Took me 6 hours to fix a simple mortar mix problem on a retaining wall job

I was building a retaining wall for a client in Phoenix last month and the mortar kept cracking after two days. Thought it was my technique. Turns out the sand I bought was way too fine, basically dust. Had to tear down 4 feet of wall and start over. Has anyone else had sand ruin their mix like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

ruby5611mo ago

Mortar sand needs a coarser grade with varied particle sizes to actually hold together.

reese_singh871mo agoMost Upvoted

Ha fair point, I've definitely lost sleep over worse things tbh 😅

laura2111mo ago

Ask @ruby561 if this is really keeping you up at night.