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mortar for limestone blocks

Stone Conversations : Archive 7 : Message 00476

From: "John VanCamp" <jvcstnwrks@zzzzzzzzzzzzz>
Date: Mon, 6 Dec 2004 18:42:53 -0600
Subject: mortar for limestone blocks


----- Original Message -----
From: "Marcus" <marcus@-------------- >
Sent: Monday, December 06, 2004 2:42 PM
Subject: [stone] Re: mortar for limestone blocks

Quoted text begins.What are the right combinations of sand, lime and portland? I
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know it

Quoted text begins.depends on the project and the stone itself. Ian Cramb in the
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Art of the

Quoted text begins.Stonemason recommends 7 parts sand: 1 lime: 1 portland. To me
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that seems

Quoted text begins.like a hell of a lot of sand. My boss on the other hand has
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the "strong

Quoted text begins.mortar's always best" unthinking prejudice: type S with extra
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portland

Quoted text begins.added. That blind adherance to strong mortar is even in the
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local building

Quoted text begins.code now - all exterior dwelling masonry walls must be type S.

I build mostly random rubble walls and stone furniture using
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stone from

Quoted text begins.around here (Shenandoah Valley, Virginia): fairly hard
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sandstone (lots of

Quoted text begins.quartz in it) and medium-hard but quite brittle limestone. As
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a mortar

Quoted text begins.expert, what mix do you recommend?
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Here is a link about mortar for anyone who cares
http://www.angelfire.com/biz/BuildingPathology/mortar.html

Back when I was contracting masonry work, my standard mix was 3
sand to 1 type n masonry, with a little extra portland. Once
type S masonry became available I used it without the extra
portland. It's a nice creamy mix. Older restoration work
requires more of the lime putty mixes.
JVC

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