Expert work has been carried out to determine the causes of the low adhesion strength of hand-molded ceramic bricks with Maxpol colored masonry mortar. The tests were carried out in accordance with GOST 24992 on 6 series of samples aged 7 and 28 days of hardening. The adhesion strength in the series of tested samples at 7 days of age, which were washed with running water, is 54% higher compared to the samples that were not treated.The compressive strength of Maxpol colored masonry mortar meets the requirements of technical specifications 23.64.10-001-79211444-2017 . The adhesion strength in the masonry meets the requirements of technical specifications only in a series of hand-molded bricks that have been treated with running water at the age of 28 days.

Keywords: ceramic brick, colored masonry mortar, adhesion strength, compressive strength, separation area