Finally figured out why my corners kept blowing out

Was working on a garden wall last week over near Elm Street and kept having the same issue with the corners cracking after a day or two. A retired mason stopped by to chat and asked if I was wetting my bricks before I cut them. I told him nah, I just cut dry and he said that was the whole problem. Now I'm keeping a spray bottle nearby and soaking the cut line first and it's made a huge difference. Anyone else run into this or am I just late to the party on this one?

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evaperez4mo ago

Oh wow, that's a good tip but I bet there's another piece to this puzzle nobody's talking about. What about the weather on the day you're laying those bricks? If it's hot and dry, the mortar can shrink faster than the bricks and cause those same cracks. Maybe try misting the whole wall lightly after you finish for the day to slow down the drying.

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faith124mo ago

My uncle tried laying bricks during a surprise heatwave last July and the whole wall looked cracked by the next morning. He ended up covering the whole thing with damp burlap sacks for two days straight and it actually held up fine after that. Might not look pretty but hey, whatever works for keeping those bricks from turning into a patchwork mess.

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