Years ago there was a product called Surewall and that is exactly how it was used. I hated the stuff
and considered it an insult to my trade. But it did work and all of the buildings I built with it are
still standing some 40 years later.
@jpsb I don't get the percentage. I mean, I have hauled enough hod in my life to have earned my trowel by right (though in fact I am not a mason, I surely do know how it works)...
What is the possible percentage in *not* mortaring? The cost of mortar is a relative pittance, so I guess it is about the labor, or making money on the rise w/o the wait for the mortar to dry... But the labor part of that is the hauling the cinder around part, not the mortaring... And a staggered rise around the building means you never really stop to wait on the mortar (on a decent sized job)... So what the heck is the savings?
The landscaper in me appreciates a dry stack - Properly done, and properly interlocked, it can withstand more than bricks and mortar. And that Surewall product you are talking about seems to lean on that idea (interlocking) , or incorporates it. But the beauty of a dry stack, it's ability to withstand nature, is found in the fact that it is NOT rigid. It can move and settle, and the interlocking keeps it in relative shape - The most magnificent example of that being the ancient cyclopean style of the megalithic era.
![](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WlxR_3ZX97U/U1b-AaqbisI/AAAAAAAABC8/dd-VR0MghSY/s1600/andes6%2520machu5.jpg)
But if you coat the thing in stucco, it becomes rigid, and that capacity is lost. Makes no sense to me.