Hand mixed mud vs. bagged mortar for small jobs, which side are you on?

I got into it with a guy on a jobsite last week over this. I was doing a little repair on a chimney in Fayetteville, maybe 50 bricks worth, and I just grabbed a bag of pre-mixed mortar from the lumberyard. He shows up with his wheelbarrow and starts mixing sand and cement from scratch, saying the bagged stuff is too weak and won't match the old lime mortar. I get his point about strength, but for a quick patch I swear the pre-mixed sets up fine and saves me 15 minutes. I used it and it's held up through a few rainstorms so far, no cracks. What do you guys do when you're just patching an old wall? Do you stick with the traditional mix or take the easy route with bags?

3 comments

3 Comments

verawhite21d ago

Oh man, you ran into the Masonry Police! I bet he had a trowel older than you and a recipe book from 1920. Look, I get it, for a full historic restoration where every brick matters, sure, mix from scratch. But for a 50 brick patch on a chimney? Gimme the bagged stuff every time. My time is worth more than standing there stirring mud for twenty minutes, and the chimney doesn't know the difference between my bag mortar and his fancy custom blend. As long as it's not cracking or falling out after a rain, which yours isn't, you won the day.

carter.gavin21d ago

@scott.jana nailed it, bagged stuff can fail on old soft brick after a few winters.

scott.jana21d ago

the chimney doesn't know the difference" - I dunno about that. I've seen bagged stuff crumble on old soft brick after a couple winters... I'd rather spend the 20 minutes mixing than come back next year to do it all over again.