A job site comment about my buttering technique stung, then made sense

Last Tuesday on a retaining wall job in Tacoma, a younger guy with a laser level watched me lay a course and said my mortar was too wet, that I was smearing instead of setting. I almost brushed it off because I've been doing this since 1998 and my walls hold fine. But he pulled up a close-up photo of my joints and showed me the hairline shrinkage cracks forming at the edges. I checked three walls I did last month and sure enough, the dry spots were all there. He's got me trying a drier mix with a shorter working time now. Has anyone else switched their consistency after years of habit, or is this just a trend with the new generation?

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nelson.cameron14d ago

That photo of the hairline cracks is a fair point, but did he factor in how that drier mix handles on a hot day or with a gusty wind? I'm curious if that shorter working time ever bites him back on a big pour.