I've just started removing the mortar from quite a large area of brick wall due to the fact it was quite powdery. The Mortar rake on the grinder went through it like butter. However, when I went to remove mortar from the verticals it was so bad that, without effort it went clean through to the void at the rear of the bricks. What’s the best way of dealing with this? I'm considering using hydrated lime in the mix rather that 4:1 sand, cement. Don't know if that's wise.
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Was it lime before?
You only need to use lime instead of cement if your bricks are soft. Ours were pretty much like you say, someone had previously pointed a thin layer of cement over original lime, then painted. The water had gone behind and all the mortar had disintegrated, even bricks came out in my hand, I only had to use a weeding knife to clean the joints.
Unfortunately the bricks are made of sponge basically, so many of them had lost their faces. so all recommendations were to use lime which I did.
Draw your own conclusions, I'm not a professional!
You only need to use lime instead of cement if your bricks are soft. Ours were pretty much like you say, someone had previously pointed a thin layer of cement over original lime, then painted. The water had gone behind and all the mortar had disintegrated, even bricks came out in my hand, I only had to use a weeding knife to clean the joints.
Unfortunately the bricks are made of sponge basically, so many of them had lost their faces. so all recommendations were to use lime which I did.
Draw your own conclusions, I'm not a professional!
Hi thanks for the replies. I'm pretty sure the original mortar was cement based but can't say if it had any hydrated lime content. Maybe I've done too much mortar research as I heard that lime might provide breathability and some self healing benefits. Then of course there's the Hydraulic limes, lime putty etc. In the end Limes were doing my head in anyway.
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To be honest unless your house is 5 storeys, anything will be fine. If you can get hold of lime it's very nice to work with and lasts well, and it's cheap. And better for the environment although only in the same way as recycling milk bottle tops is.
What I did was did some research, made a decision right or wrong and then had a go and learnt something. Now my front wall isn't collapsing any more so I'm happy
What I did was did some research, made a decision right or wrong and then had a go and learnt something. Now my front wall isn't collapsing any more so I'm happy