My mortar mix went bad mid-wall and I nearly threw the trowel

Last Thursday I was laying a garden wall out in Aurora and about 20 feet in the mortar started crumbling like sand. Turns out my cement bags from March had gotten damp in the shed, I never checked the dates. I had to rip out 6 courses and remix with fresh Portland I grabbed at the local yard. That wasted 3 hours and maybe 60 bucks of material, but it taught me to always do a small test batch the night before. Do you guys store your bags on pallets off the concrete, or am I the only one who learned this the hard way?

2 comments

2 Comments

hunt.leo27d ago

Ha! Yeah @hugo236 knows what's up, I once mixed a batch that looked fine but turned into Play-Doh halfway through.

hugo23627d ago

Learned that exact lesson myself a few years back. Bags on a pallet, wrapped in plastic, off the concrete floor. Even then I test a small batch if the bag feels stiff or the date is old. That crumbly mix will ruin your whole day. Better to waste 20 minutes mixing a test than 3 hours tearing out a wall.