That Tuesday last spring when the rain poured for 6 hours straight and I kept laying brick anyway

Everyone says you never lay wet brick, but on a $12,000 retaining wall job in Nashville where the client was breathing down my neck daily, I found that a dry rag and a tight tarp over the mortar pan let me keep going while neighboring crews packed up, and the wall set clean without a single crack has anyone else had a boss or client push them into working through weather that was supposedly a bad idea?

2 comments

2 Comments

taylor.phoenix19d ago

Wait, is it really that big a deal for a wall to last two years? I've seen brick laid in perfect weather that started flaking apart after three winters. Seems like concrete and mortar chemistry matters more than a few extra drops of water. I'm not saying you should work in a hurricane, but some guys act like a light drizzle means the whole job's gonna fall into a sinkhole. There's a difference between common sense and old wives' tales that contractors use to justify taking a day off.

paul23321d ago

Yeah the "dry rag and tight tarp over the mortar pan" trick is legit. I had a similar situation on a block wall in Birmingham where the forecast said light drizzle but it turned into a steady rain, and I just kept going with a big tarp rigged up over my mixing spot. Guy was paying me cash and needed it done before his fence guy showed up, so I didn't stop. Wall's still standing two years later.