Assuming of course they really are the real mcoy so to speak. I recall
seeing somebody kind of painting water on the surface to be mortared many
years ago, so the wetting rather than soaking sounds about right to me.
Brian

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This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please!
"Andrew Gabriel" wrote in message
news
In article ,
writes:
Hi All,

My wife came home yesterday, and wasn't happy with the builder's
blockwork.=
Specifically she felt that the mortar wasn't bonded to the blocks
properl=
y as he hadn't soaked the blocks before laying them.

I've had a quick Google to see if this has been answered here before (as
I =
seem sure it must have)), but can't find anything.

Should Thermalite blocks be soaked before use?

My wife says my FIL (who was an Architechtural Technican and knew stuff)
us=
ed to soak his as this prevents them from immediately sucking all the
moist=
ure out of the mortar joints and messing up the bond.

I had a quick Google last night, and when I could find nothing here read
a =
post in a less august forum.


The general concensus from most of the people (who mostly claimed to be
bri=
ckies, etc). Was don't soak the blocks (as it can lead to cracking when
the=
y dry out), but use a wet mix and get them down quick (one or two did say
t=
hey had been on site and seen them being soaked). But then, they may be
mo=
re interested in how quick they can get paid and move onto the next job,
ra=
ther than the longevity or otherwise of the structures they build.

What does the team think?

Thermal blocks must be dry when used. They expand enough when
wet so that when they later dry, they will crack in half.
This happens when left uncovered out in the rain on building
sites before use. You can moisten the surface for plastering,
but don't soak the whole block.

Mortar does bond to brick and blockwork, but the main function
is to hold them apart, and blockwork itself doesn't have much
tensile strength, so there's little point in forming a strong
bond, as you would just pull the block apart under any
significant tensile forces (as happens above).

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]