Old foreman told me my mortar was too wet, took me 2 years to realize he was right

Back on a job in Tulsa, this guy named Ray came over and said my mix looked like soup. I was stubborn and kept doing it my way for almost 2 years. Then I started paying attention to how much my bricks were slipping and how long the joints took to set up. I cut the water back by a good 20% and suddenly my lines were cleaner and I wasn't wasting time fixing mistakes. Now I aim for that dryer consistency where the mortar holds its shape but still spreads easy. Anyone else have a senior guy give you crap about your mix and later find out he was spot on?

3 comments

3 Comments

waderamirez4d ago

Reminds me of the time I kept adding too much ice to whiskey sours.

michael8035d ago

Back in '09 I was framing a deck and an old carpenter kept telling me my nail gun was shooting too deep. Took me six months to realize he was right after I started splitting every other board.

thomasb415d ago

Are you really telling me that a 20% reduction in water is the difference between night and day? I've been mixing by feel for years and I just adjust as I go, never found it to be that big of a deal. Maybe I just got lucky with my technique or something, but I don't know if changing the water amount is what makes or breaks your work.