Took me 4 hours to figure out why my mortar was setting too fast

I'm working a retaining wall job over in Oakdale and the mix kept going stiff in the wheelbarrow after like 10 minutes. Thought it was the heat or my water ratio was off. After dumping three batches and cussing up a storm, I finally noticed my bag of type S was actually from last year and had been sitting in a damp corner of the garage. Moisture got in and it was already partially set. Whole morning shot for something so dumb. Anyone else ever get tripped up by old bags acting fresh?

3 comments

3 Comments

jordan_young22d ago

Realized the same thing a few months back when my concrete mix started acting weird halfway through a small patio pour. It's funny how easy it is to overlook something that obvious when you're in the middle of working fast and getting frustrated. This whole thing reminds me of how so many small problems in life come down to just looking closer at the basics before trying fancy fixes. Like my truck's check engine light that turned out to be a loose gas cap.

the_lucas19d ago

Man that is brutal. I had a buddy who swore his bags were fine and spent a whole afternoon fighting his mix before he realized the pallet had been sitting uncovered on the job site for two months. He said the bottom bags were basically bricks and the top ones looked normal so he never thought to check. That moisture sneak gets you every time. Did you end up needing to buy new bags or did you salvage any of it?

valh3222d ago

Check the nozzle on your mixer hose too... they can clog up and mess with your water flow.