My buddy swears by wetting the bricks before laying and I laughed at him... until I tried it.

Been doing masonry for about 8 years now, mostly residential patios and retaining walls. Always laid my bricks dry because that's how my old boss taught me. My friend Mike who does commercial work kept telling me to dunk them in a bucket first, especially in this 95 degree summer we had. Figured he was just being picky. Finally tried it on a small garden wall project in my own yard last month. The mortar didn't dry out in 10 minutes like usual. Actually had time to level things. Now I feel like an idiot for arguing with him for 3 years. Anyone else have a stubborn habit they finally broke?

2 comments

2 Comments

webb.jordan1mo ago

Wait, wouldn't wet bricks actually shrink later and crack your mortar?

marymorgan1mo ago

@webb.jordan actually that's a pretty common thing people say... but it's more about the opposite problem. If you lay bricks dry they suck all the water out of the mortar too fast and it never cures right, so you get more shrinkage and cracks later. The wet bricks just keep the mortar from drying out before it sets. I've pulled apart some old dry laid walls where the mortar just crumbled because it never hydrated properly.