Old timer told me to wet my bricks before laying them

Last summer on a job in Austin, this retired mason who was watching me work said I needed to wet my bricks first. I figured he was just old school and it was 95 degrees out, so I skipped it. By the end of the day, the mortar was drying way too fast and I had cracks forming in three spots. Had to tear out a whole section the next morning. He was right, dry bricks in hot weather just suck the moisture right out of the mix. Anybody else run into this or am I the only one who had to learn the hard way?

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mila_jones395mo ago

nah i gotta disagree with you here. i've been laying brick for years in texas heat and never wet my bricks. sounds like you just had bad mortar mix or didn't work fast enough. that old timer stuff is more about superstition than science.

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the_richard5mo ago

Tbh @mila_jones39 you might be onto something, I used to swear by wet bricks but now I'm rethinking it.

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