I have done some small building work before but it is not my skill but recently my neighbour showed me that their half round ridge tiles were loose and asked if I would do it for them for a favour. It looked quite easy and was quite low level and I had done similar jobs before so I said yes and cleaned and cleared the 1st 2 tiles. The mortar they had used before looked too sandy in colour to me as if too much sand had been used but as I say I am no expert on this.
Anyway I read up on here what to do and it was going ok until I had to fill in the front of the front ridge tile, it just seemed not to stick to the tile and form one big clump that kept falling out towards me. I tried what I thought was a normal mix and then I tried a very dry mix but nothing seemed to work. If you imagine the face is sort of sloping towards the ground, so it is sort of like trying to get the cement to stay in above you but that is an exaggeration, I had expected it to hold sufficient instead of bulging out and falling out.
The photos is a picture of how it was, not of my efforts. Can anybody tell me what was wrong, it was like I needed a board to place in front of it to stop it falling out but then of course I could not have put the mortar in. I used Mastercrete and building sand for mortar and it had been in my garage for about 2 months but well sealed up, ie it looked still in perfect condition.
Can anybody tell me what I did wrong and does the old mortar look too sandy a mix?
Any help/advice appreciated.
Anyway I read up on here what to do and it was going ok until I had to fill in the front of the front ridge tile, it just seemed not to stick to the tile and form one big clump that kept falling out towards me. I tried what I thought was a normal mix and then I tried a very dry mix but nothing seemed to work. If you imagine the face is sort of sloping towards the ground, so it is sort of like trying to get the cement to stay in above you but that is an exaggeration, I had expected it to hold sufficient instead of bulging out and falling out.
The photos is a picture of how it was, not of my efforts. Can anybody tell me what was wrong, it was like I needed a board to place in front of it to stop it falling out but then of course I could not have put the mortar in. I used Mastercrete and building sand for mortar and it had been in my garage for about 2 months but well sealed up, ie it looked still in perfect condition.
Can anybody tell me what I did wrong and does the old mortar look too sandy a mix?
Any help/advice appreciated.
