TIL a mortar mix problem cost me 3 days on a single garden wall

Honestly, I thought I had my ratios down perfect but the mortar kept crumbling after 24 hours. Took me two days of redoing sections and calling my old foreman to realize the sand I grabbed from the yard was way too fine. He said 'that's play sand, not sharp sand' and I felt like an idiot. Third day I mixed a fresh batch with the right stuff and it bonded like it should. Anyone else get tripped up by a simple material swap?

2 comments

2 Comments

anthony_wells11d ago

Did you wash the sand first too? I've had fines dust mess up a mix bad, a quick rinse can save a lot of headache next time.

derekgibson11d agoMost Upvoted

Wait, you mean you just dump it in dry and mix? I used to just grab sand from the bag and throw it in, figured a rinse was just extra work for no reason. Then I had a batch of countertop mix that came out all crumbly and dusty, like the cement couldn't even grab onto the aggregate. Spent a whole weekend grinding it down and patching voids. Next time I rinsed the sand first and it was night and day, the mix was way smoother and actually held together. I get why you do it now, that fines really do mess with the chemistry.