Can you lay bricks in winter or the rain in Melbourne?

Short answer: yes, bricklaying carries on through a Melbourne winter, but the weather changes how it has to be done. Mortar is the part that cares about the cold and the wet.

The trouble with cold and rain

Mortar needs to cure, and curing is a chemical reaction that slows right down as it gets cold and stops if it freezes.

• In a frost, water in fresh mortar can freeze and ruin the bond before it ever sets
• Heavy rain washes cement out of fresh joints and stains the face of the bricks
• A saturated brick will not pull moisture from the mortar, so the bond stays weak
• Wet, soft mortar under the weight of more courses can squeeze and slump

None of this means downing tools. It means working with the weather instead of against it.

How we work through a Melbourne winter

There is plenty you can do to keep laying safely once it turns cold.

• Keep brick stacks and sand covered and off the wet ground
• Hold off laying through actual frost or steady rain, then pick it back up
• Cover finished work each night so it does not get rained on or frosted
• Tweak the mix so the mortar is not too wet to start with
• Build to sensible daily heights so fresh mortar is not overloaded

A good crew reads the sky and plans the day around it. Some mornings you start late and make it up in the afternoon.

When it is better to wait

Sometimes the right call is to stop for a few hours or a day.

• A hard frost forecast overnight on fresh, uncovered work
• Rain heavy enough to wash joints and flood the cavity
• Bricks and mortar that are already saturated through

A short delay costs a day. Mortar that froze or washed out costs a rebuild, so it is no contest.

If you have a job you are hoping to get done over the cooler months, send through a photo and your suburb and we will give you an honest read on timing.