Loading…
6
Hot take: using the wrong mortar mix for 6 months cost me two jobs and a callback
I was mixing type S on a chimney repoint in Allentown back in March because it was what I had on the truck, and the joints started spalling by July. Switched to type O for the soft old brick and the same wall stopped crumbling within a few weeks of cure time. The homeowner sent me photos of the first job and said she could chip the mortar with her thumbnail, and I had to eat the whole thing. Your mileage may vary by brick and climate, but if you're working pre-1930s masonry, check the mix before you load the hawk. Anyone else get burned by grabbing whatever bag was closest?
2 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In2 Comments
grant8567d ago
Add in the fact that type S gets crazy hard and won't let the wall breathe at all, so once water gets in there during a freeze it's got nowhere to go but out through the brick face. @amyh21 nailed it on the freeze thaw thing, that's the part that turns a soft old brick into dust by spring.
7
amyh217d ago
The thumbnail test on a finished repoint is brutal, I would've died right there on the phone. Six months of type S eating away at 100 year old brick in Allentown is wild, that freeze thaw cycle must've chewed it up.
4