Lime Mortar???

little me

Hi,

I'm planning on getting my chimney stack cladded with some fake stone in the summer. But I don't want the dark grey pointing on it. Can I get some lime mortar from a builders merchant easy enough, so that the pointing is beige/cream and not dark grey?? Does it come in ready to mix bags or is it specialist stuff??
Thanks!

slowburner

little me wrote: »

Hi,

I'm planning on getting my chimney stack cladded with some fake stone in the summer. But I don't want the dark grey pointing on it. Can I get some lime mortar from a builders merchant easy enough, so that the pointing is beige/cream and not dark grey?? Does it come in ready to mix bags or is it specialist stuff??
Thanks!

There are a few ways of avoiding the grey look.
You can buy cement colouring - comes in a powder form but can be difficult to acieve a lighter tone.
You can also add hydrated lime to the mix to get a whiter finish.
Or use a white sand in combination with the above.

Of course, if the stack was originally built with traditional lime mortar then that is what you should use. The same guidelines for colouring the pointing apply to both lime mortar and sand & cement.

little me

Hi, thanks for the reply. Instead of trying to lighten a dark mortar/cement as it is hard to judge that as it takes a few weeks for it to dry properly. Can I not buy a lime mortar or is this something that only pointing specialists mix up themselves???

slowburner

You can buy lime mortar in bags. There are only two suppliers of hydraulic lime in Ireland, afaik.
One in Cork and the other in Carlow (see here).
There is an awful lot of mumbo jumbo associated with using this mortar - pay no attention. It is simple stuff to use and the right choice for a Victorian building.

WUFF

Dont think lime mortar on its own would be suitable to use as pointing between fake stone cladding.
Better off following manufactures instructions regarding adhesive and pointing.