How to make Lime mortar.

[Golaboots888]

Hello

I drasticly need to repoint an area of wall thats letting water in. It is a 1930's house and reading around it sounds as if I've got lime mortar.

What is the mix for this? Does lime mortar work well with the mortar 'guns' people are describing or is it best to use a trowel and brick jointer.

Also, is there any way of cleaning the bricks up, a wire brush made some other flake a bit.

I gather the final colour is rather dependant on the sand I use.
Here is a photo of the wall.

 

[The-brickie]

Your best bet is to buy some ready mixed mortar.

Try googleing 'Lime mortars' theres a lot of suppliers now that stock it and get some knowledge of what you are letting yourself in for to do it right.

Get a pointing trowel and practice, practice and then practice some more

 

[unique services]

you need to rake aut 1 inch of morter befor you pint and the guns are ****

 

[amwc]

look for hydraulic lime you just mix this with sand its the modern equivelent.
get a few samples of sand mix up a couple of small batches and match it to your mortar in the wall

 

[jeds]

I agree with the brickie. You could mix yourself but unless you know exactly what you are doing the finish can be prone to dusting and debonding. I would order ready mixed from Mike Wye, or similar. Give them, a call and tell them what it's for and they will make sure you get the most appropriate stuff.

www.mikewye.co.uk

 

[SCSuppliesLTD1]

Hi, if you are not used to lime mortars then a premixed bag would probably be best. You can get them ordered with the correct sands and ratios and to the colour that you want. These can be either trowel or gun applied, depends on your skills. The guns aren't too bad, depends on your preference really. Lime is not like cement, you will need to look after it in the few days that follow application...have a look here for more information:

http://www.squidoo.com/hydraulic-lime-and-basic-properties-what-to-use-and-why

Cleaning brickwork can be an easy task with the correct product, again have a look here:

http://stoneconservation.net/supplies/cleaning-products-mixed-products-c-4_44.html

I work with lime mortars on site on a daily basis and see some really good diy efforts and some really bad ones! If you follow the advice and get the right products you can't go far wrong though. Good luck!