The perfect mortar mix!

I think I have at last discovered the perfect mortar mix for Hornton stone, which I think would work well with any soft stone or old bricks. It's quite sticky and easy to use, and dries to a sandy colour. The quantities have to be measured in a bucket:

8 sand. I ask for "plasterer's" sand, though it may be called mixed building sand elsewhere. It's a mix of sharp and soft.

2 lime. Any hydrated lime.

1 cement. I use Mastercrete. I'm convinced it dries to a slightly darker colour than Blue Circle Ordinary Portland Cement. I also suspect that the additives it contains make it easier to use. I also like the fact it can be stored outside.

I find putting a 1.5 buckets of water in the mixer first gives a good consistency, which can be adjusted if necessary.

The advantage of this recipe is that it's about as cheap as you can get, and looks just as good as more expensive mortars.

T
Reply to
tom.harrigan
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Most lime to cement ratios don't work. The one which does is a 1:1 mix.

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

Deopends what yu mean wy 'work'

All of them set more or less..

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

Do you just make this stuff up?

T
Reply to
tom.harrigan

,

No, that comes from the BRE. It's been cited here reasonably often.

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

,

Now I know you are definitely making it up. The question is why? What sort of pleasure do you derive from spouting such nonsense?

T
Reply to
tom.harrigan

Yes, you mix it in a bucket, but only at full moon.

Reply to
Stuart Noble

Then I'm in trouble. At the time of mixing, I was only sporting the builder's half-moon!

T
Reply to
tom.harrigan

In message , snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com writes

You need to eat more Jaffa cakes then

Reply to
geoff

,

Any cement/lime mix will set, but proportions departing significantly from 1:1 result in a risk of premature failure. This is why 1:2:9 is no longer recommended.

The recommended for stonework is lime alone, (3:1) as cement based mixes (which includes lime & cement mixes) often pull the edges off the stone when they eventually give up the ghost. Anyone can google SPAB on lime, or any other conservation or research body.

NT

Reply to
meow2222

,
,

I did have a quick look for the report, but BRE reports don't seem to be online anymore (maybe if you register, but I'm not doing that). My recollection is that the 1:1 ratio works because the lime and cement formed an interlocking crystal matrix. Other ratios don't work because only one can form a matrix, and the other interferes, giving it worse properties than it would have had with just either one alone. One of the important points was that the 1:1 mix needs to be mixed very well.

Same problem with some soft facing bricks in older properties.

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

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