Mortar mix went wrong on a big wall job in St. Louis last October

I was working on a retaining wall near Forest Park, about 60 feet long. Mixed up a batch of mortar without checking the sand first, turned out it had too much fines in it. Wall started cracking after three days and I had to tear down 12 feet of it and start over. Anyone else ever get bit by bad sand from a new supplier?

2 comments

2 Comments

charlie_allen27d ago

Cracking after three days sounds more like a curing or base prep issue than bad sand. Some fines in the mix might have made it weaker, but tearing down 12 feet over that seems like a stretch. Might be worth looking at your water ratio and drainage instead of blaming the supplier.

nina14727d ago

Are you sure tearing down 12 feet isn't a bit of an overreaction?