Old timer told me to butter my joints on a frosty morning back in 2001

I laughed it off and kept slapping them dry till the whole wall bowed and I had to tear it down by noon next day. The cold mortar just couldn't bond right without that extra spread. Any of you guys still do that trick or is it just old habits dying off?

3 comments

3 Comments

troy8321mo ago

Pretty sure that old timer was your grandpa trying to save you from a real headache. Dry mortar on a cold morning is basically just powder pretending to be concrete. You learned that lesson the hard way with a whole wall coming down. I still butter my joints when it's below freezing, works like a charm every time. Guess some old tricks are just common sense dressed up in work boots.

laurac961mo ago

Buttered joints at 35 degrees saved my hide last February. I was doing a retaining wall and the mortar was setting up like chalk no matter what I did. Threw on some warm mixing water and buttered each stone face before laying it. That wall's still standing two years later with no cracks.

jordanc3216d ago

Well I'll be. I always thought buttering joints was just one of those old wives' tales, but hearing this and troy832's story makes me think I was wrong to dismiss it. Might have to try that trick on my next cold weather project.