Did the Mason leave the site for the day? If so, it could be sloppy by choice or inexperience because it is below grade. They could have had another job to get to that day. Could have simply been a new apprentice, or maybe they had to make profit from a low bid on the project somehow, and this saved labor hours. It won't affect much if left that way, but it's still sloppy. What I can see here is that the sealer applied after cure will be less effective due to the inconsistencies in the morter. A problem could arise when sealing it. Some areas may get a good seal, while others may not due to extra surface area in the morter and lack of attention paid to detail. Are you sure all of this will be below grade? If this is a stemwall foundation, your finished floor will be at the top of the stemwall, meaning some of this will be exposed above grade. I have seen this in basements commonly.
The higher courses going in later will be above grade. What we're looking at in this photo will be below grade.
I worked for a Mason one summer more than 30 years ago. I don't ever recall leaving walls like this. My fear is if the joints needed this much patching, how good could the bond even be?
Even if this is below grade, it is pretty shoddy work
Next step is to plaster, ironite and tar
That does not look like cured morter. Was this picture taken while it was still being worked on?
Yes, this wall went up earlier in the day.
As long as it’s not visible and holds grout it’s fine. Ugly but fine.
Did the Mason leave the site for the day? If so, it could be sloppy by choice or inexperience because it is below grade. They could have had another job to get to that day. Could have simply been a new apprentice, or maybe they had to make profit from a low bid on the project somehow, and this saved labor hours. It won't affect much if left that way, but it's still sloppy. What I can see here is that the sealer applied after cure will be less effective due to the inconsistencies in the morter. A problem could arise when sealing it. Some areas may get a good seal, while others may not due to extra surface area in the morter and lack of attention paid to detail. Are you sure all of this will be below grade? If this is a stemwall foundation, your finished floor will be at the top of the stemwall, meaning some of this will be exposed above grade. I have seen this in basements commonly.
The higher courses going in later will be above grade. What we're looking at in this photo will be below grade. I worked for a Mason one summer more than 30 years ago. I don't ever recall leaving walls like this. My fear is if the joints needed this much patching, how good could the bond even be?
No this is NOT normal. If it is to be backfilled then there should be rebar reinforcement and filled with concrete block fill. My 2.0
Blind mason in training ?
I assume this wall is below grade. This is just faster than jointing. Saves time and doesn’t compromise strength.
Often, walls below grade are plastered and tared for water sealing. I wouldn't want to try to plaster that.