Spent a whole afternoon fixing a wall I messed up 20 years ago

I was in Dayton patching an old retaining wall and realized my mortar mix from back in '04 was way too sandy, it just crumbled when I touched it. Had to chip out about 30 feet and redo it with the right ratio, which taught me to never rush the mix again.

2 comments

2 Comments

the_sam4d ago

You ever have one of those projects where you realize you were just winging it with no clue what you were doing? Reminds me of when I tried to patch a hole in my driveway back in '08 using straight Portland cement and water, no sand at all. That stuff turned into a hard but brittle mess that cracked the first winter. Had to jackhammer it out and start over with actual concrete mix.

butler.mark4d ago

and @the_sam that driveway story hits close to home. I did something similar with a brick planter in '06, thought throwing extra cement would make it stronger but all I got was a pile of dust after the first freeze. Funny how we all learn the same hard way that concrete mix ratios aren't just suggestions.