-What happens when the wrong mortar color is delivered and installed? Recently, I was building a new house and put in my brick and mortar order with the brick company. I ordered a mortar color called "Antique Buff" that is a light, sandy color.

I was out of town when the mortar was delivered, and when I returned to see the house, the mason had bricked half of the house with the wrong mortar color! It turns out that the brick company had made an error and delivered "Buff" instead of "Antique Buff" mortar color. "Buff" is a lot darker and greener than the "Antique Buff".

Fortunately, the brick company admitted their mistake and paid for everything, including new brick, new mortar, disposal of the old bricks, and the $5,000 mason's bill. Note that the mason had to tear out the 6,000 bricks he had laid! When you tear out brick that has already been laid, you can not use it again! It all had to go to the landfill.

The lesson here is that I could have saved a lot of time and hassle by having someone check the materials that were delivered to my site, prior to installation. This is just another example of how every detail must be double checked during an construction project, including materials that you expect to be delivered properly by your brick company.

Former builder and instructor of "Save Time and Money in Home Remodeling" cont. ed. course at Emory University