I've got to repair a brick wall between 2 terraced houses. The top 5
courses will be taken off and rebuilt, as they are so wobbly, the bottom
half seems solid enough so will be repointed.
It is probably 120 years old, and has been repointed at least once in
the past.
Is it worthwhile doing it in lime mortar, or just go with the 'modern'
cement mortar?
Aesthetics are not an issue.
Ta
Alan.

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"A.Lee" <alan@darkroom.+.com> wrote in message 
news:1ijnyyt.1l061qv140c2i6N%alan@darkroom.+.com...
> I've got to repair a brick wall between 2 terraced houses. The top 5
> courses will be taken off and rebuilt, as they are so wobbly, the bottom
> half seems solid enough so will be repointed.
> It is probably 120 years old, and has been repointed at least once in
> the past.
> Is it worthwhile doing it in lime mortar, or just go with the 'modern'
> cement mortar?
> Aesthetics are not an issue.
> Ta
> Alan.
>
> -- 
> To reply by e-mail, change the ' + ' to 'plus'.


As I understand it, modern mortar sets rigid, and, if your old wall is not 
equally as solid as the modern cement mortar then the brickwork may part at 
the join between old and new as the wall expands and contracts.  Also, if 
the wall lacks modern solid foundations, the lime mortar allows a certain 
amount of movement rather than cracking the bricks.

Interestingly, I dug up an old wall while investigating dead patches on our 
lawn.  The lime mortar was still holding the bricks together even though it 
had a decidedly cheesy texture, and it could be scraped off so the bricks 
could be put to good use elsewhere in the garden.  Old bricks and modern 
mortar on the other hand: the brick breaks when trying to hack off the 
mortar.

Not a brickie so I stand to be corrected.

S

Spamlet wrote:
> "A.Lee" <alan@darkroom.+.com> wrote in message 
> news:1ijnyyt.1l061qv140c2i6N%alan@darkroom.+.com...
>> I've got to repair a brick wall between 2 terraced houses. The top 5
>> courses will be taken off and rebuilt, as they are so wobbly, the bottom
>> half seems solid enough so will be repointed.
>> It is probably 120 years old, and has been repointed at least once in
>> the past.
>> Is it worthwhile doing it in lime mortar, or just go with the 'modern'
>> cement mortar?
>> Aesthetics are not an issue.
>> Ta
>> Alan.
>>
>> -- 
>> To reply by e-mail, change the ' + ' to 'plus'.
> 
> 
> As I understand it, modern mortar sets rigid, and, if your old wall is not 
> equally as solid as the modern cement mortar then the brickwork may part at 
> the join between old and new as the wall expands and contracts.  Also, if 
> the wall lacks modern solid foundations, the lime mortar allows a certain 
> amount of movement rather than cracking the bricks.
> 
> Interestingly, I dug up an old wall while investigating dead patches on our 
> lawn.  The lime mortar was still holding the bricks together even though it 
> had a decidedly cheesy texture, and it could be scraped off so the bricks 
> could be put to good use elsewhere in the garden.  Old bricks and modern 
> mortar on the other hand: the brick breaks when trying to hack off the 
> mortar.
> 
> Not a brickie so I stand to be corrected.
> 

Hmm. I find that unless you tie a wall together hard with steel ties, at 
some point it will crack unless its keyed into an existing structure.

So if the wll can be keyed in to the existing with ties or with proper 
binding, use modern.

Otherwise use a lime.

> S 
> 
>