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My uncle told me to use a 3/8 inch joint on a garden wall in Chicago last summer. The frost heave wrecked it in 4 months.
He swore by it for 30 years, said it was stronger. Laid 500 bricks with his method. This winter, half the wall is leaning. Should have stuck with the 1/2 inch we all use here. Anyone else in a cold climate had a 'trusted' tip backfire like that?
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val40616d ago
Wasn't there a whole article about this in a masonry magazine? They said a bigger mortar joint acts like a tiny shock absorber for when the ground freezes and moves. Your uncle's wall was probably super strong, but too stiff to handle the push from the ice. That's why the local rule of thumb exists, it's been tested by decades of winters. Really sucks to put in all that work just to see it fail.
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