mortar

Hoping someone can give me some help and advice! I’ll attach photos for reference. I’m attempting to repair my sandstone windowsill. The top of the sill is in pretty good condition and I’m in the process of getting all the old paint off and sanding it down to the stone. However the underside...

1950s terraced house, ex-local authority, generally solid as a rock I noticed some cracks today, might have been there forever, I never looked for them. The first picture is under the front downstairs window, right in the middle (horizontally and vertically), so on the oposite side of the...

I want to fill the gap (10mm wide, 30 mm deep) between paving stones and a wall. I want to stop the water dripping off the wall and going into the gap. Instead I want the water to flow over the paving stone away from the building What mortar/cement mix or product should I use. Thanks

Hi All, Just finishing my wet room. I have a linear drain in the end embedded and secured levelled into the concrete floor. I am now ready to do the wet room slope pan. I have placed two pieces of strip wood on each side and raised them accordingly to my slope measurements. I will use these...

Hello, Hope the title was catchy enough Basically I purchased this old Barn and he started to level the floors with a run of blocks so he could put up stud wall. I like the idea of splitting finishing his plans, due to the floor being over three levels and not level in any direction he ran...

I've got a stone wall 2.5ft high and 4m long to pull down and rebuild but I need to work with the existing chunks. They are 50mm concrete slabs broken up. Is there a quick way to remove the old mortar than using hammer and chisel? Reason I can't use fresh pieces are due to location. Garden...

Morning all.I have noticed holes appearing in a uniform fashion in verticals of my pointing..they are situated on a South facing wall , start about 2ft below gutter and appear in every other course for about 5 ft..3 holes to the left and 7 holes to right. (Hope I've explained that ok!)..the grey...

Hi there, my first post here so hope I've posting this in the right place I recently bought a Victorian house that needs a lot of work doing to it, having been left to go to seed by the previous owners. Its technically a detached house, but for reasons we'll never know, the neighbouring house...

Hi. There are few photos attached. Can I get some advise on what cause these cracks please? the blocks have been in place for about 2 or 3 months. the cracks are less than hairline. mortar mix was 4:1 sand cement with additive. Is it any if the following reasons? Thermal. Shrinkage. Drying...

Hi all, first post here after a bunch of research and probably going a bit stir crazy. We're scoping out some projects for our 1970s mid-terrace townhouse, which had me looking at the walls. I've noticed a few issues, which I'm hoping are just normal ageing for a near 50 year old house and...

Hello again! Quick question about laying moist dense blocks? I laid 3 courses of 10.4 dense (Dennis May) blocks about three weeks ago. I layed one course per day over three days. The weather was cool, damp and the odd bit of rain and snow was around. The blocks were stored on a pallet in my...

Hi! I have a few concerns about some cracks on my self build that I am half way through. This is my first project, I might add! I have found a few hairline cracks and wonder if I should be freaking out? Here is the story: the site is 8m x 7m I dug the foundations myself! I dug down...

Afternoon guys, I am opening up an old chimney breast that was blocked up years ago. The reason is twofold - ventilation (it wasnt vented!) And decoration. The new opening will be 400mm wide x 600mm high which is smaller than the original so I'm only knocking out 'infill bricks' and not any of...

Hello, We've got a damaged brick at the corner of our house, which was recently made worse when my 5 year old started picking at it with a stick! Photo attached. I can't imagine we'll be able to get a builder interested in fixing it as it's not worth their time, but I know a very good...

Hi all, I can see there are lots of threads on Mortar but I couldn't see any which fully answered my questions. I am looking to patch up some brickwork in a fireplace in a 1926 house, I have gently wire brushed the face of the bricks and can with certainty say the mortar is lime based as quite...

Hi, We have removed some of the old stone patio which was layed on top of a sand bed. (the patio could be about 20-30 years old). I need to create some cement mix to lay some new patio elsewhere in the garden. I am planning to use as mortar bed. My question is , can I just use this sand...

Got my driveway which is in concrete at moment with a lot of cut due of work and repair been done during the years. I was thinking to resin bond but quote are sky high and don`t have money for it. I was wondering if there is a cheap way to improve the look with some think paintable product or...

Hello, We just had some brick work done to fill a small hole left by an old gas extractor fan. Should I be worried that within 12 hours of this being done the temperature is forecast to get as low as - 1 to - 2C? It's also forecast to get as low as - 3C within 24 hours. Could this cause any...

Can anyone explain why you need to remove mortar / undercloak when fitting a dry verge?. Is it because of ventilation (Why if the ridge is currently mortared and ventilation is not an issue) or to fix the dry ridge (into mortar, but if the batten is behind it it will be secure using suitable...

Marley modern conc. slates (large flat interlocking 420x290). Are the ridge tiles supposed to be bedded on mortar full length each side as well as ends? I had to take a load off to replace slates and they were bedded/pointed at the ends but apart from that no mortar along most of each side?