Cement or lime?

[Athers1971]

I think I know the answer to this, but does this look like cement pointing/mortar or could it be lime based?

Is there a way to test?

I’ve assumed it was cement based and will be very costly (time consuming) to remove (double fronted front elevation).

 

[Feltwell]

It looks very much like cement to me.

Chip a bit off, if it's rock hard it's almost certainly cement. Stick it in some vinegar (or other mild acid) to test - if it fizzes a bit on it's surface then it's lime, if it does nowt it's cement. Even that isn't 100% accurate as sometimes mortar will be a lime/cement mix.

This is American, but quite a good video. Good to see at least some of the Yanks have got the message!

 

[Lacan07]

The vinegar test sometimes isn't very accurate imho, I tried it on my old lime plaster and it didn't fizz at all. But if you knock a bit off and its rock hard you'll know its cement.