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I finally figured out my mortar was too wet after 12 years of mixing by eye
I was laying a garden wall in Reno last week and a brick slid a quarter inch out of line while I was tapping it down, so I grabbed my trowel and the mud just oozed off the board like pancake batter. Turns out my dad's old "mix till it holds a peak" rule had me adding way too much water for years, and a guy at the supply yard showed me the real test is whether it slides off a trowel held sideways in 3 seconds. How do you all check your mix before you start laying, or am I the only one who guessed it by feel this long?
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perez.thea23d ago
That 3 second trowel test is the real deal but you can go even further with it. Once it slides off right, stick your trowel straight down in the mud and pull it out slow, the groove it leaves should hold its shape without the sides caving in. If the walls of that groove slump back together, you're still too wet no matter what the slide test says. Also pay attention to how the mud grabs the brick when you press it down, if it squishes out the sides easy you already know before you even tap it.
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