Old timer told me to soak my bricks before laying them

Back in 2012 I was working a job in Portland with this guy named Frank. He was maybe 65, been laying brick since the 70s. He swore up and down you gotta soak every brick in water before you lay it. Said dry bricks suck the moisture out of the mortar too fast. I followed his advice for like two years. Then I did a job with a younger crew who laughed at me. They said modern mortar has additives for that. I tested it on my next project. Soaked half the bricks, left half dry. You know what? Frank was right. The soaked side had way less cracking after the first freeze. Still do it to this day. Has anyone else run into old school methods that actually worked better?

1 comments

1 Comment

davis.gavin29d ago

My buddy Mike out in Colorado tried that same thing with a retaining wall he built last summer. He had this old timer neighbor stop by and tell him the same thing about soaking bricks. Mike thought he was nuts at first. But he decided to try it on one section just to see what would happen. That was maybe eight months ago and after that hard freeze they had in January, the dry brick section is already showing cracks in the mortar joints. The soaked part looks brand new. Mike called me up laughing about it, said he should have listened to the old guy from the start. Makes you wonder how many other little tricks we've lost over the years.