Cold mortar on a windy Tuesday in Wichita taught me a lesson

I was out on a job near the old train depot in Wichita, laying a garden wall for a client, when the wind picked up out of nowhere. The mortar I mixed that morning started crusting over in the wheelbarrow within an hour because the air was so dry and gusty. I kept trying to use it anyway, and the joints came out crumbly, not smooth at all. After the third retry, I finally dumped the whole batch and remixed with a bit more water and a wet tarp over the barrow. It took an extra 40 minutes, but the next wall section looked clean and held firm. I learned to check the weather forecast before I start mixing, not halfway through. Has anyone else dealt with wind ruining a batch, or do you just add more water from the get-go?

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ivan87315d ago

Adding more water from the jump is a band-aid, not a fix, you still get weak joints if the wind is stealing moisture too fast. The real trick is slowing down the drying, so a wet tarp or even a burlap sack over the mix does more than extra water ever will. Wind is the enemy, not the mortar, so treat it like one.