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repointing a stone foundation questions

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dogboy

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I need to butter up some stones in a couple of spots due to an old downspout system that fed rainwater into a french drain.

 

I can feel the cold air coming right through in the winter.

 

I have trenched around the worst of it and removed any soil and loose mortar.

 

What should i use?

 

I was planning on using 1 part mortar mixed with probably 3 parts sand.

 

i have used this in the past with i guess good results, but the new stuff never seems to be the right color, which leads me question if i am using the correct material for the job.

 

i am told that mortar is naught but cement with added lime to make it stickier, but what kind of lime should i look for?

 

there are a lot of different kinds of lime

 

does mortar come already mixed with sand?

 

I also have a gallon of bonding agent that i will apply to the cleaned stones before i butter anything up.

 

anybody?

 

apparently the water bypassing the underground tiles has also created lovely habitat for Rattus norvegicus, so i could use some ideas for getting rid of that vermin as well....

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For below grade, Type S mortar 2 - 1 - 9 (portland-hydrated lime-sand)

 

Above grade, type N 1 - 1 - 6

 

To match colors you start with white portland cement and experiment with different color sand. Generally, the sand that is/was found locally provides the best match. Very old, 125 years+ mortar is often, mostly, sand and lime(very soft).

 

I've never seen new mortar match old mortar perfectly, you'll have to decide what's close enough.

 

cwm8.gif

"I came into this world naked, screaming at the top of my lungs, and covered in someone else's blood. I got no problem leaving it that way."
Who can hope to be safe? Who sufficiently cautious? Guard himself as he may, every moment's an ambush. Horace

 

 

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View PostFor below grade, Type S mortar 2 - 1 - 9 (portland-hydrated lime-sand)

 

 

Above grade, type N 1 - 1 - 6

 

 

To match colors you start with white portland cement and experiment with different color sand. Generally, the sand that is/was found locally provides the best match. Very old, 125 years+ mortar is often, mostly, sand and lime(very soft).

 

 

I've never seen new mortar match old mortar perfectly, you'll have to decide what's close enough.

 

 

cwm8.gif

 

thanks- very useful info

 

 

i guess i got the low sand ratio from a recipe for parging an interior brick chimney- too much sand made it difficult to spread thinly

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  • 8 months later...

I have a similar problem and am getting ready to repoint the block foundationn wall on my 90 year old foursquare. I'm going to use type N, but I have a question. Is there a difference between the type N found in Home Depot and the Hydraulic Lime cement offered by Quikrete? Which should I be using?

 

Thanks!

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The hydraulic cements I'm familiar with are used for patching/filling/sealing penetrations below grade i.e. around a sewer or water line, I don't know about mixing it into mortar.

 

Type N is standard mortar for above grade work. The premix bags are consistant and readily available.

 

cwm8.gif

"I came into this world naked, screaming at the top of my lungs, and covered in someone else's blood. I got no problem leaving it that way."
Who can hope to be safe? Who sufficiently cautious? Guard himself as he may, every moment's an ambush. Horace

 

 

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