Mixing your mortar

bricksNDmortar

I am a bricky by trade. But I also watch a lot of videos ion laying and mixing I seen a guy in the UK (Bud builds on YouTube)

his mix is literally the best mix I’ve ever seen for a bricky. He uses a scrape of water not enough in my opinion but I’m proved wrong as it comes out the perfect consistency.

what way do you mix your stuff?

bricksNDmortar

https://youtu.be/DOV6elalop4

for anyone interested

kirk.

He could unwind the lead

Probably be alright dunno what the rating of those mixers are

C. Eastwood

For concrete blocks the Cement Mortar ratio below DPC should be 1:3

Above DPC ratio is 1:4

bricksNDmortar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118797623#Comment_118797623

Yes correct look at how little water is used. Unreal texture for so little.

JustJoe7240

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118797623#Comment_118797623

Many a house was built with 1:5

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118797832#Comment_118797832

Just shows the value of giving it time to mix.

bricksNDmortar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118797862#Comment_118797862

Sadly when apprentices or labourers are mixing for a slab they don’t have that time. Thank god for a silo nowadays.

chooseusername

A lot to do with the sand and the moisture in it.

building sand in UK tends to be a lot finer and softer than here.

bricksNDmortar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118804722#Comment_118804722

Is it not all just graded as 2mm?

chooseusername

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118805180#Comment_118805180

2mm. would be very coarse.

I'd say your man above is using soft sand, unlikely to be even 1mm.

That admix he uses would make it very putty-like,

nice for brick laying, I don't know about concrete blocks though.

He'd probably call 2mm. stuff sharp sand

bricksNDmortar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118805544#Comment_118805544

Anything from Roadstone is 2mm I’ve ordered it myself for years

10-10-20

I noticed the same watching Best Bricky - his mortar is like cream and his bricks slide into the mix. He's known to use a lot of plasticiser in the mix too and a lot of his mortar is red sand rather than the grey sand which we have here.

I got a batch of mortar sand from one of the providers in Dublin and it was like sharp-sand with no give in it and then the next batch was much creamier. I tried adding soft sand but I really think that most of it is down to the source of the sand - whether it was sourced from well rounded glacial alluvium or whether it contained lots of sharp/jagged sand.

bricksNDmortar

id imagine it was sharp sand. I do find myself mixing myself to see if I can produce that to no avail. It’s just a lot easier to bed anything into and gives a finish a better look.

Still stihl waters 3

Nice soft looking sand and he gives it plenty time to mix, my old boss used say let the waterproof do the mixing and spare the water, he was right if it gets plenty time to mix it'll be like pure cream

bricksNDmortar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118811208#Comment_118811208

It’s just a shame on a job unless it’s a nixer you don’t have the time to let the mixer do it’s job. Proofer is a god send as it is what makes the mortar.

10-10-20

Seems there's a spec for it.

https://www.concreteconstruction.net/how-to/mortar-mixing-time_o

"How long should a mortar be mixed? Should all ingredients be mixed at the same time? Most masons mix mortars using a paddle mixer. The appendix to ASTM C 270 Standard Specification for Mortar for Unit Masonry recommends that 3/4 of the required water, 1/2 the sand, and all the cementitious materials be briefly mixed together first. Then the balance of the sand and water is added. The mortar should be mixed a minimum of 3 minutes and a maximum of 5 minutes after the last water has been added to the mix. The standard states that overmixing can change the mortar's air content. The Reinforced Concrete Masonry Construction Inspectors Handbook, published by the Masonry Institute of America and the International Conference of Building Officials, says to mix mortar by first mixing 1/2 the water and 1/4 of the sand, then adding the cement, lime, color, and remaining water and sand. It recommends that all of the ingredients be mixed for not less than 3 nor more than 10 minutes"

So maybe it's the entrapment of the air that I miss out on by hand-mixing it, and that's the magic ingredient.