Sandy colour mortar mix?

[perky416]

Morning all.

I need to repoint the retaining wall that supports my neighbours raised garden.

What would be the best mortar mix to use?

I usually use 5 parts sand, x1 part cement and x1 part hydrated lime and my mix is always a grey colour, as the wall is built using grey stone looking bricks a grey mortar will clash too much, the guys that built it used a very sandy colour mortar. How would i achieve this without dying the mix (or is dying the best option?)

Thanks

 

[23vc]

A lot depends on the type of sand they used/where it came from. Might be worth a test patch with red and yellow (if you can get it) building sand

 

[stuart45]

Lime specialists usually have a decent supply of different coloured sands. Here's an example from my local one. https://www.limebase.co.uk/sands-and-aggregates
You can also mix some white cement in with the mix. It's really a case of playing around with the mixes to see what you can get.

 

[stuart45]

Here's an example of a test patch I did for someone using a 50/50 Ginger/ Coarse washed sand and NHL 3.5 lime.