Bricks or blocks soaked before laying, and joints filled
Why — act while you have leverage
A dry brick drinks the water out of the mortar and the joint never gains strength. It is invisible in a finished wall and shows up as damp patches and loose plaster later.
What to look at
- Bricks visibly wet through, not just on the surface
- Vertical joints full — probe one with a trowel edge
- Course level checked with a line, not by eye
How to check it yourself
Bricks are soaked until air bubbles stop rising, not splashed on the stack. Vertical joints are filled rather than left hollow, and the mortar mix matches the specification instead of being weakened to stretch the cement. Kerala sites often use laterite blocks, which are far more absorbent than burnt clay and need correspondingly more soaking.
Where this comes from: IS 2212:1991 — Code of Practice for Brickworks (indian standard or building code)
More masonry and wall checks
- Photograph before this is covered
- Masonry cured, and lintels bear the specified length
- Laterite blocks: soaked properly, and laid with the right mortar
- Burnt clay bricks: water absorption within the standard
- Concrete blocks: cured and aged before they go into a wall
- AAC blocks: thin-bed mortar, and never soaked
- Fly ash bricks: to the standard, and the right mortar for them
- Mortar measured by gauge box, not by shovel
- Sand bulking allowed for before the mix is batched
- Mortar used within its working time, and never re-tempered