What color is lime mortar?
Lime mortar made with local sands to produce pale yellow or off-white coloured mortars using Morstead, Wareham or Extra Fine White sand.
Can you add Colour to lime mortar?
White cement can lighten a mortar colour (no cement used in a hydraulic lime mix), and cement dyes can also give you the colour you require.
Why is lime mortar not used?
4 Large Shrinkage In the hardening process of lime mortar, a large amount of water evaporates, which cause the shrinkage of volume. And desiccation cracks will appear. Thus, lime mortar should not be used alone except for the lime cream for thin painting.
Does lime mortar darken?
If you overwork the material in the wall it can also appear lighter and whiter as you will bring the lime up to the surface. New lime mortars will age and weather and therefore change appearance over time.
Can you get GREY lime mortar?
Our pre-mixed fat lime mortar is made from a high calcium lime/non-hydraulic lime blended with carefully selected aggregates. Our ‘Dark Blaenavon’ mix gives a grey mortar that is ready to use for building and pointing.
When should you use lime mortar?
The use of a lime mortar for pointing in general masonry allows you to use a material that is both porous and softer compared with mortars that feature cement. This allows the moisture to evaporate from the joints more effectively which reduces the level of moisture in the fabric of the building.
Does lime lighten mortar?
Add some lime would make it whiter. White sand or silica sand will help out. More yellow or brown sand really won’t help much. A dash of portland might help, but don’t over do it.
Does lime mortar ever Harden?
Remember lime mortar does not “cure” but rather carbonates over a long period of time. The longer you can damp “cure” lime mortar the more resilient your joints will be. Humidity and frequent misting deposit CO2 into the masonry that lime requires to get hard.
Why does lime mortar go white?
Lime Mortar Leaching has two possible causes: In certain situations, such as freestanding walls, if water is allowed to percolate into the body of the wall, then ‘free lime’ can leach out of the pointing and down the face of the wall. This is identifiable as a white calcareous deposit.
How long does it take lime mortar to dry?
The mortar shouldn’t dry out too quickly – protect from sun, wind and rain with damp hessian cloth. Protect from rain if necessary. Build up to a maximum of 1 metre high at a time and then let the lime mortar cure for 2 to 3 days.
Why are the colours of lime mortar different?
Since the sand influences the colour of the lime mortar, colours of pointing mortar can vary dramatically from district to district. If your pointing needs replacing or repair, you will wish to match the existing colour as closely as possible. We carry a range of sands which we use to mix a selection of coloured mortars to help with this process.
What do you need to colour match mortar?
For colour matching we require a small piece the size of a sugar lump. We will send you the closest matching mortar biscuits or alternatively choose from the colour charts. Dry powder samples can be supplied for test panels.
How to mix sand and lime for mortar?
1 Start with an empty mixer 2 Add 1 part sand 3 Mix in 1 part lime 4 Followed by 1.5 parts sand 5 Mix dry for at least 5 minutes 6 After 5 minutes slowly add water until the desired consistency is reached, it is very important not to drown the mix by adding too much water 7 Once the desired consistency is reached, mix for a further 20 minutes
How big does a lime mortar sample need to be?
Remember that large samples cost extra to post, a sample between 25mm – 50mm (1″ – 2″) is ideal. Place the sample in a padded envelope and send by recorded delivery to: Write your full name on the back of the envelope and place a cover note inside stating your email address .