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Why does everyone say you need a full mortar bed on every CMU block?
I know this goes against what most guys on here will say, but I stopped face shell bedding every block on a 40 foot retaining wall job in Tucson back in April and it held fine. The engineer on the job actually told me full bedding is overkill for most residential walls and most of the old timers learned it that way because back then block was cruder. I still do full beds on anything structural or load bearing, don't get me wrong, but for a standard garden wall or a fence footer course I've been running face shells only with a solid grout pour every 4 feet and I haven't had one crack or shift on 6 jobs since. The trick was buying a $30 mortar hoe and mixing my type S a touch wetter than the bag says, which let it spread into the webs without me fighting it. I know some of you are going to tell me I'm cutting corners and maybe on commercial work I am, but for a homeowner's backyard wall this saved me about 3 hours per 100 blocks. Has anyone else tried face shell bedding on non structural walls or am I the only one out here doing this?
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