jakeb25•26d agoMost Upvoted

TIL the hard way why you don't stack wet bricks on a slope

I was working a retaining wall job out in Bakersfield last summer and it had rained the night before. Stacked about 8 courses of wet block on a slight grade and the whole thing slid sideways like a domino chain. Had to tear it all down and start fresh with dry bricks and a level base. Any of you guys had a wall fail from moisture?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_charles26d ago

Bet moisture helped those bricks bond tighter together so they moved as one solid wall instead of crumbling apart brick by brick. Sounds like your base prep was the real issue not the wet bricks.

grant.nina26d ago

Three years ago I built a little garden wall that still leans like the Tower of Pisa because I thought slapping wet bricks on a dirt base was fine. Turns out I basically made a giant mud brick that just shifted as a whole rectangle when the ground settled. Your comment hits hard because my base prep was literally just "looks flat enough". So yeah, wet bricks were the least of my problems, my base was basically a pancake of shame. Still standing though, just with a 15 degree tilt for character.

rileyellis12d ago

Man, @the_charles just called out my entire foundation career with that brick bonding observation.