and think, doesn't it? I've been in this trade for almost 15 years and I swear everyone I've worked with ALWAYS pushes for the hardest mix they can get. But that study lines up with something I noticed on a job a few years back, we had these old soft bricks just crumbling around some new repointing that was way too stiff. The hard mortar wouldn't give at ALL and it just cracked the bricks instead. It's like the mortar needs to be the weak link to protect the actual brick, not the other way around. Now I'm way more careful to match the mortar strength to the brick, even if the old timers give me the side eye for it.

kevinw9414h ago

Man, I gotta disagree with you on this one @cora_west5. Hard mortar has been the standard for a reason. If you use a soft mix, it just washes out and crumbles over time, then you're repointing every few years. That old brick was probably already shot anyway, not the mortar's fault.