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Rant: I started soaking my trowel in a bucket of water between courses and now I'm wondering if I've been wrong for 12 years
I was on a job in Amarillo last month laying a running bond on a garage wall and the mortar kept setting up on my trowel faster than I could spread it. It was 96 degrees and I was fighting it all morning. A young guy on the crew named Devin said his old boss used to keep a bucket of water next to the board and just dip the trowel between every few bricks. I laughed at him at first. Then I did it for a course and the mortar slid off the blade like butter instead of gumming up. I finished the wall about 40 minutes faster and the joints came out cleaner too. But now I'm second guessing because my old foreman drilled it into me that water on the trowel rusts the steel and weakens the mix. Devin's bucket idea works but is it actually bad for the tool long term? Anyone here soak their trowel or is that a rookie move that bites you later?
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hannahw3020d ago
Water on the trowel doesn't rust steel in any way that matters, because you're using the tool every day and it dries off in minutes. Rust needs sitting water for hours or days, and a wet trowel at the end of the day wiped down and put away is not going to pit out on you. That old foreman was repeating something he heard and never tested. As for weakening the mix, the tiny bit of water that clings to the blade is nothing compared to what you'd add by accident pouring from a hose. What actually weakens mortar is adding water to bring back a mix that's already started to set, and that's a whole different problem than a damp trowel. Devin's trick is old as the trade, especially down south where it's hot. I'd keep the bucket and just dry the trowel off before you quit for the day.
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