Back Yard Walls

[plumbers mate]

My back yard walls are about 8ft high and some are in a dire state - some bits need pointing, other bits aren't too bad.

Where the toilet was, the wall is covered with a fairly thick lime mortar, damaged and ugly.
The toilet and coal house were demolished and the bricks used to build a raised bed which is what I call a garden (I get plenty of runner beans and cabbage from it).

What I would like to do is take the mortar off the ex-toilet bit of wall, crush it and mix it with "something obtainable from Wickes in small easily carried bags" and point the bad bits.
Then I'd like to coat/paint the walls, put trellis stuff up and make the walls usable space.

What can I use with the crushed mortar from the wall? And then what would be best, cheapest and easiest stuff to get to coat/cover the walls?

 

[biffvernon]

"something obtainable from Wickes in small easily carried bags" ...
What can I use with the crushed mortar from the wall? And then what would be best, cheapest and easiest stuff to get to coat/cover the walls?

Lime, of course. (Unless you think that 25kg is not 'easily carried'.)

 

[plumbers mate]

>>Lime, of course.

Yeah, right.
I will have a maximum of 0.4 cubic ms of old mortar which will be crushed with a sledge hammer in an old washing up bowl (not having any water powered Cornish Stamps handy).
I will need to point about 1 mX2 of wall and then cover over that and the other 29mx2 .

If I get a 25Kgs bag of lime and mix it with the gravel sized old mortar, then mix some of this with water, will that do for the pointing and then will the lime be claggy enough on it's own for doing a cosmetic covering of the walls to hide the C19th bodge jobs, the C20th ditto and what will be my C21st bodge?
Do I then need to treat this surface with anything to make it suitable for painting as I do not want them left looking like an outside netty.

This is not the house, this is the backyard, the other sides of the walls were cement pointed so it's a waste of time doing a "proper" conservation standard job. I suspect the house was cement pointed too.

By the way, 25Kgs is the legal maximum for a woman of my build to carry so I would not be able to go the distance from Wickes to road, cross a feeder road off the A1, get on/off a bus and then walk a few hundred yards carrying such a bag.
I hope therefore that they do smaller bags as two smaller bags are easier than one big one.

 

[Nemesis]

Oh, I'll come and get it for you in the back of the car! Anyhow, it's not the lime season so hang fire.

 

[biffvernon]

Good. You don't often see small women, or even big men, carrying 25kg bags of lime on and off busses.

 

[Nemesis]

The cement (lime) mixer may be more difficult but we will manage.

 

[Nemesis]

You need sand also of course...

 

[plumbers mate]

>> You need sand also of course...

There you go you see -- bag of lime. that's all.
Now sand as well.

That's what I wanted to know - BUT ready mixed in an easy to handle bag and called "xxxxx" .....

You should see what I've got home on busses eg 3ms long piece of down pipe .... It was a double decker bus so the pipe fitted in up the stairs. I gave up with the large lamp shade as it wouldn't go through the bus door, walked home with it instead.
Ex-hubby bought a 12ft tall Xmas tree once and somehow got it home on the bus, sad that our rooms weren't more than 8ft tall, but he meant well .........

 

[Lime]

plumbers mate
Would it be silly of me to suggest that you have the Lime and sand delivered?
Many building suppliers deliver for free in my area, perhaps in yours too?

 

[Nemesis]

Thye only tend to deliver during working hours - when PM is at work.

 

[Lime]

That is true but some deliver on Saturday or very early in the morning.

 

[Nemesis]

Thye don't then take you to the pub though.

 

[plumbers mate]

Confession time -
I never thought of deliveries as I assumed that this would apply to a lorry or pallet load type of order.

Last time I was in B&Q I was told I could hire a van to get stuff home but they wouldn't deliver.
Can't remember what I wanted now, probably did without it - which was a good financial and economic ploy from this side of the deal!

I'll investigate small deliveries then.

Sadly, Nemesis, the pub first thing on a saturday morning is a bit much, even for me!

 

[Nemesis]

Oh, we deliver evenings too...

 

[biffvernon]

You need sand also of course...

I thought the plan was to forego the sand and recycle the old mortar, suitable crushed in the washing up bowl, instead.

 

[Nemesis]

Maybe not enough of it.

 

[Penners]

Thye don't then take you to the pub though.

You're not asking the right way. Don't say "please will you take me to the pub?". Just say "fancy a pint?".