Category: Walls

Strength and Stability Up to the middle of the twentieth century the design and construction of small buildings, such as houses, was based on tried, traditional forms of construction. There were …

Jointing is the word used to describe the finish of the mortar joints between bricks, to provide a neat joint in brickwork that is finished fairface. Fairface describes the …

Lime is manufactured by burning limestone or chalk and the result of this burning is a dirty white, lumpy material known as quicklime. When this quicklime is mixed with …

Cement is made by heating a finely ground mixture of clay and limestone, and water, to a temperature at which the clay and lime¬stone fuse into a clinker. The …

Of recent years ready mixed mortars have come into use particularly on sites where extensive areas of brickwork are laid. The wet material is delivered to site, ready mixed, …

As an alternative to the use of lime it has become practice to use a mortar plasticiser with cement in the mix of cement mortars. A plasticiser is a liquid …

During the last 50 years it has been considered good practice to use a mortar in which the advantages of lime and cement are combined. This combination or ‘compo’ mortar …

Sand which is not washed and which contains a deal of clay in it feels soft and smooth when held in the hand, hence the term soft sand. Sand …

The material that was used for many centuries before the advent of Portland cement as the matrix (binding agent) for mortar was lime. Lime, which mixes freely with water …

The aggregate or main part of mortar is sand. The sand is dredged from pits or river beds and a good sand should consist of particles ranging up to …