Extension pointing colour and bleeding onto bricks

[ik1]

Hi,

I have recently started an extension and my builder has built one side of the wall and has gone on holiday and will be back next week.

However I need some advice as to whether his doing this properly. The mortar has dried and is light grey rather than the brown I was expecting and the mortar has some bleeding onto brickwork so looks slightly messy.

The brick laying itself is good but I look at other recent extensions and all the pointing on them seems light brown to match the bricks and looks crisp and clean. I am using ibstock rustic bricks but the gray mortar doesn't look right to me.

Also why would the mortar bleed onto the bricks? rain?

I would like to challenge him on the issues but need some sound advice so he doesnt just fob me off.

Many thanks for your help

 

[stuart45]

If you put a photo on I can give you an opinion.

 

[ik1]

Hi,

I have taken the following photos with my phone, not the best quality but you can see the mortar getting on the bricks, top left (2nd photo). The colour is light grey but not sure if it should be more browner closer to the brick colour. The original house has mortar which is more of dirty/darker colour which has obviously weathered over time.

Photos:

//www.diynot.com/network/ik1/albums/13062/48715
//www.diynot.com/network/ik1/albums/13062/48716

Many thanks

 

[^woody^]

You wont do anything about the colour. That's how mortar dries

The brickwork is a bit messy, so may benefit from a wash down with some acid cleaner

 

[joe-90]

Using very dark red sand will help and a little less cement too.

 

[ik1]

Thanks for the replies chaps.

Will the dark sand and less cement affect the strength of the mortar? What ratios would be best?

 

[^woody^]

Never adjust cement content to get a certain colour. That is not the way to do it, and wont give much colour difference - except when it all starts to fall out

Sand is the main factor, but not the only one. For instance how fast the mortar dries or how soon or how hard the mortar is pointed will affect the final shade

But you will have no control unless you have specialist dyed sand and controlled batching and mixing

 

[stuart45]

Unless you specify a certain colour for the mortar you will get a standard mix. The extensions you saw with a brown mortar may well have been tinted to match the brickwork.
There are various reasons why the brickwork can be messy. Wet bricks or heavy rain on newly laid brickwork can do this.
It looks like the top bricks were rained on and the mortar smeared them.

 

[joe-90]

Pointing should be 4 to 1. The photo looks stronger than that to me.

BTW Woody, take a look at how soft Victorian mortar is - scrape it away with you finger nail - but it's still there.

Gravity and friction hold a house up.

 

[ABCwarrior]

The pointing doesn't look too neat, but I'd say it looks acceptable. It'll darken down in time. You could always accelerate the process....paint it with egg white or yoghurt, or even get some dirt and/or moss mixed in a pail with water and dirty it up. It's what conservation masons do when they have to build in new masonry to historic buildings and not leave the new work sticking out like a sore thumb. It may also be efflorescence- salts in the bricks and/or sand that migrate out. Not harmful but unsightly....

 

[ik1]

Thank you all. I appreciate your points and I will speak to the builder when I see him. I would prefer matching mortar as it looks nicer and majority of extensions I see have light brown mortar.

Obviously I would not want to compromise on the quality/strength of the mortar by using different ratios so will look at dye's etc.

Once again many thanks.