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Pro tip: the guy at the supply yard said he wets his bricks the night before, and now I get why
Was picking up a pallet of red clay brick at the yard over in Elk Grove last Tuesday and got talking to an old guy loading his truck next to me. I mentioned I kept fighting mortar drying too fast on hot afternoons, joints going crumbly before I could tool them. He said he hoses down his brick the evening before a lay and lets them sit overnight, says dry brick sucks the water right out of the mortar. I tried it on a small garden wall job that week, soaked them down around 7pm, laid them the next morning. Night and day difference. The mortar held its workability way longer, I got clean joints without rushing, and I barely had to re-temper the board. Cost me 10 minutes with a hose and a tarp to keep the sun off. I always thought wetting brick was overkill unless it was crazy hot, but now I'm a believer. Anybody else do this or is it just an old timer trick that dies with him?
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