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Mortar Mix

Hi John,

Have a look through the brickwork section on this site:

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It should talk you through what you need.

Reply to
BigWallop
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A simple 4;1 mix with some plasticiser will do the job ... you can add lime if you have it, but for a small job 4:1 will be good enough.

Apply a coat of diluted PVA first (3 parts PVA to 1 part water) and allow to become tacky before putting down the mortar.

Rick

Reply to
Rick Hughes

Nice link, thanks.

Fletton, frogged on my house. Who'd have thought it !

Cheers,

Paul

Reply to
Zymurgy

You don't need plasticiser with lime. I'm not sure if using both together is counter-productive.

Reply to
Michael McNeil

I wasn't contradicting you. I seem to remember rendering with both and it all went like soap suds until I stopped using the Feb. "If it goes pear shaped read the instructions." I just don't remember what it said on the side of the tin.

It was like working with blancmange and we cobbed two mixes and had problems with the wall we'd already coated. The penny pinching # we did it for made us use the stuff up with the rest of the job. All his walls had tiny cracks in all over. It looked like those tiny mosaic sheets of tiles.

(Ha! Ha!)

Reply to
Michael McNeil

Don't use plasterziser, its crap. Use 4 to 1 sand/cement with Unibond in the water, use the same water and paint both coping and receiving bed of brickwork prior to spreading mortar. Sand and Lime were use for century in the building trade. When cement mortars came used, it was found that this type of mortar was heavy and didn't spread very well. So they introduced plasterzier in to the water. This plasterziser put bubbles in the mortar when mixed. When the bricks are pressed down the bubbles collapse making it easier to level the material being laid. The problem arises when the weather starts to ware away the mortar, its full of dried empty bubbles. In a recent article in one of the construction mags, There are proposals of going back to Lime mortar for brickwork. One of the theories behind the use of Lime mortar is that in the case of any movement in brickwork the joint gives, in cement mortar the bricks give and snap.

Reply to
Keith

Reply to
Keith

He's just messing with a patch of garden wall. The problem you highlighted is due to the use of washing up liquid which won't tamp down. You only use a few ccs -about a large spoonfull of Feb per bucket of water. Bricklaying mix should be strong enough to suit the brick and a little softer than the brick -which is controlled by the ratio of cement to sand.

If you look at the mortar used in old buildings you will see that face work is very close together. It meant that each brick needed to be measured for the bonds to work. Modern courses are 1/2" apart allowing plenty of scope to pull the joints together. Horses for courses. You couldn't use lime mortar on 1/2" beds could you?

Not the same problems as stone though.

Reply to
Michael McNeil

Wood doesn't burn very hot. You have to wait for the cement to cure over a few day and I believe you start with a very small fire at first to temper it. Not sure though.

Reply to
Michael McNeil

Bollocks. Come and see what it has done to my fireplace. The grates are distortedt (cast irion) and the brickes behind have lost most of the surface tio a depth of about 1/4" frim the massive heat input. Its not wuite white hot, but I have had the fire heart well up to yellow hot.

Possibly you meant that teh flue gases aren't quite as hot as coal, which is true. Coal can easily get hot enough to melt steel, but with wood its takes a fair draught and a bit of doing.

In the end, tho, you are burnimg carbon.

The cement actually seems to be standing up better than the bricks...

>
Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

He's not laying bricks. Concrete copings and concrete do not absorb water. Therefore Feb crap want do any good what so ever. On the other hand Unibond will give a better adhesive.

Reply to
Keith

Forget all that Feb Bond and Uni-Bond stuff and use plain and simple thick paste, fine sand, lots of cement and stick the bugger in place. They didn't use all that fancy crap a hundred years ago and the buildings are still up solid today. By Christ, if a house today gets long enough for a mortgage then it's classed as luxury apartments.

Reply to
BigWallop

Well said and I fully agree

Reply to
Keith

An elderly neighbour has aked me to replace two imitation Yorkshire stone coping stones (600mm x 300mm) on top of two brick pillars. I have no experience of any bricklaying etc. I have cleaned alkl the old mortar off the tops of the pillars and it was a very hard (stong) mix.

I have seen lots of posts on these groups with regards to 4:1, 5:1, use PVA in the mix etc. What is the best mix for this job and how much will I need? I presume that one bag of the stuff from Been & Queued will be enough but I don't want to buy one bag, mix it up and then find there isn't enough. Also is it better to wet the pillars and underside of the copings so that they don't suck the water out of the mix?

Any help, tips etc. greatly appreciated.

Cheers

John

Reply to
John

For that, I think I'd buy just one bag of the dry ready-mixed sand and cement mortar. The mortar area is about the same as for 14 bricks, minus the perps (verticals), and one bag should easily do that.) It's probably around 4:1 or 5:1. Roll or up-end the bag several times to mix the contents before opening, which is easier than doing it after opening if you aren't using the whole bag.

I wouldn't bother with PVA unless the stone overhangs and might be prone to be knocked off. It's good on copings on top of half brick walls where there's little mortar area and lots of overhang leverage, so they almost always come loose when things bump them or people sit/stand on them.

I wouldn't wet the bricks or stone. Stone won't have much suction anyway, and if the bricks have a lot, they won't be any good outside in the frost anyway.

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

You can alway check how absorbent the piers are a few days beforehand.

I'm only a diy brick layer but the mistake I used to make is fiddling about with the joints etc too much too soon. Lay the mortar bed with a few channels in the surface made with the trowel tip. Be bold, place the coping stone straight down on the bed in the right position first time and then tap down level with the handle of the trowel (clean the mortar off first !!). If you are not happy with the position, lift it off, cut away the mortar with the trowel and mix it back in with the rest of your mix and start again. DONT be tempted to slide the stone around much - it will lead to a weak joint. When you are happy with it, cut away any mortar that squeezes out flush with the trowel tip. Then leave it alone for a couple of hours and only then gently clean off any little bits with a soft brush working from the corners inwards.

good luck

Bob

Reply to
Bob Minchin

Re: Mortar Mix

It also comes in plastic tubs for a few pence more which is easier to store it airtight if you only use a bit, and always have some ready for little jobs..

[g]
Reply to
george (dicegeorge)

Andrew

I was working on an extension last summer and the bricklayer was wetting the bricks as he said they were too dry and it was too hot.

The bricks were

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are the ones my parents 40 year old house are built with. I borrowed a few from the builder to replace the ones where my parents old boiler flue used to be.

I suppose the weather makes a difference to wetting bricks.

Adam

Reply to
ARWadsworth

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