Pointing Welsh Stone

[dmbarlow]

My mate has asked me to help him point the gable end of his cottage in Wales. Typical sort of welsh stoney hard stuff (technically brill eh!). Having a search around on the net seems to suggest that sand/cement may not be such a good idea as moisture may not be able to escape through the stone.

Any help on this one appreciated.

 

[brumylad]

traditional lime mortar might be a solution. Its whats used in every building before the victorian era (1880's) and plenty of cathedrals etc are still standing. If the existing mortar is white, then chances are it's what was used for the wall originally.

Buy a couple of bags of hydrated lime from any builders merchants, empty the contents into an old bath or other large container and mix with water to form a paste, cover this with a thin layer of water or place the paste into an airtight container or rubble bag. Leave it like that for as long as possible preferably not less that 24 hours. Make sure the mix is isolated from the air and remains moist.

This should leave you with a lime putty. Mix this with sharp sand in a ratio of 1:3 (lime:sand) by volume to form a mortar.

Make sure the stone is well wetted with water before applying the mortar, you don't want the lime to dry out quickly. After pointing, protect the mortar from sun and wind with a tarpaulin or wet dust sheet. The mortar can take as long as 3 days to set.

 

[jbonding]

use necesarry protection this stuff cuts your skin up bad.

 

[Nige F]

Try.... www.mikewye.co.uk