SOAKING BRICKS BEFORE CONSTRUCTION

A Note: An interesting read on why bricks are soaked in water before they are used for construction.

Most table mold bricks are soaked in water 5-10 minutes in a bucket before construction so that they retain some amount of moisture in them. So when a layer of concrete is applied over them, they don’t absorb the water from the mortar and hence reduce the shrinkage of the mortar. What happens when the mortar dries up? It cracks of course!

The function of mortar in a brick wall is not to act as an adhesive… Rather it is used as a leveling agent. So when we build a brick wall, the mortar is not a bonding agent. Well to some effect it bonds, but that is not its prime purpose. We do not wet wire cut bricks as such. When you think of it practically, when bricks are dipped in water and mortar applied over them, there is a chemical reaction that takes place that leads to the formation of a white substance that stains the bricks. Therefore it is advised that if one is going for an exposed brick wall, one must avoid the dipping-in-water procedure.Therefore when constructing an exposed wall make sure that the cement slurry is bit more watery do avoid the crack formation.