Mortar or Lime Mortar?

[The_DADDY]

33 minutes ago, Arthur Ritus said:

What's the difference between the sandstone used to build "heritage buildings" and our own little homely castles?

 

Perhaps something to do with employing rough arsed builders that "av' bin doing it this way for years", along with "ge'it a squirt of fairy" and "just keep wettin' it darn",  they even used to cover up unused mortar up to use the next day hence the poor state of many of our buildings.

Stone or poor quality clay bricks are much better preserved with lime mortar, its softer, allows a little movement with out damage and wicks out moisture from surrounding blocks - a sacrificial act which may result in it having to be touched up in another 50 - 100 years .

Back to topic, you probably have finished the job now Daddy but your bricks look good quality (not flaking) and should be happy enough with ordinary portland cement, if you are only doing part of the wall you will want to try to match the colour.

Recommend avoiding builders sand (if you do you will want grey) as the stuff we seem to be getting now is so rich in clay you could stick it on a potters wheel and make a Sheffielder's urn out of it. The clay weakens the cement a bit like talcing over glue on your inner tube and needs more cement  to compensate which is more water and so shrinks more, a washed (river) sand would be better if you can get some. Last lot I did i sieved some sharp sand, (that gets you some funny looks). With 5 parts sand 1 part opc and 1 part 3.5 NHL it gave an almost white slightly grey colour, no shrinkage and easy enough to apply.  The Lime makes the mortar "fattier" and easier to use, to plasticiser traps air in the mix for similar effect but i prefer the lime.. 
 

To do a really professional job make sure you are showing at least 4" of bum cleavage.

Thank you Arthur Ritus that's a very informative post. I really appreciate it. As for the bum cleavage? I generally show at least 6" so I'm certain I'll be able to do a super duper professional job 👌

[cuttsie]

52 minutes ago, Arthur Ritus said:

What's the difference between the sandstone used to build "heritage buildings" and our own little homely castles?

 

Perhaps something to do with employing rough arsed builders that "av' bin doing it this way for years", along with "ge'it a squirt of fairy" and "just keep wettin' it darn",  they even used to cover up unused mortar up to use the next day hence the poor state of many of our buildings.

Stone or poor quality clay bricks are much better preserved with lime mortar, its softer, allows a little movement with out damage and wicks out moisture from surrounding blocks - a sacrificial act which may result in it having to be touched up in another 50 - 100 years .

Back to topic, you probably have finished the job now Daddy but your bricks look good quality (not flaking) and should be happy enough with ordinary portland cement, if you are only doing part of the wall you will want to try to match the colour.

Recommend avoiding builders sand (if you do you will want grey) as the stuff we seem to be getting now is so rich in clay you could stick it on a potters wheel and make a Sheffielder's urn out of it. The clay weakens the cement a bit like talcing over glue on your inner tube and needs more cement  to compensate which is more water and so shrinks more, a washed (river) sand would be better if you can get some. Last lot I did i sieved some sharp sand, (that gets you some funny looks). With 5 parts sand 1 part opc and 1 part 3.5 NHL it gave an almost white slightly grey colour, no shrinkage and easy enough to apply.  The Lime makes the mortar "fattier" and easier to use, to plasticiser traps air in the mix for similar effect but i prefer the lime.. 
 

To do a really professional job make sure you are showing at least 4" of bum cleavage.

I built a detached for a neighbour 54 years ago, using red sand at  3 parts sand to one cement, 

Pressed concrete bricks , I passed the house this year and had a look at the brickwork as we tend to do , The bed and cross joints were as perfect as the day they were laid , Good gobo will last a hundred years .