Laterite blocks: soaked properly, and laid with the right mortar
Applies only if your house has laterite block walls.
Laterite is what most of Kerala builds with and it drinks far more water than a burnt clay brick. Laid dry it pulls the water straight out of the mortar and the joint never gains strength — the wall looks finished and is holding itself together with dust.
What to look at
- Blocks wet through the body, not damp on the face only
- A block laid within minutes of coming out of the water
- No crumbling at the edges when handled
How to check it yourself
Laterite is soaked thoroughly, not splashed. Because it is so absorbent, the mortar is kept slightly wetter than for clay brick and the block is laid while still damp, never after it has dried again in the sun. Blocks are cut and dressed before soaking rather than after. Reject blocks with visible clay seams or that crumble under a thumbnail.
Where this comes from: IS 3620:1979 — Laterite stone block for masonry; IS 2250:1981 — Cement mortars for masonry (indian standard or building code)
More masonry and wall checks
- Photograph before this is covered
- Bricks or blocks soaked before laying, and joints filled
- Masonry cured, and lintels bear the specified length
- 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