Tried hydraulic mortar vs. traditional lime mix on a retaining wall last week - never going back

I was working a 60-foot retaining wall job outside Portland and decided to test hydraulic mortar on one end and our usual lime mix on the other. The hydraulic mortar set up in about 3 hours versus waiting overnight for the lime to harden enough to keep working. By day two, the hydraulic side was solid and I had to drill for anchor pins while the lime side still crumbled when I tapped it. Anyone else run into this and what did you switch to?

2 comments

2 Comments

wendysmith17d ago

Drove me absolutely nuts with lime mixes on my last couple projects. I had a retaining wall collapse two years ago because the lime hadn't cured enough before a heavy rain hit, and I had to tear out ten feet and start over. Switched to hydraulic and never looked back, especially for anything over three feet tall. That overnight wait was killing my schedule on bigger jobs. Now I keep a pallet of hydraulic mortar in the shed for anything structural.

reeseanderson17d ago

Yeah the overnight cure is brutal when rain's in the forecast.