Had a talk with an old timer that made me rethink my mortar mix

I was on a job last week repointing a 1920s foundation in Portland, and this retired bricklayer named Frank walked by. He watched me mix up a batch of Type N and said I was using way too much portland for old soft brick. He told me I was basically asking for spalling down the road, and that I should be using a 1:3 lime putty mix for stuff built before 1940. It hit different because he showed me a photo of a wall he did 20 years ago with the lime mix that still looked perfect. Now I'm second guessing all the modern mixes I've been using on older homes. Has anyone else switched to lime based mortar for historical work?

3 comments

3 Comments

abby_cooper6d ago

Coincidentally Frank sounds like the guy who talked me out of Type S on a 1910 job last year and I haven't looked back since.

wren2306d ago

Old timers and their receipts are about the only thing I trust these days. That 1910 job must have given you some serious peace of mind when you skipped the Type S. I spent half my weekend convincing a buddy of mine his new house didn't need lime cement for a 2000s build. Guess who was wrong when his mortar started cracking after a freeze. I should really just hand over my phone to the old guys and let them talk me out of mistakes before I make them. It would save me a lot of patching and embarrassment.

phoenix_martin406d ago

Ever notice how old timers always have the receipts to back up their advice? My buddy Phil tried that same lime mix on a 1920s house his company was working on and said it was way easier to work with than the stuff he normally uses. He's been preaching about it ever since.