Thought those fancy mortar additives were a gimmick, but a job in Cleveland changed my mind

I've been laying brick for 12 years and always swore by just water and type N, figured the extra stuff was just upselling. Then I had to repoint a 1920s church wall last October in the rain and the regular mix kept washing out before I could finish. Has anyone else found a specific additive that actually made your work hold up better in bad weather?

2 comments

2 Comments

dakota_singh3917d ago

Buddy of mine runs a crew out of Detroit, had a similar problem on a old warehouse last fall. He was using a standard type N mix and the walls were so damp from a leaky roof, the mortar just slid right off the trowel. He had to bag up and drive 40 minutes back to his supplier for a bottle of this liquid polymer fortifier. He said it was like night and day, the stuff stuck like glue even with water dripping down the brick. Ended up using it on all three other walls and finished the whole job without any washouts, saved him from having to tarp the whole building.

janac5917d ago

Did you read that article in Masonry Monthly about the same kind of polymer stuff being tested on those old lighthouses out east... sounds like it's really catching on.