Hi guys, Where do I start? Well, the job I need to do is a relatively straight forward one - re-building a brick wall. However, I started this job about a month ago and I'm still unable to complete it. So, I chiseled away the old bits of mortar necessary for the job. I did quite well at this because each row of the wall was ready to be re-coursed there and then had I got the know-how. However, I ran into severe problems with the correct mortar. Firstly, I bought a pre-mix bag of sand and cement, which proved inadequate for me to produce the clay-type mortar necessary for the job. I then purchased separate bags of cement and sand, using a ratio of three or four to one. No luck. On Wednesday, feeling quite pessimistic over this whole venture, I bought a bag of builders sand instead (I was previously using sharp, plastering sand) and voila, I produced the clay-type mortar. Well, kinda. I mean, I know for a fact that the mortar should be thick and creamy, but I've struggled to find the right consistency over the last two days. Good, proper mortar is meant to stick to the bottom of the trowel when you turn it upside down, yes? Mine slides off. In a nutshell - what causes the mortar to NOT stay on the trowel like its meant to? Too wet; too dry; not mixed properly? Thanks.
You don't mention the use of a plastersizer anywhere in you post, with it you will never get the mortar to stick. Mix ratio. 5 soft sand. 1 cement. 2 cap full of plastersizer per gallon of water. When measuring out the sand and cement use a clean bucket to get the right ratios every time.
Apologies, I meant to note that I have used plastersizer. But regarding the mix, surely a gallon is too much for that ratio?
It is, but its the the ratio of plastersizer you don't have to use it all. If your use the mix ratio I gave and plastersizer just get on with it and stop worrying . Ps, the mix in the second pic looks ok, if not a little strong.
Right, okay thanks mate. The second mix is the one using builders/soft sand. However, I discarded it because I did not think it was right, as it was not staying on the trowel when I turned it upside down. Then again, I don't actually know if it is meant to!
Traditionally, how long does mortar take to fully set? I ask because, well, I put my old mixes, the ones I never used, into a basin and, although they seem hard, you can scrape little bits of mortar crumbs off of it. Does this indicate that my previous mixes didn't have the right consistency in the first place, or are they simply still setting?
Weather dependant, but probably cured fully in 7 days ish...The trouble with lumps of mortar is that they take forever to fully dry out and cure, which I think is just down to the size of the lump left over...mortar joint 10mm, mortar lump 10inches....Could be wrong though. B J
The bricks usually draw the moisture from the mortar, So make it dry quicker than if just left as a lump. Either that or your Cement is out of date.
The cement I've got is a few weeks old. I'm nowhere experienced enough to know whether or not if it's still good, but I'm getting fresh sand and cement tomorrow. It's very cheap thankfully. I think I had the right consistency all along, in that second picture I posted. Despite what I previously believed, mortar isn't meant to stick to the bottom of the trowel when turned upside down, is it? Well, some will because of the suction, but a big lump of it is hardly meant to stick to the trowel.
It won't stick to the trowel when turned. It will slide off. It should not look too wet but, have a smooth thick cream like consistency.
it will stick to the trowel if you use to much plastersizer, this then will give you grief when trying to get it off the trowel and on to the bricks, that second pic looked fine in terms of mixing. When you have laid the bricks don't mess about with them while the cement is still to wet, you will smudge it all over the face, give it about half an hour and then point it up.
What does this look like so far? You can be honest. I don't own a level as can see, but it's a curved wall so I think I chose an intermediate job for my first brick-laying task, but it's solid as far as I can tell.
don't own a level, buy a small ball of string. Place a brick each end of the wall and place your string on top of this newly place brick and use the string for your level guide.
I don't know how to apply a string to a curved job, and it's too late to worry about perfect alignment anyway.
I take it you have only filled in the area that's smudged, why have you got a gap on the top course, ie: fitted 3/4 of a brick.??
Curve wall with a string, well don't know how today but when I saw a builder laying bricks for a curve wall many years ago was he has a few wooden batten attached to the wall and the string ran around the batten, although not perfect curve but at least the string level line was there in general area.
That's right mate. I quite like this brick-laying lark. I've got designs on building a brick BBQ, course by course to ensure that each one is near-perfect. I'll also invest in a spirit level.
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