Just realized my mix water temp was way off after a cold job in Buffalo last November

I was laying brick on a retaining wall near Lake Erie and the mortar kept stiffening up in 15 minutes flat, took me three tries to figure out the water straight from the hose was near freezing. Has anyone else had mortar set too fast from cold water or was I just being dumb?

2 comments

2 Comments

kim.zara18d ago

Oh man, that's rough! I've totally been there though, mixing mortar in near-freezing temps and wondering why it's setting up like quick-dry concrete. You're not dumb, that's just a classic rookie move we all hit eventually. Cold water makes the mortar grab way faster than you'd expect, especially when you're working next to a lake like Erie that's throwing its own chill at everything.

karen_roberts418d agoMost Upvoted

It's funny how that works in so many things, right? Like when you try to make dinner faster by cranking up the heat and end up burning everything. We all learn the hard way that sometimes you gotta slow down to speed up.