Why didn't my bricks stick to the mortar? I used Quikrete Mortar Mix and laid the bricks two days ago...?
Question:I decided to jiggle one to make sure the mortar and brick bonded well and it moved!! A ton of the bricks will jiggle a bit and a few I can pick up all the way! It took me all day long to lay and level the bricks. They are grey hollow bricks that I'm adding to a retaining wall that never got finished. Rebar and concrete will fill the wall once I lay the remainder of the bricks. My husband and father-in-law are stumped as well. I followed all the directions and even experimented with much more moist mortar yesterday than I used on Sunday with similar results. What did I do wrong with the mortar?
Answers:
Curing mortar is a process whereby its chemical action takes place over a course of days and results in a hardening of the surface. It should be kept moist for the duration of this process, which can take up to six days. Cover mortared areas with sheets of plastic or wet burlap. Once it has set enough so that it can't be washed away, it should be wet with hose water a couple of times a day, especially in hot weather. Heat can make mortar dry too quickly before it becomes sufficiently hardened and cohesive. Extreme cold can also weaken the mixture by disintegrating it before it has cured.
You probly should have bought regular mortar cement and sand and mixed it yourself because I had a simular problem also and thats what I did and it worked for the better,
especialy on large projects . hope things work out..
anytime you are using mortar you need to wet the product as well as getting enough water in the mortar.
angelmi is right you should have soaked the blocks in water before installing the dry blocks pulled the moisture from the grout causing a separated joint
If you look at bricklayers they don't sit around and water each brick so i don't believe that because you didn't water down the bricks it didn't work. I think the problem is with your mortar. Quick in the tile of your choice of mortar is more than likely the problem. It sets up to quickly and is not ideal for setting bricks. You can find at your local home center a portland cement call type "N" which you mix with a "masonry" sand (don't use just any old sand) and water. And don't forget to use some type of brick ties to help hold it all together. "I'll say it one more time you DO NOT need to water your brick. You just need to use thr right mortar that is designed for laying brick not quickcrete.
u should have used a product called fortifier,its a milky liquied with the morter
Dry bricks absorb the water from the mortar, Sometimes the air, brick or mortar is too dry. so to be sure keep lots of water and use it liberally. Soak the brick, make the mortar right and cover with wet burlap for a day or two. This should work fine.
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