Cement + Lime Mortars

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twentysix by twentyfive

Clinging on tightly
Location
Over the Hill
I've kept cement for years in a sealed polythene bag. Make sure there are no holes and exclude as much air as possible. No experience with lime.
 

Alex H

Legendary Member
Location
Alnwick
I've kept lime for over 6 months in the original bag with no problems - our house is held together with and painted with it :smile:.

I have more trouble with the bags deteriorating than the lime.
 

Levo-Lon

Guru
As above ..i dont use lime , but i have used a lime sand mortar..in fact its holding my house togeatner.
brick layers are the ones for this ,merchant will advise also as they will have a heavy side specialist.
or mix a bit up and see how it colours up?

cement has a shelf lfe as it loses its nature..and may seem ok but it wont be after time.
 
Lime Mortar and Cement look the same but are quite different.
Cement goes hard when it sets and stays solid. It will not wear away. If it cracks through movement, the crack will stay there and be a weak spot.
Lime Mortar does not set. It stays in the same state as it is when you build it but just dries out a bit. It can wear away but generally lasts for decades. As it does not set the wall can flex and move.

If the wall is old and has lime mortar then perhaps use the same as otherwise the bottom will flex and the top crack. If the wall is cement then stick with cement.
I don't think half and half will work but just give weak cement mortar.

I think lime mortar will not go off but could go lumpy.

Lime is white and so gives the mortar a nice colour. Normal cement gives a much greyer mortar but depends on the sand colour. You can get (but it is expensive) white cement to match the colour to lime mortar.
 

Levo-Lon

Guru
What he said .. white cement is about double the cost of opc etc and gives a nice sandy colour mix. If you need to go that route, it doesn't set as hard as say a 4,1 opc type mix
 

ayceejay

Guru
Location
Rural Quebec
Lime was added to a mortar mix to make it more workable, this was replaced to a large extent by plasticizers which in turn has been replaced by masonry cement that has all you need when mixed with sand, there are different grades of masonry cement just make sure you get the right one for the job and you won't need the lime.
 

Profpointy

Legendary Member
as an aside once came across the notion of using stone dust as a filler in place of sand in sand/ cement mix. Quite apart from this likely not being a good idea anyway, it's a very bad idea to store stone dust, a grey powder, in old cement sacks. A totally innocent party then spent two days rendering walls in "mortar" made from sand and stone dust !
 
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