ivangrant•3mo agoMost Upvoted

Warning: My mortar mix went totally wrong on a chimney rebuild in Albany

Honestly, I was repointing an old brick chimney last Tuesday and the Type N mix I bought felt way too sandy, like it wouldn't hold at all. Tbh I had to stop, dump the whole batch, and run to a different supplier for fresh bags, which set me back half a day. Has anyone else had a bad batch of pre-mix from a big box store recently, and how do you check it before you start?

3 comments

3 Comments

johnson.adam16d ago

That sandy premix problem is real. Angela's right. Haydens point about sugar is interesting but I've had more luck just feeling the mix between my fingers. If it crumbles apart too fast or feels like straight beach sand, it's bad. One time I opened three bags from the same pallet and they were all different textures. Now I always grab bags from the middle of the stack, not the top. The top ones get exposed to moisture and the binder breaks down.

angela_knight3mo ago

That sandy pre-mix is the worst.

hayden_ross823mo ago

The texture is off because the sugar isn't dissolved properly. It feels gritty on your tongue, not smooth like it should. A good mix needs the right amount of liquid from the start.