jMortar vs. grout vs. "tube stuff"

[Existential Angst]

Awl --

I've got a lot of patching to do on stone walls, slate tile joints, caps for stone walls, etc.

The diff. between grout and mortar is here:

From which I presume I could use grout for finer cracks on my porch/stoop, and mortar in the wider cracks, etc.

I bought a bunch of the tube stuff (UGL Drylock crack filler, Sakrete concrete/masonry repair), but it all just seems like grey caulking to me. Is that all it is? Works well on tudor-style wood/masonry joints, but not so great on walkways, looks awful, not good for fine cracks.

Any tips on strategies, products for these types of repairs? Esp. on stone walls: tough to get mortar *in* and to stick -- which is proly why it fell out to begin with... :)

[dadiOH]

Try using thinset, IME it sticks much better than regular mortar. If you need it to match the texture of the existing mortar, add some sand to the thinset.

Despite the "thin" in its name, it works just fine for larger repairs. Falling limbs due to a hurricane knocked some corners/edges off a couple of cap blocks (about 1 1/2" thick) and I used thinset to repair. That was several years ago, all is still fine.

[Existential Angst]

I'll try this. I'll proly get a few alternatives, experiment. I was hoping for a pre-mixed solution (water incl !), to make the process as painless as poss, but it looks I'll actually have think/experiment.

Ever hear of DashPatch? Supposedly it's a "hydraulic cement", whatever that is -- self-leveling?? Altho I suppose all this stuff would be self-leveling if it had enough water in it.

I'd also like to tint these repairs, so they don't look glaring-white. HD has these cement tint powders, but no real experience in this.

Along these lines, I'm always surprised by the diff. between old sidewalks and new sidewalks. The old sidewalks -- which lasted per near forever -- were an interesting heterogenous mix of "stuff". New sidewalks appear homogeneous, with not much going on, don't seem to last nearly as long, either. Old sidewalks seems "stonier", new sidewalks more "cinder-block-ier".

[dadiOH]

How hard is it to add water? Dump some mortar/thinset into a container, add water to the degree you want. Best is a fairly stiff mix...stiff enough so it stands up a bit. Be sure to mix and get all lumps out, let sit 10 minutes, mix again. _________________

It is plaster, more or less. Gypsum ______________

Unless you specifically buy white mortar/thinset the normal color is grey. Cement grey.

The grey in mortar varies though...Sakrete (Home Depot) is a grey grey...Quickcrete (Lowes) is a warmer grey. Sakrete has coarser sand too. _________________

The old sidewalks have weathered...the cement has worn and or been dissolved a bit so the aggregate shows more. No reason new ones won't last as well as old ones.

[Existential Angst]

I'll have to check this out as well. It seems that all my repairs are glaringly lighter than the existing stuff. Maybe they used a tint?

Would it ever make sense to mix grout and mortar, or any of these with thinset, for varying consistencies?