Pro tip: check your mortar mix water source, especially on old sites

I was working on a 1920s house in Springfield last month and the brick was just not bonding right. The homeowner said they'd had the same problem with a patio last year. Turns out, they were using well water that was crazy high in iron and minerals. My foreman brought a test kit and the pH was way off. Has anyone else run into bad water messing up a batch?

3 comments

3 Comments

mitchell.wade18d agoMost Upvoted

That bit about the well water is a perfect example of something I see all the time. People forget that the basic stuff, like water, isn't always just neutral background material. It's like when your coffee tastes terrible and you blame the beans, but it was your funky tap water the whole time. We assume the simple ingredient is fine, and it's usually the one that ruins everything.

robinl9018d ago

Wait, you have well water?

taylorknight17d ago

Totally see this with cheap cooking oil messing up a whole meal. You get good ingredients but use that old, weird tasting oil and suddenly everything's off. It's the simple, boring thing you don't think about that has the most power to wreck stuff.